we have reports tonight from don teague and cynthia bowers. first, cynthia in poplar bluff, missouri. cynthia, i understand a major levee there has started to give way. >> reporter: that's right, katie. i'm standing in downtown poplar bluff, and i'm actually in water from the black river, which has torn through the levee here and overtaken the town. linda hooker has lived along the black river her whole life-- 70 years. this was the first time she's left, and it wasn't by choice. >> my family told me that i was their precious jewel. ( laughs ) they wanted me out. >> reporter: 92-year-old gertrude simpson could only look on nervously as her home of 50 years was overcome by floodwaters. >> oh, it's been terrible. terrible just to watch the water come up. >> reporter: her son roger waded in to gather anything he could carry out. on a scale of one to ten, how would you categorize this? >> well, this is probably about a nine. >> reporter: butler county sheriff mark dodd says six inches of rain last night sunk entire neighborhoods, causing more than

russ. >> mitchell: don teague in washington county, alabama, thank you very much. here's what else is happening tonight. there is yet another case of sleeping on the job by an air traffic controller to tell you about. this one happened today in miami. it is the sixth sleeping incident disclosed by the f.a.a. since mid-february, and this afternoon the federal government took action. chief white house correspondent chip reid has more. >> reporter: the latest instance of an air traffic controller caught sleeping on the job happened early this morning in miami at a facility that handles high-altitude traffic. according to the federal aviation administration, the controller did not miss any calls from aircraft and there was no operational impact. but in less than two months, controllers have now been found sleeping in six cities-- seattle, reno, nevada, lubbock, texas, knockville, tennessee, washington, d.c., and now miami. in the reno incident earlier this week, the controller slept through a medical emergency. >> we've got a pretty sick patient and we may have to land

don teague is in tennessee tonight. don, the weather has been especially violent this season. >> reporter: it's really been terrible katie, an active and violent spring tornado season, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes have caused, as we've seen, death and damage to property like this barn and this latest outbreak has been especially dangerous and widespread. meteorologists say the cause of today's tornado outbreak is cold, dry air pushing east from the midwest, colliding with warm, moist air from the gulf of mexico. the result? a moving line of dangerous storms. >> last year we got a slow start because the gulf of mexico was very cool. this year it's warm and more humid down there, and the humidity and the heat is just coming northward and that's what's causing all our tornadoes. >> reporter: spring through early summer is prime tornado season in the u.s. on average, april sees 163 tornadoes. but this april is only half over and we've already had nearly 160 tornadoes. >> this year it's so deadly because the tornadoes a

don teague, cbs news, grand isle, louisiana. >> couric: when we come back, out at home.a nasty divorce threw the l.a. dodgers into turmoil. and if you wake up often in the middle of the night... rest is here, on the wings of lunesta. lunesta helps you fall asleep and stay asleep, so you can wake up feeling rested. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. get lunesta for a $0 co-pay at lunesta.com. sleep well, on the wings of lunesta. you have frequent heartburn, right ? yeah, it flares u

>> couric: don teague in dallas. don, thanks very much.meanwhile, southwest ranks fifth in a new study of airline quality out today. airtran is number one, followed by hawaiian, jetblue and alaska. and while passenger complaints are up 28% overall, southwest got the fewest among major carriers. delta got the most per 100,000 passengers followed by united, u.s. airways, continental and american. in other news, a lot of people thought it was a terrible idea to put khalid sheikh mohammed and four other men on trial here in new york city for the 9/11 attacks. by one estimate, security alone would cost a billion dollars. today, the obama administration gave in, saying the suspects will instead be tried by the u.s. military at guantanamo. here's justice correspondent bob orr. >> reporter: in a stunning policy reversal, attorney general eric holder today conceded that confessed 9/11 mastermind khalid sheikh mohammed will be tried in a military tribunal. >> i believe that they can deliver fair trials and just verdicts. >> reporter: just 17 months

here's don teague. >> reporter: when 46-year-old todd peers' life ended in a fiery car crash 18 months >> i like to remember him that way. >> reporter: it was only the beginning of a lengthy battle for his family over the accidental death insurance policy provided by his employer. despite an official ruling that it was an accident, the insurance company met life claimed it was suicide and refused to pay the $224,000 claim for a death they claimed was the result of intentionally self-inflicted injury. >> it wasn't even about the money. it's about an allegation, how can you say that about a person when they have been such a survivor. >> reporter: a survivor, she said, because todd had recently beaten cancer and was planning for the future. she sued met life and was finally awarded the money a year after her husband's death. but according to an investigation by correspondent david evans published in bloomberg's magazine many life insurance beneficiaries whose claims are denied never see a dime. >> you have to wonder how many people just throw up their hands, give up and walk away. >> repo

