tweets. tweets. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com welcome to the "cnn newsroom." i'm fredricka whitfield at the cnn headquarters in atlanta. on this first sunday after that deadly string of tornadoes comfort and prayer services among the rubble. the death toll now at 339 across six states. survivors are praising both volunteers and the federal government for responding so quickly with aid, supply and support. cnn's martin savidge is near the alabama border in the devastated town of smithville, mississippi. marty, how are many there marking this day? >> reporter: well, fredricka, we were just watching here. a lot of people are marking the day by trying to get what they can. this is mel's diner. melanie is the owner here.

she's just off camera here. they're trying to salvage what they can from this place. it's been a business 14 years. they plan and promise they will reopen. they just can't say exactly when that will be. for a lot of other people as you can see there isn't a whole lot that they can reclaim. there's not much at all as they try to sift through the pieces and pick up their lives. it is a day of faith sunday smithville at the baptist church. several hundred people gathered in the parking lot of that church because their house of worship was absolutely flattened as a result of the tornado that came through on wednesday. for many people it was a very emotional time. not just because the exact that they celebrate their faith but the fact they got to see one another again. this town has been dweeply divided and people have been spread all over as a result of the disaster that struck here. so it was a chance to come and, yes, celebrate. celebrate the fact that they were alive. there are some in their parish who unfortunately are not. i had a conversation with liza morgan. she is the owner/operator of the

smithville cemetery. and that, by the way, is the only business that is still up and operating in this tiny town of 900 people. she was quite emotional as we spoke. she was preparing for a burial that was going to take place today. here's how she described her town. >> they've been hard days for all of us. this school was gone. our church is gone. there's nothing. >> reporter: so, as you hear, she's very, very emotional as she describes the losses in her town. of course, when you talk to people here, they say they will rebuild. we should point out that there is a caravan of obama cabinet officials that are coming to smithville. they've actually been over in birmingham, alabama. they've also been in other heart

hard-hit areas. we understand they're just about here. there's going to be a news conference that will be held so people are finally going to hear what sort of help may be coming their way in the form of state and federal aid which judging by the background behind me here you can say is sorely needed. but their faith in this town is still very, very strong. fred? >> martin savidge, thanks so much from smithville, mississippi. thousands of people are in shelters today because their homes were simply ruined, wiped off the map. for many of these families their children as well are trying to come to grips with what has just happened. >> all i can do is cry. because i miss my house. everybody crying and shouting and, i mean, it's just devastation. >> to find out how you can make a difference to help the tornado victims in the south, visit our impact your world page at cnn.com/impact. let's check in with alexandra steele. while the tornadoes, at least

that tornadic activity behind us, there's another potential devastating storm. and this time it's flooding that's the enemy. >> that's right. flooding is certainly a huge concern. we're going to talk a little bit about that in a little while. there is a tornado warning i want to tell everyone about. here's the big picture. i want to show you the radar. putting it into motion you can see this is the swath of rain. tornado warnings, we have one right now in eastern arkansas and southwest tennessee. and this also is a tornado watch. you can see from memphis all the way from texas to western tennessee until 9:00 tonight. but right here, this is where we do have the tornado warning. just northwest of memphis. these storms moving east at 50 miles per hour. so, again, this storm, a tornado warning, for about one hour from now, until about 3:30 central time. certainly be mindful of that. really the first tornado warning we've seen, though, this afternoon. the biggest concern, there is an isolated threat for tornadoes, but on the upside, what we're seeing, the scenario set up and all the ingredients set up to be

a lot less severe than what we've seen. here's the big picture, what we've got on our weather maps right now. but it is a lot less severe than, of course, that three-day tornado outbreak. here's how. a weaker cold front certainly good news. that lifting mechanism is there. the cold front in and of itself is a lot weaker. this low much farther north. this area of low pressure we've been watching now to the north in canada, certainly a good thing. that was farther south a few days ago. and the jet stream is a little bit farther north as well. the result today, yes, an isolated tornado here and there like we've seen. but a lot more rain. we'll talk about that flooding and the concerns and the evacuations we're seeing around a few cities, certainly around the country. we'll talk about where those are, fredricka, coming up. >> we'll check back with you. thanks so much. nerves certainly are on edge along the missouri/illinois border where heavy rain has pushed river levels dangerously high. the u.s. army corps of engineers is actually considering blowing up a levee to relieve pressure

