other such as a book also published by university press of mississippi, emmett till and the mississippi press, by -- was very good and focusing on the press. a book, documentary, the emmett till lynching and documentary history. was also very good. what i wanted to do was i wanted to dig deep and i wanted to look at the earliest sources and try to put together a full narrative of this case from beginning to end. when i say again, it's kind of hard because when i started writing this book in 2004, it was another chapter that was beginning. this was in may of 2004, the fbi reopened, or should say open the emmett till case because it was really investigated before. but there was enough evidence that there may been, well, there were others involved and possibly people still living who were involved with the kidnapping and murder of emmett till. sadr launched his investigation in may of 2004. it went on for about a year and have. they uncovered a lot of good information, found the trial transcript which had been missing for decades, were able to talk to a lot of people. and so i begin writin

the largest one we think was about 150 miles across the state of mississippi, virtually from the mississippi river across the delta into northeast mississippi. we did issue a declaration of emergency for seven counties, primarily in northeast mississippi. we have six fatalities we've been able to identify, six dead, two in denton county and two in marshall. two people are still missing which has been a great concern to us. i'll be en route, flying to northeast mississippi. my job now is to help monitor the damage, issue the declaration. there's command and control on the ground. we have a 35-person search and rescue system that is in effect now going through those counties. damaged areas, house by house. over 100 homes damaged or destroyed. 50 more houses received some level of damage. i don't want to get in their way, but i do intend on being on the ground there, the most severe damaged area, around noontime today. >> you say the update is six people are dead. that takes the total death toll in the region to ten. in mississippi alone there are still two people missing. that's obviously of g

but notice, mississippi, alabama, also on the list. the good news, today's threat much, much lower than we had yesterday. >> that is very good news and you're absolutely right. this time of year on christmas eve, we're talking about snowstorms happening all across the northeast at least, maybe sometimes in the midwest and close to the south, not usually talking about tornadoes, thanks for that. as we mentioned at the top, the governor of mississippi has declared a state of emergency in the wake of these storms. joining me now by phone is brett carr, the public information officer for the mississippi emergency management agency. give us a sense of how the recovery efforts are going. what's the number one priority right now? >> thank you for having us on. the first priority for us right now is life safety. we still had two people unaccounted for, one in benton county and one in tippa county. the main priority is to make sure everyone is accounted for. next big priority is life safety for the public, people are out traveling today and goi

us from pearl, mississippi, is bret car are from the mississippi federal emergency management center, and merry christmas there, and i know e that you are having a tough time, because mississippi hit the hardest, and seven people dead and 40 injured and can you tell me what is being done to help the victims of the storm and the families, and do you know if anybody is missing or if everyone has been accounted for? >> thank you for having us on. right now at this time we have one person missing in denton county. the search and rescue is continuing today, and will continue until that person is located. the shelters are on standby at this point. the good news is that everyone that was misplaced or displaced rather has found some place to stay with family and friends, but the shelters are still ready if they are needed. we are continuing to keep in constant contact with the governor's office and everyone who has a role in this response and recovery to make sure that all of the needs of everyone in mississippi are being taken care of. >> and what can you tell us about utilities? i know tha

saw, louisiana, mississippi and tennessee. let's get kind of a whole picture of what this looks like right now. let's go over to jennifer gray. jennifer, where is this storm? where is all of the focus? where is the storm headed right now? >> well, the focus has really been mississippi. that's where we've seen the most powerful storms and where we've seen the storms producing the most tornadoes. in fact, we still have tornado warnings in northern portions of mississippi. this looks like it's going to pass to the south of ripley. the wider view, look at this, all of the red boxes are tornado watches and, in fact, they go on until about 8:00 central time tonight. zooming in, the one that you were talking about, the particularly dangerous situation, that is this red box right here in effect until 8:00 central time. where we saw that tornado warning, the tornado in middle of that box.ht in the - so the storm prediction center was spot on when they issued that particularly dangerous situation. here's the path of it and you can see h

