i'm alina cho. fashion insiders know her name. you probably now her face, lindsey wixon, all of 17.to her high school prom, squeezing it in between trips to milan, paris and new york. it's a long way from the runway. she's the super model of the moment at 17 lindsey wixon has had a meteoric rise in fashion. >> i have friends that tell me, oh, lindsey you're famous. i know a famous person. >> reporter: she started modeling two years ago at 15, a week after posting photos on models.com. she got the attention of a famous photographer. then prada came calling. she has it all except for a ticket to the prom. >> i think it's time to show wichita a little glamour. >> reporter: that's right, wichita, kansas. wixson's hometown. she eem soon be there in a dress designed especially for her by jason wu, the same jason wu who designed michelle obama's dress for the inauguration. >> ooh, that's gorgeous. check it out. >> reporter: a one-of-a-kind. perks of being a super model. >> the lindsey dress. we're calling this the lindsey. >> it's so beautiful jason. thank you so much. >> reporter: the nex

i'm alina cho. sarah palin launching her bus tour at a biker rally. the former alaska governor in black, head to toe, but is she running for president? she talks exclusively to cnn on this "american morning." >>> good morning. this memorial day. >> good morning. >> kiran and ali are off today. we hope you will be doing some barbecuing later on. >> at least. >> waking up having a little coffee. >> that's right. >> on this holiday morning. >> and we've got a lot of news. we begin with the weather. first a new wave of spring storms is pounding the midwest. in fact, some of the worst damage is in battle creek, michigan. a storm packing 80-mile-an-hour winds snapped trees, brought down a lot of power lines. in fact, across the state some 100,000 homes and businesses lost power. >> a violent storm hit the chicago area. ferocious winds uprooting trees and sending them on the tops of houses and cars. >> the trees just doubled. it was the strongest wind i've seen in a long time. >> that's the important part.

i'm alina cho. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> hello. you're in the cnn newsroom this saturday, may 14th, i'm fredricka whitfield. saving two of louisiana's biggest cities at the sacrifice of flooding homes and farmland. that's what will likely happen as the u.s. army corps of engineers opens the morganza spillway beginning an hour from now. while opening the gaelts would slowly divert floodwaters from baton rouge and new orleans, areas in yellow could get up to 20 feet of water, in green up to 15 feet. the morganza spillway hasn't been opened in nearly 40 years. but for the u.s. army corps of engineers, it's a necessary move to protect major cities. they're going to open it slowly so people and wildlife are not caught by surprise. >> there's a slow opening for a lot of reasons. one is from an engineering perspective. the water will come out of here pretty quickly. you don't want to scour the back side of this structure. from an environmental perspective, ofb yous think there are lots of bear and other wildlife. we want to make sure they

as our alina cho tells us, it wasn't the big, huge, fanfare we've seen.timate affair. >> every single star seemingly on the planet was there. in fact, jerry seinfeld came on and at one point he said this is an exercise in finding out how much one person can take. everybody was there. as i said, seemingly every star on the planet kissed the ring that is oprah over the last couple days. a lot of people are wondering like the two of you, what will the final show have in store. this is a spoiler alert. consider yourself warned. >> pause. >> because we have found out. >> pause pause pause. >> that the final show will be oprah herself on stage, talking and saying good-bye to the 13,000 fans who were in the audience at the united center and, you know, it was really interesting because a lot of people thought, who will be on the stage with her. it will just be oprah herself, after 25 seasons, 5,000 shows, and countless lives changed, as i mentioned it was taped at the united center. it was the house that michael jordan built. you saw him there on the stage a mome

i'm alina cho. thanks for joining us. >> cnn newsroom with carol costello joins right now. hi, carol. >> hi. alina, do you want some coffee? >> i do! another cup, please! >> i'll get you some. thanks, guys. have a great day. >>> it is 9:00 a.m. on the east coast, 6:00 a.m. out west. i'm carol costello sitting in for kyra phillips. today, as you know, is memorial day, but it's a working holiday for some big-name politicians. the parades and gather erings aa traditional showcase. >>> a saudi prince wants oil prices to fall, and fast, before the u.s. ramps up its development of alternative fuels. his warning to arab oil producer comes amid a chilling prediction. goldman sachs says gas will reach $5 a gallon this summer. >>> and remembering the sacrifice s at arlington nationl cemetery. this morning, president obama takes part in ceremonies there, including a wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknowns. >>> let's talk politics now. presidential candidates, those who have declared, and those likely to, are reaching out to voters on this memorial day. oh, yeah, sarah palin