and spare at least one threatened illinois town. the move would flood missouri farmland. missouri's attorney general is asking the u.s. supreme court to review a federal court ruling that gave officials permission to blow up that levee. we head now overseas where the libyan government says a nato air strike has killed one of moammar gadhafi's sons, 29-year-old saif al arab. it says three of gadhafi's grandchild also died. a nato official says airplanes targeted a command and control facility but he says there is no evidence to support the claim that gadhafi's son or grandchildren were killed. the violence in syria is starting to drive some of the people out of their country there. president beshear al asad's government has been cracking down on prodemocracy demonstrators. hundreds of syrians have crossed the border into turkey. there are also reports of syrian refugees crossing into lebanon.

other headlines we continue to follow now, a helicopter crashed into an apartment building near indiana university, pennsylvania, last night. it was -- it was actually shooting video for a reality television show called "campus pd." authorities said one person walked away and two others were taken to hospitals. overseas to rome now, it's official. the late pope john paul ii is one step closer to catholic sainthood. more than 1 million people packed the streets of rome in the vatican for today's beatification ceremony. a step just shy of the sainthood. the space shuttle "endeavour" will not launch tomorrow. nasa engineers are still working to fix a faulty heating system which delayed friday's litoff. nasa says a new launch date likely won't come before the end of the week. all right. many of you are still on that royal wedding high or perhaps

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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. all right. so friday's lavish royal wedding is probably every bride-to-be's fantasy. keeping it simple is likely more realistic for the masses. even better? how about a tax deductible wedding? with some guidance on how to do just that, legally, of course,

is a bre sabrina rivers, author of "the tax deductible wedding." this sounds pretty extraordinary. at first glance it sounds like wait a minute, how you going to cheat the federal government on paying for your wedding? you say this is completely legit? >> it is legit. most of the organizations are tax exempt. they are 501 c 3 b. you're not getting in any trouble. you don't get a full deduction. you just get a portion of it. if you have your wedding at a museum, which, you know, most of the museums are tax deductible because they're considered nonprofit. also a botanical garden or zoo. have your wedding there or reception, a portion of that is tax deductible. >> that's fantastic. you are giving back, so to speak. >> sure. >> making use of great federal places or monument grounds, et

cetera. then you say you need to be thinking of others, too. a lot of times there's leftover food. instead of throwing it away this, too, could be a tax deduction. maybe that catering bill. >> yeah. most people don't realize flowers, they cost, you know, i don't know what, 10%, 15% of your overall sort of wedding budget. those can be donated to ronald mcdonald house, hospice or a hospital or nursing home. so that helps you sort of cut down your bill. in terms of food, food can be donated to a shelter. of course, you know, there's some restrictions. definitely call beforehand. >> fantastic. do you think people for the most part take advantage of these great perks? >> i think they would if they knew about them. i mean, there's so much rushing and, you know, excitement and you're scared, you're having your wedding, that i think people don't think about it. you know, because you're so caught up in the moment. >> yeah. fantastic.

>> but i always tell people to keep their receipts. you may forget, oh, that was a tax deduction. keep your receipts. make sure you get everything in writing. >> all right. sabrina rivers, thanks so much. author of "the tax deductible wedding." great ideas, great tips on how to write off that wedding. >> thank you. >> quite the novelty. thanks so much. there, of course, is no d y denying there's a lot of uncertainty in the workplace. and in today's "reclaim your career," we've got five strategies to help you stay positive in the face of unexpected change at work. first, can you name the top five most useless degrees? not my words, but that according to the daily beast. all right. number five on the list, fashion design. advertising. number three, agriculture. two, horticulture. what do you suppose number one, what the daily beast says would be a useless degree? the answer after this. 

okay. so before the break we were naming five of the most useless degrees. not my words. i assure you. but this is according to the daily beast. here's number one. and we don't like this. journalism tops the list. some of the criteria used to compile this list included the median starting and mid-career salaries. and how many times people are expected to actually change jobs between 2008 and 2018. and the number of students aw d

awarded degrees in those fields during the '08-'09 term. i know a lot of people are going to disagree with that, though. let's talk about reclaiming your career. with the economy's recent town turn, lots of companies have restructure and reorganized. that plays psychological warfare on employees big time. how do you remain positive in the face of uncertainty, not get stressed out unnecessarily, all that good stuff. valerie burton is the author of "where do you go from here." with this you say, for one, you need to really kind of be grateful, again, for the job that you have. >> yeah. yeah. >> just live in the present. >> it's so hard for a lot of people. a lot of people feel so uncertain. maybe the company has laid someone off.