at that across parts of tennessee and mississippi. and there are 72 million who will still see the chance of severe weather overnight. >> reporter: in arkansas, rains and hard winds killing an 18-year-old woman. the storms brought heavy rains elsewhere in the south. making driving tough for truckers and holiday travellers alike. and in the nation's busiest airports, weather added to the wait as millions make their way home for the holiday. >>> meteorologist schneider will join us shortly. >>> it is crunch time with a record holiday rush on the roads and in the air with 100 million americans traveling more than 50 miles from home. last minute shippers and shoppers are facing a final few hours before christmas. here with more. coast, the word of the day, volume. froms to post offices, roads to airports, take a look at the crush of passengers at chicago o'hare. >> just made sure i got here security. >> reporter: more weather delays on the east coast. 700 flights kansz canceled. >> the good news is it's not snow. >> reporter: out on the r

on the mississippi south of st. louis town of chester could see historic levels possibly getting close, if not surpassing that of 1993, getting to around 50 feet. this is just beginning. we'll continue to watch this in the days ahead. it not just about the watches and parts of the midwest. but you can see amounts of rainfall. if i show you river gauges, jim, across areas to the south, from texas over to northern florida, the carolinas, up to the great lakes, we have over 443 river gauges experiencing plank flooding. the worst, part office st. louis to the west, making its way southward as those rivers continue to flow upward. the good news is the dry conditions will continue in parts of st. louis and missouri through the weekend. >> well explained, tom. as you're looking there, on that map you see how many populate the areas are all along those river basins. it seems like only thing you can do is evacuate those people particularly if there's more rain coming. >> yeah. 1993, jim, benchmark year, with thousands floode

this is the town of chulahoma, mississippi. people here lost homes and this church. a tornado clies sliced right through it. the pastor told us the congregation still plans to hold services in the parking lot. manunu bojorquez, cbs news, chchahoma, mississippi. >> axlerod: flooding is a concern in el ba, alabama. some people are packing up their christmas presents and getting out. millions along the east coast woke up and wondered if they in new york the high w w 72 degrees. in july, it was 75. erikeric,. >> vermont hit 68. warmest december day ever recorded. also the warmest ever recorded in norfolk, virginia and albany, new york. even midnight tonight when santa might be visiting the east seaboard, jacksonville at 69, just tremendous warmth everywhere you look. more record highs expected as we head into christmas day, especially across the southeast, widespread '70s and -- 70s and 80s, above the normal for this time of the year. on the next storm developing this weekend in the southern plains, bringing blizzard conditions to parts to have the chance of severe weath

vir yulely from the mississippi river into northeast mississippi.h are and rescue situation now in effect now going through those counties. >> tornadoes are unusual in december. this is not something we think of to happen, although one hit mississippi almost exactly a year ago. storm chasers captured video of a twister in mississippi as it churned toward traffic. and nknocked one tractor-traile on its side. let me turn now to a meteorologist. you were with a colleague as you shot that video. give us a sense of what you saw. >> it was incredible. we were fairly close to the tornado. we were southwest of it and watched it develop into a big monster as it moved in our direction. we knew it showed no signs of stopping when we were filming it. >> how do you know that when you're fumi infilming it? one twister could have been on the ground for 150 miles is amazing. how did that look different from maybe. a different tornado you have seen? >> well, i'm a meteorologist, and we have been monitoring the set up for days. and we knew the potential was there. al

i remember in mississippi, up in , it was called mississippi vocational college or mississippi valley state college. some africans and studying their, there was something unfolding in the town that was negative. some violence against black people. we sitting around in our room talking about it. one of these african students asks -- i remember him, this question very clearly -- he says , what are the africans going to do about it? i'm saying to myself when i hear what do you mean, what are the africans going to do about it?there's two of you. meally come it occurred to when he said africans, he meant the black people. the black people in this town. a kind of thinking that begins to affect our thinking. this comes from that smaller group of black people from the caribbean and from the african politicallyo are active. i spent a little time with with this becausewith to ask what kind of thinking defined black .truggle in the south this is ella baker and her thinking. these are these local and acp leaders and their thinking -- naacp leaders and their thinking. africa and from the caribbean