meanwhile, cracks were found in three more southwest jets and don teague is in dallas with more on allning, jeff. those cracks were found after that truly terrifying incident for passengers on friday. that's when a five foot by one foot hole tore apart with a southwest airlines 737 shortly after it took off from phoenix. now, the plane landed safely and investigators are now trying to figure out what caused that plane to tear apart. inspectors say they have found multiple pre-existing cracks surrounding the tear. that was in that plane. southwest grounded 79 of its 737s for inspections in response and they've now found cracks on at least three of those planes and say further evaluation or repairs will be necessary before they fly again. >> i believe the boeing company is going to put out a service bulletin, the faa is going to be looking carefully at how they'll be able to do oversight and making sure maintenance and inspection is being done in the proper way. this may turn out to be we need to step up our inspection process to guarantee that we have the safest aircraft that we can pos

don teague, cbs news, dallas. u. >>> joining us from washington >>> joining us from washington is michael goldfarb, former chief of staff for the federal aviation administration. good morning. >> good morning, chris. >> i want to begin with the directive that requires inspections on the older model 737 300s. these tests, do they detect the cracks that caused the tear through the fuselage? >> the faa action today is going through an emergency airworthiness directive, a very, very strong action, more so than the boeing service bulletin for the aircrafts. the board is finding that the lap joints where the skin comes together at the most pressurized part of the aircraft, at the crown, at the roof, prior to this, that's never been inspected, other than visually. it was never assumed you could cause little crack there is. that's what this incident shows and that's why now they're going go across the fleet, not just the 300s, but the 400 models and 500 models to make sure we don't have a problem systemwide. >> are these

cbs news correspondent don teague is in hard-hit clinton, mississippi, with the latest. don, good morning. >> good morning, russ. we're now into the third day of this terrible tornado outbreak. as you mentioned there were more tornadoes overnight in alabama, and the death toll has risen, as well. even as mississippi begins to clean up. nature was unleashed here in mississippi friday as a tornado ripped down power lines. as it cut a deadly path of destruction through the countryside. residents heeding early warnings. >> they told us to take cover and i went in the bathroom and shut the door and it fell on my head. >> reporter: this was just one of some 30 tornados spotted in eight states. in push ka, oklahoma, the elementary, middle and high schools were all flattened as three tornadoes ripped through town thursday evening. tragedy struck in little rock, arkansas, when high winds toppled a massive tree there, killing a mother and her 8-year-old son as they slept inside their house. in all, seven people were killed in arkansas, as a result of the violent weather. on average

we will begin with don teague in arkansas this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, chris. it has been a terrible couple of days here in arkansas, severe thunderstorms, baseball-size hail, flooding and tornadoes. another round of tornadoes last night. that makes two nights in a row where there were tornadoes sweeping across this state. the worst still remains the one that came through velonia here on monday night. >> it used to sit on a foundation some 60 yards from here and destroyed some 60 homes and caused widespread damage. this tornado was between half a mile and a mile wide. it was on the ground from 11-13 miles when it went over the most populated parts of the city. the death toll stands at 11:00 across the state of arkansas. four of those are from tornado deaths that we are certain of. the other seven -- >> that was don teague reporting for us in balonia, arkansas. having some signal issues. >> we will move into southeast missouri where waterlogged levees have been under pressure for days. cbs news correspondent, cynth

. >> i'm don teague in dallas. it's the eve of the busy spring home-buying season in texas, a shutdown couldn't come at a worse time. because the federal housing administration would stop processing loan applications. nationwide, that would put some 35,000 deals every week on ice. atlanta-based sun trust bank is among those urging its processors to finish up current mortgage applications before it's too late. >> i'm dan boyce in bozeman, montana, the gateway for the three million tourists that visit yellowstone national park every year. the tiny village of gardner has waited all year for the park to open. businesses are entirely dependent on park visitors, and a long shutdown would be catastrophic. >> we probably couldn't go more than a week or two until it had some major effects. >> i'm terri mccarthy in san clemente, california, next to camp pendleton, home to 42,000 marines. military families here are getting increasingly worried that they will lose their paychecks in a shutdown. like erika, whose husband is wit

chris. >> cbs's don teague. . >>> joining us now with more on the investigation is decatur county sheriff roy wyatt. sheriff, good morning. >> good morning. >> as far as the search is concerned, what will you and your men be doing today? >> well, it all depends upon the weather that we have. we have thundershowers and thunderstorms in the area now and it's predicted that it will be very bad today. it will all depend on how the weather pattern plays out. >> i know you and your men have been working around the clock. this is a small, tight-knit community. do you have any leads? were there any developments overnight? >> no, sir, not that i have heard about this morning. we're still in our very early stages of investigation, following up every lead, everything that we can find we're following up on it at this time. >> her older brother witnessed his younger sister being dragged by this suspect. he was able to call 911. has he been able to give you any type of idea as to what type of man you're looking for or what the