maybe there have been changes and they don't know what's coming next. one of the first things you can do is to choose an attitude of gratitude. i know that sounds so basic. but there are lots of people who would like to trade places with you. although the job numbers are better, there are still a lot of people that don't have jobs at all. >> absolutely. you really need to think about -- kind of revaluing yourself. if you have that job maybe there's a role that you are playing that affects the entire company. so appreciate that they may be appreciating you. >> that's right. absolutely. who doesn't love to be appreciated? >> right. >> so it's also -- i also think it's important to know and understand what your contribution is. i think for a lot of people they're always -- when they look at their employer, they're always looking at, well, what can i get? you've got to be asking what can i give? how can i be a better part of the team? if the organization is having a little trouble -- >> this is sounding a little jfk. ask not what. >> that's right. what is it i can do that's going to help the company survive or even thrive.

if you're one of those team players that's really in there trying to help the organization that's going to bode well for you. >> you need to ask yourself what if. >> yes. >> while you're living in the present saying, okay, this is my gig right here, what do you mean? what if what? what if good or what if bad? >> usually when people are anxious, it's all the what if. what if i do lose my job? what if my boss gets reassigned to another division? what if these furloughs or pay cuts are permanent? what i say is answer your what if questions. what if it happens? how will you handle it? what happens is when you answer that question, you end up saying, you know what, i won't like this but i can handle it. don't just stop at what if and scare yourself. start answering some of those what if questions. >> oh, my gosh. then accept that you can't change and change what you can. >> accept the stuff you can change. there are decisions that are going to be made within the organization that you can't change. >> it's out of your control. >> don't stand around the water cooler going on and on and on about them.

say, you know what? what can i control? what can i change? >> i can change my attitude. if i need to get new skills i can get those skills. if there are better connections i need to make i can do that. control the things you can. >> okay. you need to ask yourself what is the most important thing i can do right now to secure my future. >> yeah, yes. for a lot of people when they get anxious around uncertainty, it's usually some key thing. maybe they really don't have an emergency fund. what they're really afraid of is that they're not going to have enough money. maybe they haven't updated their skills. address those things. what is it you can do to actually suhr yoecure your futu >> have a safety net. >> that's right. do a little self-reflection to understand what your fears really are and directly address those. >> okay. valorie burton, we're going to have you back because we have you almost every weekend for reclaiming your career. next time we're going to talk a little bit more specifically about your book "where will you go from her." >> i can't wait. >> i can't wait also. all right. thanks so much. >> good to see you. back to weather now.

big story we continue to follow across the country. we had tornadoes in the south, and now we're talking about flooding and desperate measures involving a levee in the midsection of the country. a lot of times, things are right underneath our feet, and all we need to do is change the way we're thinking about them. a couple decades ago, we didn't even realize just how much natural gas was trapped in rocks thousands of feet below us. technology has made it possible to safely unlock this cleanly burning natural gas. this deposits can provide us with fuel for a hundred years, providing energy security and economic growth

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on the swollen mississippi river and spare at least one illinois town. but the move would flood farmland in missouri. just last week lower courts refused missouri's request to intervene. so how bad is that flooding? let's check in with meteorologist alexander steele. pretty significant when you here that kind of discussion that maybe a levee could be dismantled. >> that's right. the fight there is the little town of cairo, which is 2,800 people. flooding the residents there or flooding 130,000 acres of farmland in mississippi county in missouri? so the dichotomy lay within there and what to do. we'll have to see. yeah, because more rain unfortunately, fredricka, is coming. really people are out there, of course, what we're seeing is so much rain. fredricka asked, it begs the question, how did this happen? this is how it happened. record april rain. look here for a moment. from harrison, arkansas, lexington, kentucky, columbus,