this is the town of chulahoma, mississippi. people here lost homes and this church. a tornado sliced right through it. the pastor told us the congregation still plans to hold services in the parking lot. manuel bojorquez, cbs news, chulahoma, mississippi. >>> flooding is a concern in elba, alabama. the pea richer is expected to crest tomorrow at levels not seen in two decades. which is why some are packing up their christmas presents and getting out. >>> millions along the east coast woke up this morning and may have wondered if they slept straight through winter. in new york, the high was 72, a few degrees from the high this past fourth of july, which let's bring in eric fisher. eric, dozens of records being set today. >> it is about as strange as it is can get on christmas eve. look at these temperatures. burlington, vermonon hit 68 degrgrs, beating the recororby 16 degrees. the warmest december day ever recorded in norfolk, virginia. and same story in albany, new york. and even at midnight tonight, still 62 in new york. 69 i

the ground for ten minutes as it tore through the town of clarksdale, mississippi. >>back it up! back it up! >> reporter: storm chasers scrambled to get out of harm's way as a tornado came right at them, and another slammed into a busy highway, knocking a tractor-trailer on its side. mississippi governor phil bryant: >> if you look at the damage here, it is as bad as any tornado that we've had, and i have been through a lot of them. >> reporter: marvin and bernita sims were in their house watching tv when the storm hit. their home was destroyed. >> i looked up, the roof was blowing off the house and i just told her, "hold on, hold on." i held on to her as tight as i could. >> reporter: the massive storm system that moved across the southeast yesterday spawned 29 tornadoes in six states. in perry county, tennessee, sheriff say 69-year-old ann yzaguirre and 70-year-old antonio yzaguirre were killed when a tornado hit their home. the couple had just celebrated and one of the dead in mississippi is a seven-year-old boy, killed when the car he was riding in was tossed in

this is como mississippi, an hour south of memphis. people in these cars and trucks you see were powerless against this tornado that suddeny appeared crossing the highway, pushing over these big trucks sitting in the storm's path. three state affected by the weather, mississippi, tennessee and arkansas. at least ten people are dead today killed in their homes or inside cars when the storms hit. let's bring in chad myers, it's christmas eve, not a joyous day for many people in the deep south today. can you tell where the storm system is right now? >> i can. it is still in the warm sector. it's where the warm fronts is just to our north right through here. the same areas by about 150 miles to the east as we saw yesterday. this is what we saw as the warm air, moisture from the gulf of mexico, rode right up into the frontal system, right through here and there was a jet stream involved. some of these storms were going 60 miles per hour. most of them were severe. some had tornadoes and some had very large tornadoes. hundreds much people are

south of mississippi on the mississippi river is chester.hey are looking at historic level that will surpass that of 1993. the rivers in the cities along the merrimac, those go back to 1982 and those will all be shattered. we're looking at multiple areas to the north of st. louis, to the west, downtown has some flooding, mainly along areas of the cobblestones, more flooding in some of the city parks. but it's along the merrimac that's a big concern. it's going to take days for all this water to start to recede and make their way through eeac community as it feeds into the mississippi. so it's going to take a couple days. then we'll watch the crest make their way down to historic towns along the mississippi. >> no doubt we'll have crews on the ground telling these stories. tom sater, thank you so much. we'll keep you on standby for any developments there. >>> meantime, we are now getting word from immigration officials in mexico that the so-called affluenza teen and his mother want to return to the united states voluntarily. ethan couch and h

mississippi. people here lost homes and this church. a tornado sliced right through it. the pastor told us the congregation still plans to hold services in the parking lot. manuel bojorquez, cbs news, chulahoma, mississippi. >>> flooding is a concern in el ba, alama. the river is expected to crest tomorrow at levels not seen in two decades. which is why some are packing up their christmas presents and getting out. >>> millions along the east coast woke up this morning and may have wondered if they sle straight through winter. in new york, the high was 72, a few degrees past the high of this past fourth of july, which was 75. let's bring in eric fisher. eric, dozens of recor being set today. is can get on christmas eve. in vermont, 68 degrees insf burlington. the warmest december day ever recorded in norfolk, virginia. and even at midnight tonight, still 62 in new york. 69 in charlotte. jacksonville at 69. just tremendous warmth everywhere you look. more record highs expected on christmas day. especially across the southeast, widespread 70s and 80s, well up above the norm

