joel brown is monitoring the story from washington and joins us live. good morning, joel. what's the latest on the storms? >> reporter: local reports describe a tornado a half mile wide. one small town an arkansas resident put it this way -- the town is gone. the tiny town of villonia, arkansas has been nearly wiped off the map. a twister tore through the town on monday, killing two people and destroying more than 50 homes. dozens of residents remain unaccounted for. statewide, five people are dead from storms and flooding and 100,000 are without power. in some areas, the trail of destruction is nearly three miles wide. tornadoes touched down in texas and oklahoma. days of relentless rain forced evacuations and rescues from arkansas to illinois. more storms are expected today, with another major system moving in later this week. >> this is the worse i've ever seen. i talked to two or three people who have been here and they said this is the worst since '82. >> nowhere is the flood greater than in poplar bluff, missouri, entire communities are headed to higher ground after

joel brown in washington for us. thank you, joel. >>> another top official in the libyan government has defected. the country's ambassador to the united nations reportedly defected to egypt yesterday. earlier this week, foreign minister moussa koussa defected to london. he's being questioned about the inner workings of the gadhafi regime. and it is believed koussa played a key role in the bombing of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie, scotland. >> moussa koussa was personally responsible for the actual organization of it. the orders to do it clearly came from moammar gadhafi himself. a a >> british officials say koussa left his family in libya, and described his state of mind as, quote, fragile. koussa is not being offered immunity. >>> it's reported that japanese government plans to bail out the tokyo electric power company, which owns the crippled fukushima nuclear power plant. a japanese newspaper reports this morning that the government plans to inject tepco with public funds and offer debt guarantees. but will not

>>> all right, joel brown in washington for us this morning. thank you, joel. >> now to the dead-locked budget talks. with the government shutdown looming friday, key lawmakers are meeting with president obama this morning at the white house. house republicans have come up with a third stop-gap measure, something they said they would not do. a one-week deal that cuts spending by $12 billion and funds the pentagon for the next six months. the obama administration is advising government agencies to prepare for a shutdown. more than a month ago, the republican-led house passed the bill calling for $61 billion in budget cuts. the senate never acted on the measure. >>> and later this morning, the republicans will propose their budget plan for next year. the chairman of the house budget committee said the plan will cut more than $6 trillion from the budget over the next ten years. it includes significant changes to health care plans, medicaid and medicare. seniors would receive medicare coverage from private insurance companies. >> medicare itself lit

joel brown joining us live in washington. thank you. >>> as joel reported, it is not just money that is holding up the deal, republicans want to cut off federal funds for planned parenthood and reduce the power of the environmental protection agency. correspondent nancy cordes asked senate majority leader harry reid about that. >> reporter: mr. leader, you say that this all comes down to clean air and abortion while the speaker says, no, it's all about spending cuts. how can the two of you have such a different idea of what's going on in that room? aren't you in there together? >> the fact is there are two things holding this up. one dealing with women's health. and one dealing with another rider dealing with the environmental protection agency. >> so are you saying he's lying? >> he can stretch things all he wants, but that, in fact, is the truth. >> this morning it is reported that republicans may be willing to soften their position on funding for planned parenthood. >>> government agencies have been told to prepare for a sh

all right, joel brown joining us live in washington. thank you, joel. >>> various government agencies are already notifying workers of possible layoffs should the negotiations fail. if there is a partial government shutdown, the irs would be among the agencies affected. income tax refunds would be delayed, but you still have to file by monday's deadline. >>> one of president obama's childhood friends has been arrested in honolulu. robert titcomb was one of four men arrested monday night on suspicion of soliciting a prostitute. titcomb seen wearing the print shirt often played golf and dined with the president when he visited hawaii. >>> federal aviation officials are investigating another incident of an air traffic controller sleeping on the job. the controller worked at the knoxville, tennessee, airport. the faa says he deliberately went to sleep during his midnight shift on february 19th. a co-worker was left to handle both incoming planes and other aircraft in the area. >> regarding this situation, at no time were the passengers, base

joel brown has been tracking the storms overnight from washington. good morning, joel. what's the latest? >> betty, good morning. no mercy this tornado season as residents spent another night scrambling for cover across several states. it's like a recurring weather nightmare. >> i went in my bedroom and i crawled under that bed as far as i could get and waited under it. >> reporter: for the second straight night a powerful line of thunderstorms including a pack of tornadoes pounded the southern plains. hundreds of homes were damaged from east texas to tennessee. arkansas took another direct hit. at least one person died. days of relentless rain have washed out highways and every night brings more trouble. monday, flash floods and a monster twister left ten dead. nathan ford and his family barely escaped last night when his home was crushed by fallen trees. >> the living room, the dining room, the bathroom, the bedroom. [ thunder ] the kitchen, the whole house shifted. >> reporter: a lightning strike in michigan sent nine people to the hospital, one in serious condition,