ohio, and louisville. on average for april they see about 3 to 4 1/2 inches of rain for the month. how much have they seen so far? take a look at these numbers. 12, 14, almost 15 inch os f rain. breaking all-time records. take a look at this. lum bus, ohio, this record back from 1893 has been shattered. that is how it happened. too much rain over the same areas over and over again. what will we see? here's the radar picture. of course, we've got a front. more or less stationary. not moving forward eastward. thus the rain falling over these same areas and will continue to fall. we do have the severe thunderstorm watch. also a tornado watch. and they're also right now in memphis, tennessee, we do have a tornado warning posted until 5:00 eastern. right now in memphis big concert called memphis in may. all these concerts across the city. if you're watching from memphis, certainly be careful. a tornado warning is posted. storms moving east at 45 miles per hour. really heading toward nashville,

tennessee. of course, how much are we going to see? more rain in the offing. these areas have seen anywhere from 7 to 14 inches of rain. more rain coming in. you can see the dark yellow, red, orange color. delineating 8, maybe 10 inches of rain in the next five days. why? that front's in place. it's not progressive. more rain just inundating what we've already seen in flooded farmlands in these pictures like cairo and the surrounding areas, fredricka. unfortunately no rest for the weary. the rain continues to come, and just soaking rains. not as big of severe weather threat today, i.e. tornadoes, but memphis, tennessee, tornado warning. >> thanks so much, alexandra. so that means a lot of volunteers from across the country are also heading to these areas in greatest need. in particular, the south, to help out the many tornado victims. some of them are already in holt, alabama, right now outside tuscaloosa. that's where we also find rob marciano.

it's about neighbors helping neighbors. in many cases people have driven great distances in order to help out folks. >> reporter: it's truly remarkable, fredricka, for as much devastation as we've seen, mile after mile, neighborhood after neighborhood, we've seen just as many people pour into this region from all over the country. unsolicited. they just do it out of the goodness of their heart, seeing the pictures that we and other networks broadcast across the air waves and the pictures you see in print. we ran into kind of a makeshift organization that is completely blown up as far as what they're delivering to some of the people who have been affected by the tornadoes that you see here behind me. i want to introduce you to a new friend of mine. her name is lorinda. check it out. >> there are families from talladega. the people we met, we were driving around the first day after it hit. we met people from augusta, georgia, st. louis, missouri. we all got together and wanted to help. we just kind of pushed our way

into the worst areas and we've done it unorganized. this is what it's become. >> reporter: and now you have people with pickup trucks coming up here and just dropping stuff off. water, food, diapers, baby food, you name it. whatever she needs, she's now getting because her name is being broadcast over the radio, over facebook, all because she just decided that she wanted to do this. this is not the first time to the disaster rodeo for her. she's done this for 9/11. she did it for katrina. and she's doing it now. it's amazing how everybody is pouring in around her to help out. you know, this is not the only area that we're seeing this, fredricka. it's truly, truly remarkable as is the picture that you see behind me. this is holt, alabama, just northeast of tuscaloosa proper. this is where her relief efforts are stationed. some of the homes you see back there that are obviously not really homes anymore, people are

still kind of living there. they've lived here 40, 50 year. they don't really want to move or go to a shelter. so they're coming out to see lorinda and getting the supplies they need and going back to whatever makeshift shelter they may still have. life is going on, albeit in a much, much different way here across parts of alabama than it was a week ago. >> that's extraordinary. a lot of open arms and open hearts. we're seeing it in so many different ways. thanks so much, rob marciano. to find out how you can make a difference to help tornado victims in the south, visit our impact your world page. that's at cnn.com/impact. so the national weather service now confirming that the tornado that nearly wiped hackleburg, alabama, off the map was an ef-5. that means winds of more than 200 miles per hour. cnn's martin savidge talked with one woman who was visiting her in-laws when the tornado blew the house apart. >> at first it felt like if you just hooked to something and just took off dragging it. the whole house.

and then after that it just felt kind of like being in a drier with lots of sticks and rocks and sand in your face and your eyes. then everything just stopped. >> did you say anything, scream anything? >> oh, my god, oh, my god. that's about all i could get out. just hang on, hang on. >> were you able to all hang on? >> we did all hang on. my son is 2. and he did come out of the -- the huddle. and he landed probably about ten feet away from us sitting. >> hunterman says the children suffered only bumps and bruises, minor injury. her mother-in-law, however, is in the hospital with a broken back. the tornadoes that tore through six states killing at least 250 people in alabama alone. as the search goes on for survivors, members of president obama's cabinet will be getting a firsthand look at the devastation. they're visiting alabama and