this is the town of chulahoma, mississippi. people here lost homes and this church. a tornado sliced right through it. the pastor told us the congregation still plans to hold services in the parking lot. manuel bojorquez, cbs news, chulahoma, mississippi. >> axlerod: flooding is a concern in elba, alabama. some people are packing up their christmas presents and getting out. millions along the east coast woke up and wondered if they slept through winter. in new york, the high was 72 degrees. in july, it was 75. let's bring eric fisher from wbz-tv in boston. >> this is about as strange as it can get on christmas eve. temperatures in vermont hit 68, beating the old record by 16 degrees today. warmest december day recorded. also in norfolk, virginia, and albany, new york. evened at midnight tonight when santa might visit a few homes on the eastern seaboard, 62 new york, 69 charlotte, jacksonville 69. tremendous warmth everywhere you look. more record highs heading into christmas day, especially across the southeast, widespread 70s and 80s, above the norm for this time of

the heaviest shower activity in the mississippi valley area. looks like you will need the umbrella first half of the week, but looking better into the week. more about that in just a few minutes. patrick: all right, dale, thank you. and don't forget. when bad weather hits, you can turn to the wyff 4 mobile app for the latest weather updates including live radar. the app is free to download and available in both apple and android stores. myra: this morning deputies in greenville county are continuing to investigate a man's death deputies say they were called to a home on perry road in the sans souci area around six sunday night. deputies tell us they found a man dead inside that home. so far investigators are calling this a death investigation. they're not releasing any more information at this we will point. continue to follow this story on air and online at www.wyff4.com . patrick: greenville county deputies hope you can help them find a missing man who suffers from alzheimer's and diabetes. 78-year-old doyle chism was last seen sunday afterno

to mississippi.. gwendolyn jones: "it lasted.. we heard this great big whooo- train and it was gone." at least two dozen reported tornadoes touched down.. cutting a path of destruction? and leaving so many.. homeless. weather pkg ms holly springs damage/reax"it 's devastating. it kind of crushes you here at christmas." kathy swopshire/ church damaged: "it's very heartbreaking .. i don't even have the words to explain it." the damages are so widespread.. a state of emergency has been declared in tennessee and mississippi.. state officials vowing to help everyone.. now beginning the process of recovering and rebuilding.. phil bryant: mississppi governor tbaelizabeth tag: ananmother nature is s ill on t te move.. the same storm havoc in the south.. is now triggering dangerous flash flooding in parts of alabama and georgia.. eh, abc news, ny. police in charlotte, north carolina, say an argument at a crowded shopping mall ended with a police offifir fatally shooting one person. there's not a lot of information yet, but a police stateme

louis where the merrimack and mississippi rivers meet. karla bryant organized residents to save as many homes as possible. >> these are my neighbors. we have done everything we can and we still can't beat it. >> reporter: in valley park, volunteers tried to protect this business, which is only a block away from a levee. >> the levee behind us was only like a foot to go and then just going to be some flooding. >> reporter: sandbags are often no match for raging rivers. forecasters say floodwaters are rising more than one inch per hour in some communities. nearly 20 levees along the mississippi river and its tributaries could fail. mandatory evacuation orders are in place for numerous communities, but some residents would rather stay. >> tomorrow is another day. new year's at the end of the week so 2016 has to be better. >> reporter: the mississippi is 15 feet above flood stage. march >>> the mother of the so-called alou ens a teenager arrived in teenager overnight. ethan couch is still detained in deportation. authorities believe couch and

once that moves into the mississippi, jim, we are talking all-time historic lifevels on t mississippi southward. getting down to cape girardeau on the boot hill. over 443 weather warnings for flooding on rivers occurring right now. >> a lot of populated areas along those rivers. thanks very much. as you just heard, union mississippi is particularly hard hit with businesses under water, much of the town flooded. we go to the mayor, mike livenhood. we have been showing video of your town. the water from this afternoon looking really incredibly high. what's the situation there right now. are people able to get out of their homes to safety? >> people have been evacuated. we did crest here. we are on this river that feeds into the merrimac. we have hit a crest, which is a good thing. it is starting to drop on us. we made it to 34.31, which is roughly not quite a foot over our previous record. it was a record flood here in our community, as you've seen on your videos. you see it impacted about 25 homes in the area. the people did get out. some stayed to the last minute and were evacuated. n