joel brown is in washington with a preview. good morning, joel. what are the details around this debt reduction? >> reporter: betty, i think both sides are going to have some issues with this. if you thought last week's budget battle that almost shut down the government was tough, this will be even tougher. president obama's deficit reduction plan is expected to include a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes. >> the point is that balance is essential. the burden has to be shared by everyone. >> reporter: in a speech this afternoon, he'll push for reforms to the nation's costly medicare and medicaid programs and an end to bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. the president's proposal is vastly different from the one republican congressman paul ryan unveiled last week. >> this is the path to prosperity. >> reporter: ryan's plan trims more than $5 trillion from the deficit over the next decade through steep cuts to programs including medicare. it also lowers taxes for higher income earners. >> in a sense, the president needed paul ryan's hous

>> all right, joel brown in washington for us. thank you, joel. >>> a report by the congressional budget office on the 2011 budget deal concludes we will not see that estimated $38 billion in savings. at least not this fiscal year. the cbo finding says it produces less than 1% of the savings promised by september 30th. the actual cut just $352 million. the reason, many of the cuts are in so-called slow spending accounts and won't have an immediate impact. >>> north korea says it has arrested and is preparing to indict a u.s. citizen who has been held captive since november. the north koreans won't say what the crime was that was committed, but a south korean news agency reports the korean-american is being detained in the north for allegedly preaching christianity. >>> still more trouble this morning at japan's crippled nuclear power plant. engineers are trying to figure out how to remove the spent fuel at one reactor, where radiation is surging, and temperatures are rising. officials say radiation levels in the sea near the plant

joel brown has more now from washington. good morning, joel. >> betty, good morning to you. yeah, it was the highest profile resignation yet. the sleepy air traffic controllers have woken up washington to the dangers, and lawmakers want answers. the faa is trying to put the issue of sleepy air traffic controllers to rest. following seven incidents where staffers dozed off on the job, air traffic chief hank krakowski abruptly resigned thursday. the faa is also beefing up shifts, adding a second person to overnights at more than two dozen airports and conducting a sweeping review of the entire system. >> we'll get to the bottom of this. but i want the flying public to know we're not sitting around trying to, just make excuses. >> reporter: the shake-up comes after a medical flight with a sick patient couldn't make contact with a sleeping controller in reno wednesday. >> they're not answering the phone line either. >> reporter: the pilot eventually landed safely, but the incident only added to growing concern over controller exhaustion. >> people are being scheduled to a point

>> joel brown in washington for us this morning. joel, thank you. meanwhile on capitol hill, the budget clock is ticking. lawmakers have until friday to pass the 2011 budget. either that, or face a partial government shutdown. staff members worked through the weekend to try and fashion an agreement. democrats say they'd go along with cutting $33 billion from this year's budget. six weeks ago the republican-controlled house passed a bill calling for $61 billion in cuts. the senate never took it up. >> americans as a whole are very upset about the size and scope of the federal government. we're trying to reduce spending and our democratic friends are hanging on to old ideas that every time you try to reduce spending you're being cruel and mean. >> both republicans and democrats agree a government shutdown would not be a good thing. >> at the end of the day, the american people don't care who has bragging rights at the end of this. they want to make certain we are responsible and work together, both political parties. >> tomorrow, house republicans are

joel brown, cbs news, washington. >> our time right now is 4:38. at 4:42, you no longer have to worry about a screaming, crying child because you're now on a child-free airline. we'll explain shortly. >> no controversy there. >> parking in one local community just went high tech. all you have to have is a smart phone. >> up next though, a quick check on the forecast to get you out the door. we're back with your weather first in two minutes. >> we're expecting cloudy conditions and yes, light rain after this morning turning to snow in some locations. temperatures will be in the 40s by 9:00. and we should see the rain tapering off though by the afternoon. mostly cloudy conditions by 1:00 p.m. 48 degrees then we'll be topping out our highs in the low 50s. may see some variable cloudiness but overall, kind of a gray and chilly, wet start to the morning. we're seeing some snow reports coming out of montgomery county this morning out of clarksburg. so, you may see the rain changing to snow in some locations. here is a look now. i'm tossing back to traffi