mississippi today to meet with families and local officials to find out exactly what the greatest needs are. actor matt damon is trying to help bring safe clean water to people around the globe in this week's "impact your world." damon traveled to ethiopia to see a dirty, open well that is the main source of water for more than 6 thourk people. >> we're about 60 kilometers outside the town. this is a hand dug well. about 6,000 people. the kids behind me, they come here to gather their water. the bottles you see them drinking full of that dirty water. that's what they come to fetch to take to school. it's a matter of life and death. it's in people's nature to want to step up and do their part. >> join the movement. cnn.com/impact. >> so to find out how you can help, go to cnn.com/impact. all right. president obama and donald

trump. >> donald trump is here tonight. >> in the same room. what happened is quite comical. i'll show you how it all played out in 90 seconds. ordinary rubs don't always work on my arthritis.

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okay. most would believe that inside the beltway washington is a very serious place. but every once in a while people who run things there stop to poke fun at themselves a little bit. so it happened last night at the annual white house correspondents association dinner. comedian seth meyers of "saturday night live" hosted it. popular targets, of course, the president. you know, he's the man of the hour. oh, and then there was donald trump. >> and then, of course, there's donl trump. donald trump has been saying that he'll run for president as a republican which is surprising since i just assumed he was running as a joke. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> my fellow americans --

[ cheers and applause ] >> the state of hawaii released my official long form birth certificate. but just in case there are any lingering questions, tonight i'm prepared to go a step further. tonight for the first time, i'm releasing my official birth video. ♪ >> i want to make clear to the fox news table, that was a joke. that was not my real birth video.

that was a children's cartoon. call disney if you don't believe me. they have the original long form version. >> okay. always a lot of fun. we always love looking at that kind of the night after. even better when you're actually there. alexandra steele back with me now. you've been to a couple of these correspondents dinners, right, lots of fun? >> absolutely tons of fun. it's kind of like the dichotomy of washington and the hollywood elite. like one interesting thing i was reading that was there. i wasn't there last night but they had senator scott brown going over to jon hamm's table saying, "you played me on snl." even the cnn table, wolf blitzer sitting next to mila kunis. the starlet from "black swan." >> he said it was nice getting to know her. >> isn't that interesting? >> very fun. it's interesting because a lot of the politico types, they all get to -- everybody's very much

dolled up. i've done the washington correspondents dinner. not the white house correspondents dinner. but everyone's dolled up. but then everyone kind of loosens up quite a bit. >> especially with acts like that. donald trump obviously seems to have been -- my mom always said if people are talking about you -- >> did he smile much? >> no. he was quite critical in the papers today about it all. when people are talking about you, that means you're making news, right? >> i guess so. sometimes it's good to be talked about. keep yourself on the map. we know that's one of the objectives, at least for him, right? >> right, absolutely. >> alexandra, thanks so much for playing. appreciate that. >> sure. coming up next weekend, we hope you will be tuning in face to face with venus williams. we actually met in south florida and talked about just about everything under the sun including when she'll be off the injury list and back on the tennis court competitively. we also talked about her start in tennis at the tender age of 4. and what it was like for her. >> what works with one kid won't work with another. so i was a tough kid.

and very oblivious, almost. so i could deal with a lot. >> what do you mean you were a tough kid? >> nothing bothered me. you know, if my dad was, you know, making us hit shots over and over and over again, you know, it wouldn't faze me. even if it upset me, it wouldn't show. i never yelled. i got over it two years later. it was behind me. >> all right. venus williams face to face next weekend beginning noon eastern time saturday. don't want to miss it. she talks about everything under the sun. alexandra, probably a tennis fan? >> absolutely. >> she talks about her game, things she's looking forward to, what she does off court as well and how striking that balance is really important for her. of course the dynamic between she and her sister, best buds, but on the court, i don't know. venus is going to straighten you out if you think they're not competitors on the court. >> was she neat to talk to? >> she was. very dynamic.

very vivacious as well. she knows when to put on that game face. >> right. >> all right, alexandra. thanks so much. face to face next weekend. all right. back overseas now. questions persist over whether a nato bomb killed moammar gadhafi's son and grandchildren. next, the new video that libya says is proof of that attack.