a massive funnel cloud in mississippi. the south and midwest on edge and under the gun. >> tornado emergency continues for the cell that has been tracking through north mississippi this afternoon. >> roofs ripped from homes. the same system throwing cars off the roadway near mississippi. numerous tornado watches and states. >> we're looking still at that tornado activity especially across parts of tennessee and mississippi. and there are 72 million who will still see the chance of severe weather overnight. >> reporter: in arkansas, rains and high winds pushed a tree on to a house killing an 18-year-old woman. >> you only hear about these stories. you don't expect to be in them. the storms brought heavy rains making driving tough for truckers and holiday travellers alike. and in the nation's busiest airports, weather added to the wait as millions make their way home for the holiday. >>> meteorologist schneider will join us shortly. >>> it is crunch time with a record holiday rush on the roads and in the air with 100 million

some of holding back the water on the mississippi river. if those are breached, that's real trouble, because that water has no place else to go but into homes and businesses. all this water is heading eastward into the mississippi and on ward to memphis and new orleans, you are next. >> andy, thank you for the latest on the flooding. i want to bring in meteorologist kevin corriveau. kevin, how bad is this going to get? >> in terms of more rain, there is good news, because we do not have more rain, but we are looking at cooler temperatures. normally flooding like this is in the spring time but we are talking about temperatures at freezing or blow in this particular area. snow pushed through. that has now pushed out of the picture. we do not have more rain in the area, but the rain has been recorrecord breaking already ths month. st. louis, we are talking about they have received 440% of their monthly average. normally they would see two and a half inches. they have seen 11 and a half inches already this month. same for springfield, towards i

but that is just the mississippi river.here are so many who live in the larger rivers of -- essential areas where there is a lot of farmland. >> and what is this going to be doing to the farmland there? you are the expert, but how deep is some of the wear the? >> well, i drove through it two days ago, and in fact, all of the rivers and the the streams were quite wide, and crossing over the bridges, the water was rising burk it lo rising, but it did look like the farmland that was inundated. but again, it is int wither, and the farmers know more than i would with the winter wheat and things of that nature, but right now, it is watching the populated areas a along the mississippi and the other rivers as mention ed. again, the evacuation are west alton the right now, and the consolidated north county levee, and that is a concern we will be watching for several days. >> and tell me what kind of warning, collene, from the st. charles kocounty emergency management office said that there is an official order for e evacuation there

louis along the mississippi river basin.ities like new orleans and memphis that that could be an issue for them? >> we're all engaged. the mississippi valley division and the arm corps of engineers is fully activated the flood fighting emergency management operations and those operations expand from rock island all the way down to new orleans. so we're all committed to the effort. >> thanks for joining us today. >> thank you. >>> rescues like the one you are seeing live right now are taking place all over missouri. up next we're talking with a resident of pacific missouri. talking about her being rescued from her home. much more of our continuing kovrjt next. thought about chevy they and their year end deals. i'm buying this. the back is hot. ohhh my god. that seals the deal. you can have like a thousand gadgets. it really can't get any better than that. wrap up the deals and wrap up the year in a new chevy. current qualified competitive lessees can get this chevy equinox lt for around $243 a month. and get five hundred leas

all this water feeds into the mississippi river at st. louis crest ong thursday at 44 feet. 14 feet more to rise. arkansas river at little rock will be cresting on friday at 26 feet. very high water levels. now, the good news is here that as we look over the next seven days, a much drier pattern sets up an all across the region. it won't stop the flooding expected butt least it won't exacerbate the problem anymoror >> garland t tas has begun the clean-up after tornadoes damaged tovight, david begnaud has a heartbreaking reminder that property can be replaced but lives cannot. >> reporter: in bad shape. i` lost my wife. she was my bes friend. >> reporter: ruben porras and petra ruiz werearried for ten years with fouou young children. he had both worked as paralegals. for christmas, ruben surprised his wife with a special hair appointment.t& she was on her way home saturday night when she connected with her husband on facetime. >> we were just talking about dinner. and all of a sudden, she jus started screaming. >> reporter: she starts scre