joel brown is in washington with details. joel, good morning to you. >> terrell, good morning to you. it was an especially bloody weekend in libya, with gadhafi's forces pounding one rebel stronghold, and then at the dictator's compound, nato warplanes turned the table. the overnight air strike targeted the heart of moammar gadhafi's regime. his compound in tripoli. state tv showed the rebel from what it said was a library, and office. a libyan official reported four people hurt. it's unknown if gadhafi was present when the attack occurred. while his compound has been hit before, this strike was the most significant yet. and comes just hours after u.s. lawmakers hit the airwaves to demand more be done to drive the libyan dictator from power. >> the people around gadhafi need to wake up every day wondering, will this be my last? the way to get gadhafi to leave is have his inner circle break and turn on him, and that's going to take a sustained etch for the through an air campaign. i think the focus should now be to cut the hea

as joel brown tells us the late night deal came with little time to spare. >> reporter: just minutes before the midnight deadline, president obama walked to the podium to announce the government would not shut down. >> the washington monument as well as the entire federal government will be open for business. >> reporter: the president top senate speaker harry reid and john boehner announced they would not shutdown. >> we fought to keep the government spending down because it really will in fact help to create a better environment. >> both sides had to make tough choices but tough choices is what this job is all about. >> reporter: the deal may be done but it's not official yet. there wasn't time for them to turn it into a bill and sign it. so they raced to make another bill to keep the senate open for another week. because the two sides had reached a deal, the top white house budget official ordered federal agencies not to shut down at midnight. that was welcome news for about 800,000 federal employees who were preparing to stay home without pay starting to today. this budget battle

joel brown is one of the few people not in london. he is down at the kennedy space center.t's the feeling down there? >> reporter: a lot of excitement. good morning. there is a definite buzz in the air at kennedy space center and a lot of it has to do with the guest list, president obama and congresswoman gabrielle giffords. just three months after being shot in the head in the mass shooting in tucson she will be here to watch captain mark kelly commanding endeavour to fly off for the last time. president obama just the third signature u.s. president to watch a shuttle launch in person and the fact that this is the final launch of space shuttle endeavour. it's the next-to-last shuttle launch in the complete nasa shuttle program. as many as 750,000 people are expected here up and down the state coast to watch endeavour take off today. crowds could rival the numbers they saw back in the 60s and '70s watching the apollo moon launch. >> so joel, where will congresswoman gabrielle giffords be watching the launch? will we see her? >> reporter: we are not expecting to see her. she

i'm joel brown. coming up. morning. >>> showers in the bay area right now, castro valley, hayward, light to moderate amounts of rainfall, isolated thunderstorms today. we'll have more coming up. >> keep the umbrella handy. lawrence, thanks very much. it is 6:11. >>> phillip garrido expected to plead guilty this morning. he and his wife, nancy, facing numerous charges including kidnapping, rape and false imprisonment in the jaycee dugard case. dugard was just 11 years old when she was abducted in southlake leak back in 1991. -- south lake tahoe back in 1991. she was discovered 18 years later. he face 431 years in jail. nancy garrido could get 181 if convicted. she has pled not guilty in the case. >>> also this morning, the announcement of a verdict in a civil trial connected to an alleged gang-rape in santa clara county. the case involves two members of the de anza college baseball team. sued by a young woman who says she was raped at an off-campus party four years ago. she is seeking $7.5 million in damages. si

joel brown has the latest. >> reporter: these cheering supporters refused to leave moammar gadhafi's tripoli compound so they can stay on as human shields. >> we are not afraid. we will always protect our leader. >> reporter: on state tv thursday, the ruler released a statement saying he's not the one who should go. but that's exactly what rebel forces are demanding. they fired rockets to try to retake the oil town of braga, still their weapons proved no match for gadhafi's better- equipped troops. officials estimate about a quarter of gadhafi's forces have been knocked out of action but still have a 10-1 advantage over the rebels. >> what the opposition needs as much as anything right now is some training, some command and control and some organization. >> on capitol hill thursday, top military leaders acknowledge the rebels need help. but said if anyone is going to arm or train them, it shouldn't be the u.s. >> do you know if there is any time in the future there are going to be boots on the ground in libya? >> not as long as i'm in this job. >> now that nato is in control, the pen

joel brown live in washington, thank you, joel. good luck covering this today. >> thanks, joel. >>> you think about all. -- what they consider nonessential employees who will be cut off from a paycheck, don't go to work. the soldiers who don't get paid over in iraq and afghanistan. very tough times for their families if they can't get something done. >> and i believe a lot of things will continue. security here on the homefront and that kind of thing. a lot of nonessential things will affect all o us. >>> phillip garrido backing out of a plea deal in his kidnapping case. why his attorney is challenge the actions of the grand jury. >> on the day of the giants home opener barry bonds could learn his fate. what he is facing if he is convicte coming up. >> what's being kept a secret at at&t park until tomorrow. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you >>> here's a check of today's top stories. the driver who hit a chp officer in san jose has now been arrested for dui. it happened just before 2 a.m. as the officer responded to an accident on the north