before we speak with four of the survivors, here's cbs news correspondent don teague with a look backeporter: it's the kind of disaster that wasn't supposed to happen. a catastrophic explosion on board the deepwater horizon drilling platform that led to the worst oil spill in u.s. history. but forgotten in the year since the accident are the workers struck by the tragedy when the well had a blowout deep below the surface in the gulf of mexico. >> tonight there's a desperate search in the gulf of mexico for 11 workers. >> reporter: there were 126 crew members on board the rig. 11 workers never had a chance, their bodies never recovered. wednesday the victims families will gather for a solemn memorial that includes a fly-over of the area where the rig once stood. >> my brothers at the bottom of the gulf of mexico. he shouldn't be there. none of them should be there. >> reporter: the raging fire fed by oil and gas burned out of control for two days before the deepwater horizon sank in some 5,000 feet of water. investigators have spent the last year trying to determine the exact cause of

don teague, cbs news, dallas. >>> and joining us now from nashville with the latest on the search is of investigation. good morning. >> good morning. >> day five. so where is the investigation headed today? >> well, we have over 250 leads that we're looking at. we also have a good bit of evidence that's been analyzed at the crime lab right now, and we've also engaged the community. and asked for their support and their help. so i think we're on the right track. it's just going to take for something to come in and really take us to the next level in the investigation. >> if you could just clarify something for us. i know there've been some conflicting reports the last couple of days whether holly was weather dragged into the woods. the new report is that she was led into the woods. whether it was potentially her boyfriend or not her boyfriend, her brother, was an eyewitness to all of this. can you clear fie why the story has changed in the last few days? >> well, we don't believe that holly was dragged into the woods. we think, based on her brother, who is the only witness, that she w

cbs news correspondent don teague is at the kennedy space center with the latest. hey, don, good morning. >> good morning, rebecca. it was a disappointing day here at the kennedy space center for a crowd that was expected to exceed half a million people, for a highly anticipated launch. a part because gabrielle giffords was here to see it. it was supposed to be a dramatic turn in the recovery of gabrielle giffords, and an important mission for nasa. the space shuttle "endeavour" was set to launch into space friday afternoon. with astronaut mark kelly in command. his injured wife watching from a nearby building. and even president obama and the first family on hand. >> today the orbiter is not ready to fly. >> reporter: instead, the launch was scrubbed. delayed at least three days because of trouble with the heaters on an auxiliary power unit. >> they generate the hydraulic power to move the wing flap and to drop the landing gear, as well as to move the nozzle to the main engines for steering. so it's a critical system. >> reporter: with the launch delayed by just a

don teague has the latest on that. >> reporter: you can see it's windy here, which is a bit troublesomehancf go today for the shuttle launch. first and foremost as you mentioned because gabrielle giffords is here to watch her husband, astronaut mark kelly, launch into space on "endeavour"s a commander of this mission. it's the first time the congresswoman has traveled since her transfer to a houston rehabilitation center which >>> and now back to erica in london. if you could possibly line up one of those blue aston martin convertibles and bring it back with you to the states, that would be great. >> jeff, why did you have to ruin the surprise? all right, it won't be as exciting now >> excellent. >> just ahead, we reveal jeff's big surprise gift. but to the biggest mystery of the day managed to remain a secret until the very last moment, kate's bridal gown. now that we have seen the gorgeous dress, now we know who is steiner is, how about a review from the man who designed princess diana's gown? [ boy ] there's something inside your mcdonald's happy meal. where? it's really good. do you

don teague in dallas with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. boeing engineers say they knew metal fatigue was a possibility on the older model 737s. they were surprised it happened on an aircraft with fewer than 40,000 flight cycles. that's one reason the faa and southwest airlines moved so quickly. on the same day the faa ordered emergency inspections on 175 boeing 737s, southwest airlines announced it had completed its inspections, and found minor subsurface cracking on five of the aircraft, which will remain grounded until repairs have been completed. the inspections, using electromagnets, prompted by last week's rupture and rapid decompression of southwest flight 812. >> we do not expect aircraft in service today to rapidly decompress in flight and to have a situation where the airplane fuselage is ripping open. >> reporter: the chair of the ntsb says the agency was surprised by the incident, because the aircraft wasn't old by industry standards, and had fewer than 40,000 takeoff and landing cycles. >> the safety board is not focused on the