the unusual december system hit mississippi the hardest with parts now under a state of emergency. tonight, search and rescue teams there continue to look for storm survivors, which through the christmas holiday. we begin with nbc's mark potter in clarksdale, mississippi. >> reporter: a devastating scene just before christmas after deadly storms and twisters curve through a midsection of the country. at least 11 killed and more than 40 injured. preliminary reports of at least two dozen tornados, including a possible ef-3, believed to have traveled more than 100 miles. >> a total loss, everything. >> reporter: mississippi was the hardest hit, seven lives lost including a 7-year-old boy, who died not far fro where these twin tornados were spotted. >> oh, wow. >> reporter: powerful winds flipped this semi. >> i already knew it was bad. i could tell from outside. >> reporter: 22-year-old haley hid under a mattress with her mother, grandmother and dogs. >> every house just about round us is gone. it's still standing, but it's not going to make it. >> reporter: search teams worked night

the mayor of clarkesville, mississippi, calls the damage there horrific. and officials here in memphis are worried that christmas decorations could become projectiles as these storms continue to fire up. phillip mena, abc news, memphis, tennessee. >> thank you. >>> it's been a busy christmas eve for law enforcement after those deadly storms. >> as video comes in showing how powerful these december winds knocked over a truck on a busy interstate in mississippi. meteorologist justin povick continues our coverage from accuweather. good morning. >> reena, kendis. thanks and good morning to you, as well. thankfully good news. the severe threat that hammered the tennessee valley with all the tornadoes and the damaging winds, that is a thing of the past. there will be some showers along the eastern seaboard. out west, we're concerned about some wet and wintry weather creating some big-time travel delays from san francisco on southbound. then as we kick out east, showers on the move, but temperatures will be record-breaking warm. reena and kendis, back toe you. >>

mississippi was the hardest hit. seven lives lost, including a seven-year-old boy. >> looks like there's two. >> reporter: who died not far from where these twin tornados were spotted. powerful winds flipped this semi. 22-year-old hailey dikes hid under a mattress with her mother, grandmother and dog. >> just about every house around us is gone. it's still standing but it's not going to make it. >> reporter: search teams work night and day going house to house looking for victims. >> we're just trying to go through the mangled up mess and just the disaster. >> reporter: mississippi governor declared a state of emergency in seven counties. >> families have lost loved this should be a joyous holiday season. >> reporter: in arkansas, high winds pushed a tree on to a house and killed 18-year-old mukayla miles and learned she was shielding her 18 month old sister, pected to be okay. and it's been battering georgia and alabama with hevheavy rain. and so many spending this holiday rebuilding homes and coping with heart brea

the mississippi river cresting now near st. louis. the water possibly reaching record levels with levees in some areas threatening to fail. will they give way? >>> and cosby's defense. lawyers for bill cosby vowing a vigorous defense against sexual assault charges they call unjustified. the 78-year-old comedian possibly facing up to 10 years in prison. will he take a plea agreement? i'll be asking one of his lawyers. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm brianna keilar. and you're in "the situation room." >>> this is cnn breaking news. >>> we are following breaking news. dramatic images from dubai. it's a fire that swept through a luxury high-rise hotel, massive flames leaping up the sides of the 63-story building lighting up the night sky as the new year arrived. at least 14 people are injured. and while there's no word yet on the cause, witnesses say they heard an explosion before the flames erupted. we're also following the arrest of a new york man who federal offic

the storms destroyed homes in mississippi, tennessee and arkansas. search teams are combing through the rubble for survivors. experts say the unseasonably warm weather contributed to the deadly conditions. in the west, two rare tornadoes touched down on christmas eve in california. don champion is here in new york. good morning, don. >> good morning, jamie. at least three tornadoes were reported across the country yesterday. in northern california, teams with the national weather service will head out to assess twisters that touched down there. >> reporter: on this holiday of giving, some people in northern california are taking stock of what's lost after an outbreak of tornadoes. blender, like they were in a blender, it was pretty scary. >> reporter: cell phone video captured the twisters roaring through el dorado county and modesto, bringing down power lines and uprooting trees. >> we've been here for 45 years, and we've never had anything >> reporter: mike churchill saw a tree crash down on his neighbor's car. a child was inside. >> the kid said h