Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom 20110529 : vimarsana.com

CNNW CNN Newsroom May 29, 2011



rooftops. people were marched to demand the release of political prisoners and the bullets rained down. and sarah palin thundering into d.c. today, but is she ready to roll into the presidential race? the best political team on television is weighing in. i'm drew griffin. the news starts now. in the headlines tonight president obama went to joplin, missouri, today. it was his first chance to see the unimaginable damage caused by last sunday's ef-5 tornado. he spoke at a memorial service for the 142 known victims. a live look at the president's visit just ahead. and sarah palin drew attention riding on the back of a motorcycle in rolling thunder. despite all the symbolism of the moment, the former alaska governor insists she is just riding, not running, at least not yet. >> i'm an american. i have no title, i have no office, and to be an american citizen with the freedom to come out here and assemble and thank our veterans, i can't tell you how honored i am. lockheed martin says the information network system has been attacked but no customer information was compromised. this is one of the largest defense contractors. they said the security team detected the attack last weekend. it says president obama and government officials were briefed on the incident. this is that heavy gunfire ringing out in southern yemen today. security forces and gunmen in civilian clothing opening fire on protestors. this is in the city of tiez. thee people were killed, 90 others injured. there were also explosions occurring near the capital. they were demanding that the president step down. serbian police clashed with protestors in belgrade today. the demonstrators protesting thursday's arrest of war crimes suspect ratco mladic. people were kicking them ending with 20 people injured. mladic is accused of ordering the murder of muslims in the 1970's civic war. president obama is due back at the white house this hour after spending several hours in joplin, missouri. it was exactly one week ago that an ef-5 tornado ripped through the city killing at least 142 people in minutes. a moment of silence will happen at 6:41 eastern. 35 minutes from now. it will mark the precise instant that tornado hit. our dan lothian is traveling with the president. dan, people are happy the president came or was it a distraction? >> reporter: no, they were pleased the president did make a visit. he was overseas for a number of days and was not able to come here any sooner than now, but according to white house aids throughout the time of his journeys across europe he did get briefed by his top aides and received a briefing this morning. the president flying in here and he circled around the area where it was most heavily impacted by that tornado. the president getting an aerial view and then landing on the ground along with some local state officials. the president had a chance to see the damage and devastation up close. he also met with some of the people who survived the storm, the tornado. and then the president attended the memorial service where he spoke for about 15 minutes talking about some of the touching emotional stories that occurred throughout this tragedy where complete strangers helped each other, where one individual nearly gave his life in order to help others survive the killer tornado. and then the president said that the u.s., the federal government would stand by the people of joplin and would not desert them, even after the cameras have gone. >> we will be with you every step of the way. we are not going anywhere. the cameras may leave, the spotlight may shift, but we will be with you every step of the way until joplin is restored and this community is back on its feet. we are not going anywhere! [ applause ] >> reporter: so the president also had a message for all americans encouraging them to support the various organizations that are busy providing food and shelter for the hundreds of people who have been displaced by the tornado. >> dan lothian in joplin. thank you, dan. last sunday's twister left a pile of mangled debris said to be five or six miles long, but casey anthony checked it out for himself to find out it was twice that length. >> reporter: show us the initial damage from the tornado. >> initially the little trees started through there and then it went over here, that's the trailer, the working trailer. >> so this is ground zero of the joplin tornado. we are going to drive its entire length from west to east to get a good picture of just how widespread the damage was. here's the first downed power lines, major electrical transmission lines. one reason much of joplin is without electrical power. so less than a mile into our journey you see the first homes that have lost part of their roofs. you can see over on this house a sign warning looters will be shot. you can see some of the power company crews who are working on repairing these downed electrical lines. that will be vital to this area as it recovers. we are three miles into our journey, by the time the tornado got here it destroyed almost everything in its path. including one of the iconic images of the disaster, st. john's hospital. now about four miles into the path of the tornado, this is where we first came just hours after it hit. we spoke with a family who was trying to savage what they could despite the hailstorm. >> it was normally starting off in hail, i'm used to that, and it just went insane afterwards. >> reporter: here's the collapsed home depot where we met andrea osborne desperately searching for her dad. >> my dad and uncle are in there. and i'm hoping to god they are okay. >> reporter: it turned out they were buried in the rubble. we are now seven miles to the east of where the tornado first touched down. as you can see, there's still lots of damage here so those original estimates of six miles on the ground are way too conservative. this is where jim and stacy richards live. stacy survived by hanging on to two dog crates as her home collapsed around and on top of her. >> that was awful. laying there, screaming and screaming and screaming -- it was horrible. >> reporter: this week they got their insurance settlement so they can rebuild. how far east did it go? >> i'm not sure, there's damage over in the next mile section. >> reporter: we are now 12 miles due east of where we started this journey and where the tornado first touched down. this is the area where locals say the tornado actually lifted off the ground meaning its path is twice as long as first estimated. >> casey wynan is joining us live in this report. very interesting report in the trail of agony all along the way. what stood out most about this? >> reporter: what stood out most to me was just the scope, the magnitude of this. we have been hearing all week that the tornado went for six miles on the ground. it seemed to us that maybe it was longer than that, so we thought we would check it out for ourselves. i want to point out that the national weather service today updated their estimate of the path of this tornado. they used aerial reconnaissance photographs to look at the tree tops to see where leaves and branches were gone. they came one 13 miles, a path that sort of went like this and then like this. ours was a straight line, 12 miles, so pretty close. all we know is the tornado was on the ground for a lot longer than people first thought, drew. i also want to mention one more thing. over my left shoulder you mentioned that moment of silence, the ceremony that is about to happen, those are the folks