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new this hour, libyan state television today showed several covered bodies claiming they were the son and grandchild of libyan leader moammar gadhafi killed in that nato strike. libya maintains that they were killed last night. let's bring in our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. nato does not deny the actual strike. but still in dispute whether those deaths of gadhafi's family members actually happened. >> you know, still, fred, even with this video now showing draped bodies, nato officials, obama administration officials say they have not seen specific evidence that it is the son of moammar gadhafi and the grandchildren. you know, that said, nato did announce that it struck a target in tripoli last night, that they are very aware of the reports that there were civilian casualties there. they say this was not just a house. when you look at the aftermath of the strike you see that this was a building that was heavily

reinforced. there was a crater indicating a bunker underneath the building. and it is nato's contention that this was a command and control facility. that said, of course, a lot of the command and control facilities in tripoli are used by the gadhafi family as well as by the u.s. military. so the question may at the end of the day be, perhaps, if there was some dual use here, family and military. nato's contention is it is targeting these military sites, fred. >> and so what kind of impact might this have on gadhafi or what can be read at this point? >> you know, this is the thing. we've talked to people throughout the day, said what do you think is going to happen next? they are befuddled, i have to tell you, because they see no indication that moammar gadhafi is backing off his campaign of violence against libyan civilians. there are reports today, of course, that the port of misratah is in flames, that there were attacks there to keep

humanitarian assistance from coming in, that the port has actually been mined by libyan forces, that shelling has continued. the challenge right now for nato is they don't know what it will take to turn the tide. moammar gadhafi and his loyalists just show no sign of backing off, fred. >> barbara starr in washington, thanks so much. >> sure. so libya was one of the hot topics on the sunday morning talk shows. highlights of those shows, next. my cream is what makes stouffer's fettuccini alfredo

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the debt ceiling, libya and president obama's birth certificate all topics of conversation on this morning's sunday talk show. here are some of the highlights. >> do either one of you see any way that congress will refuse to increase the debt ceiling, thereby allowing the u.s. to default? >> well, i certainly hope not. it will be disas trous for the american economy. it will put people back out of work. it will make the last recession look like a cake walk. and so i hope wiser heads will prevail as we move forward. because you cannot risk the full faith and credit of the united states. >> i'm not ready to give the president what he wants.

and what the president's asking for is a blank check and a new credit card. that's absolutely irresponsible. we need to put the spending and cap the spending. there are a number of things we need to do. no one that i know wants to default on the debt. but that doesn't mean that we have to raise the debt ceiling at this time. >> are you saying take nato out of it and put the united states in? >> no. have nato remain in. all seven of our allies who are willing to. but the united states has got to get its assets back into the air fight. and we've got to do it very strenuously. and understand that right now, unless somehow gadhafi falls from within, that we may have a stalemated situation and that would be very bad. it's events on the ground that will drive gadhafi's desire to leave or not to leave. >> gadhafi has got to go.

i've said repeatedly, i think you go after the pillars of his power. the pillars of his power are the regiments that are controlled by his sons. the mercenaries that he's brought in from other countries. his money. and his tribe. those are the four pillars that sustain gadhafi in power. i believe all of those should be targeted and aggressively gone after. you cannot allow him to continue. >> why did the white house wait this long to do this? >> donald trump didn't make the decision to put himself on a split screen. donald trump didn't make the decision to cover this over and over and over again once he raised the issue. the president said, you know what? we've got to put a stop to this. he wanted to make the point that we have more important issues in this country and we ought to move on. the point was as much, frankly, david, to your industry as it was to anybody else. >> do you somehow sense that the president may be trying to make donald trump the face of your party, the republican party? and what would be the result of

that? >> i think he may try to, but i don't think that's going to happen. i think mr. trump is having a lot of fun and it's pretty clear he enjoys the limelight. we have very serious candidates. and i think that mr. trump wants to run, he's welcome to run. all right. time for the latest headlines on the cnn politics.com desk. here's what's crossing right now. texas governor rick perry is accusing the obama administration of ignoring the wildfires in his state. perry says he requested a federal disaster declaration two weeks ago. but still no response. an administraministration offic the federal government has responded with 16 assistance grants so far and six more on the way. a democratic congressman is calling on the obama administration to release some oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. representative chris van hollen of maryland says the move would, quote, pop the bubble of rising gasoline prices.

and for the latest political news, you know exactly where to go. cnn politics.com. okay. that on and off again nfl lockout. well, you will want to hear what your legal guys have to say about that, right after this. looking at? logistics. ben? the ups guy? no, you see ben, i see logistics. logistics? think--ben is new markets. ben is global access-- china and beyond. ben is a smarter supply chain. ben is higher margins. happier customers... everybody wins. logistics. exactly. see you guys tomorrow.