joel brown is in washington, d.c. joins us now with more on that. joel, what is the latest?tell you what, if democrats and republicans may be closer to striking a deal this morning. late last night, top democrats and top republicans met again on the hill. then this morning, democratic senator charles schumer came out and said he saw glimmers of hope in the negotiations. so he said progress has been made but no deal yet, guys. >> president obama has been involved in some of these meetings. how involved does need to be or need to get to make this happen? >> reporter: look, yesterday's meetings were a bust at the white house, then we heard president obama come out to the white house briefing room and say in frustration he was going to call lawmakers back to the white house every day until a deal could be reached. that may be a hard promise to keep at least today. house speaker boehner is meeting with the president of israel this morning not long before president obama's scheduled to take off on a trip to philadelphia and new york. so schedules are tight but the clock is winding

>>> all right, joel brown joining us live in washington. thank you, joel. >>> federal inspectors are trying to find out why three workers in nebraska were exposed to excess radiation. it happened april 3 at the cooper nuclear station southeast of lincoln. the officials say the amount of radiation workers received was higher than expected but did not exceed safety limits. >>> here in new york, aviation officials are investigating a ruppway collision between a jumbo jet and a smaller commuter aircraft. it happened last night on a taxi way at kennedy airport. the wing tip of an airbus a-380 the largest plane, clipped the tale of the comair jet spinning it like a toy. air france flight seven was heading to paris. the conair jet was headed to boston with 66 people onboard. the passengers from the smaller plane was shaken. >> suddenly a big bang from one side of the plane. it sounded like smashing glass or something -- something's broken. >> both jets were towed away for inspection and repair. >> the mayor of washington, d.c. has been released fro

and we will have a live update from cbs news reporter joel brown in washington about 10 minutes -- in about 10 minutes here on cbs 5. >>> it's 5:07. for about a week and a half it was feeling like summer and now we're kind of taking a little step back. >> a little bit of winter weather but not too bad. scattered showers, right, lawrence? >> yes, not a total washout. definitely a step backwards as we are seeing showers around the bay area and boy, it's going to be chilly in many parts of our area today. you have those scattered showers continuing, some pockets of some moderate amounts of rainfall as we take new for a closer look toward the san jose area. you can see this yellow showing up, pockets of moderate amounts of rain. out the door be careful. it will be wet on the roads and occasionally you can see showers coming down pretty good. it's going to scattered on and off throughout the day today so you'll likely sneak a little sunshine in between some of the clouds and that could actually give rise to some of those thunderstorms especially in the afternoon. that cold air dropping fro

joel brown joins us now from the nation's capital. joel, good morning.t on the budget talks? >> reporter: sydnie, good morning to you. negotiators were at the bargaining table until 3 a.m. but they woke up this morning and there is still no deal. democrats and republicans are said to agree on about 70% or so of the budget cuts in this thing. but the question is, this morning, whether harry reid and john boehner at some point today with just hours left will go back to their respective caucuses and say, look, we have negotiated as much as we can, we fought as hard as we could but this deal is take it or leave it. we'll see. >> is there one major sticking point? i know there are probably several but they have to figure it out. >> reporter: several, frank. really just depends on who you talk to. democrats say the republicans are holding up this budget deal because of -- they don't agree on regulations on abortion and environmental protection. republicans say no, this is bigger than that. we're concerned about the budget cuts but it's not certain yet on just

joel brown is in washington with the latest. good morning, joel. >> betty, good morning to you. well, he has tried to stay above the fray, but with the clock winding down, the president's put himself right in the middle of washington's budget battle. president obama is putting the pressure on lawmakers to hammer out a budget deal. >> nobody gets 100% of what they want. >> reporter: the president says he'll summon congressional leaders to the white house every day until an agreement is reached, but time is running out. if a budget's not passed by midnight friday, the federal government will be forced to shut down. house speaker john boehner says both sides are still far apart. >> we're not going to allow the senate nor the white house to put us in a box where we have to make a choice between two bad options. >> reporter: democrats agreed on $33 billion in cuts, that's a little more than half of what the gop was asking for but republicans say it's still not enough. >> they talk about compromise, but their goal is to shrink government up so small, they can drown it in a bathtub. >>