you think i have allergies? you're sneezing. i'm allergic to you. doubtful, you love me. hey, you can't take allegra with fruit juice. what? yeah, it's on the label. really? here, there's nothing about juice on the zyrtec® label. what? labels are meant to be read. i'd be lost without you. i knew you weren't allergic to me. [ sneezes ]

you know, you can't take allegra with orange juice. both: really? fyi. [ male announcer ] get zyrtec®'s proven allergy relief and love the air®. the nfl lockout has been one big legal roller coaster ride all week long. one minute there's a ruling in favor of the pro football players. the next it's in favor of the owners. it's enough to get our legal

guys all fired up. >> i think we're in a 30-second time-out right now, fred. i think that on monday this temporary restraint is going to be lifted, and then all the training facilities will be opened up again on monday. and then in about a week or so, there'll be another determination that they're not going to decide the appeal. so everything's going to stay the way it is. ultimately, an 89-page carefully drafted decision is not going to be overturned line by line. just not going to happen. there is going to be football this fall, absolutely. >> interesting. in the middle of the draft right now. coaches, players, allowed to talk to one another or not? >> well, if you read this decision that came down late friday night, some are arguing no. but what are you going to do? you've got new draftees. you've got camps open. are 32 owners really going to

shut down camp for this small window? the fact is that judge nelson, who is the trial judge in minnesota, wrote actually two opinions, about 110 pages, brilliantly written. this 2-1 opinion, this emergency procedure, fredricka, is used like if they're going to put somebody to death. it is so perverse, so wrong, that it will be very short-lived and the bottom line is it forces everybody to get to the bargaining table, bargaining table, they've got to get this thing resolved. >> all right. do you want to catch our legal guys every saturday? noon eastern time right here in the "cnn newsroom." on this first sunday after that deadly string of tornadoes, comfort and prayer services among the rubble. the death toll now at 339 across six southern states. right now residents living in smithville, mississippi, are sayisay ing farewell to some of those killed. of course, we're going to have

more coverage of that devastation picking up in a moment. first, we want to take you straight to alexandra steele in the weather center. right now, alexandra, there is something significant to be on the watch out for? >> absolutely. especially in memphis, tennessee. if you're watching us from there, certainly be mindful. there a tornado warning posted until the top of the hour. also what we've seen, these storms moving east at about 40 miles per hour. here's the big picture. you can see this train of moisture. this tornado watch box meaning conditions are favorable for the potential of tornadoes until 9:00 tonight. more specifically and certainly right now, right around memphis we're watching this cell moving eastward right along this i-40 corridor. again, moving east at 40 to 50 miles per hour. so, again, really watchful tonight around memphis. what we're seeing is here's this line right -- just kind of following and mirroring this i-40 corridor. again, watching in jackson. these storms heading your way. again, doppler radar has indicated there has been a tornado. we're certainly keeping an eye

on this as these storms move east 40 to 50 miles per hour. right now that is the only tornado warning. again, memphis you are under that. again, right now in memphis there is a big festival, concert around the city called memphis midtown. be mindful as we watch the storms. there's memphis. here are the two cells. here's the main cell. see the dark purple denoting a little bit of rotation potentially with this. moving eastward, brownsville, jackson, tennessee, lexington. again, these storms headed your way. more on this coming up in just a bit and also talk about another big threat. the flooding that we've seen. cities, towns being evacuated because of this inundags of rain. that story coming up as well as the forecast. >> unbelievable extreme weather that just is terrifying so many people. thanks so much, alexandra steele in the weather center. meantime, we are continuing to hear very compelling stories about how people survived those tornadoes sweeping across six state. with me right now is ira canada. he teaches autistic kids in

chattanooga, tennessee. give me an idea, what happened when trying to help a number of kids deal with this threat of tornadoes coming through? we're talking about children who have a very difficult time with a lot of change. >> exactly. >> and sudden, you know, occurrences as it is. >> exactly. and students with autism, i'm an autism specialist for the county. students with autism really have a difficult -- have challenges with change. and -- but they also -- on thunderstorms. it was sort of weird that -- that some of the students were able to cope through the -- through the initial storm. but it was also sort of interesting how some of them were able to -- really had challenges. i guess maybe around 9:00 a.m. we started out with the power outage. after the power outage, we