that are gathering for that. they are expecting several hundred people here at this site just south side of st. john's medical center. there are several other sites around the city where they are hoping folks will gather and on receiver that moment of silence, which is expected to come in a half hour or so, drew. >> casey, we will join the people there and observe that with them, hopefully, within the next half hour or so. casey wynan reporting from from lynn, missouri. here are the other stories we are following. why are we seeing so many powerful tornadoes this year? we'll show you the science on how they are formed next. and sarah palin rolling into the nation's capital with bikers. we'll tell you why and what she said today to our cameras. that's just ahead. so me and the boys earned a trip to dc twice as fast! oh hi! we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast... one more chariot please. ...we can bring the whole gang! i cannot tell a lie. he did it. right... it's hard to beat double miles! read my lips -- no new axes! [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one, money magazine's best rewards card if you aim to rack up airline miles. what's in your wallet? so, you're a democrat right? what's in your wallet? host: could switchco did the little piggy cry wee wee wee all thy home?? piggy: weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeee weeeeeeee. mom: max. ...maxwell! gg mom: you're home piggy: oh,cool, thanks mrs. a. anncr: gei. mutes could save you 15% or more. web browsing on the new blackberry playbook? ♪lash! ah ahh... that's right, it runs flash. so unlike some tablets we could mention, you get the best of the internet, not just part of it. ♪ flash! ah ahh... ♪ 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. we have just gotten some new information that may increase the death toll in joplin, missouri. the deputy director of missouri's department of public safety held a news conference saying there are now 146 sets of human remains. if that holds that would be up four. new bodies found, just releasing that information this afternoon. we will continue to follow that as we continue to follow the aftermath of this storm. you know, the signature of last sunday's tornado in joplin, missouri, was its size and power. earlier this week i asked cnn meteorologist chad myers how a tornado of such veracity can form. it is a volatile mixture of heat and moisture as you'll see. >> reporter: humidity on the ground, it starts to rise. like a hot-air baa log. the sun comes out to warm the ground and the air wants to rise. as the air rises into space it goes up higher and higher and gets into colder and colder air. so all the particles start to congeal down here. all the humidity comes in and then it goes straight up in the air. you can see the towering cumulus clouds, a lot like everything in the northern hemisphere that spins to the right and everything in the southern hemisphere that spins to the left. eventually if you move this stuff long enough on the way up, literally 60,000 feet in the sky, 12 miles from the surface to the top, you will get this spin and eventually the whole storm spins into the back half, we call it the mesocyclone, the conservation of mo pen tim momentum like an ice skater she skates faster and faster. at the bottom a tornado falls out and comes out of the storm. >> we'll have much more on the science of tornadoes and why this year has been so deadly coming up in our one-hour special, "a twister's fury" at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. there are still 44 people unaccounted for after the tornado in from lynn, joplin, and jacqui jeras met a woman who didn't know if her grandmother was alive for days. jacqui helped track down the answer. >> they had seen an elderly woman digging through the rubble but don't know where she went. i can't locate her either. >> reporter: tab that friedman has been trying for days to locate her 67-year-old grandmother, ellen. here the homes are so demolished and have to be identified by spray paint on the sidewalk. >> that's the bathroom and they always say the safest place to be is in the bathroom. look, it is just -- even if she would have been in there she wouldn't have made it because it is collapsed on itself. >> reporter: tab that drove to joplin from oklahoma hoping to get answers after not being able to contact nearby relatives and trying online services. >> i still have a lot of friends and family in joplin and it is just the not knowing, you know. i know a lot of people are missing loved ones. >> reporter: earlier i met neighbor aaron cole who knows almost everyone on the block. >> yeah, she is alive. she got stuck in her basement door entryway, she's all right, too. and i know ms. friedman did make it. she's in the hospital somewhere. >> okay, that will make it easier to find her. >> we called friedman hospital in joplin to see if she was there, she wasn't. in the confusion immediately following the tornado the records show that she was transferred to three different hospitals. we were ready to try them all. yes, i'm looking for a possible patient. ellen freeman. i do. thank you very much. she's in room 612 in arkansas. grandma ellen freeman was found okay and resting in an arkansas hospital. >> is ellen freeman in this room. okay, this is her granddaughter and just now figured out where she's at. well -- okay, no, that's fine. as long as i know where she's at now. >> reporter: tabitha plans to get to know her grandmother now. it is kind of sad to see it takes this to make you realize that you don't really have all that long because you never know when it is going to end, you know? i mean, for all i know, she could have been crushed or died or something. >> wow, what a story. so interesting that must have been played out hundreds of times across joplin, people just not knowing where to find her. how is her grandmother? >> she is doing better in the hospital right now. she's had a couple surgeries since that time. she's not critical but still fragile enough that tabitha has not been able to speak to her. she is too weak to talk, still. >> i was impressed with the neighbor on the block saying this one is there, this one is okay, was that the story of joplin in just multiple people searching for their loved ones? >> oh, yeah. people wanted to try to help each other as much as they could. aaron cole in the story knew everyone. his grandparents lived there, he mowed the grass of miss freeman, so we were able to connect. it gave you the idea of the chaos of the moments after the tornado and even the days after, there was no communication. tabitha was not able to reach relatives in the town because their cell phones were out of service. she tried online services and none of that worked for her. so she got in her truck and drove to oklahoma. she was going to do everything she could to find the answers. >> thank you so much. a positive story on this long week. >> it is nice to get a couple. >> thanks. i'm an american. i have no title, i have no office. and to be -- >> no title, no office, but sarah palin making a lot of noise. thousands of bikers joined her to honor the nation's veterans. hear what she had to say to our cameras next. building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. i know what works differently than many other allergy medications. omnaris. omnaris, to the nose! did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? 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[ man ] omnaris. ask your doctor. battling nasal allergy symptoms? omnaris combats the cause. get omnaris for only $11 at omnaris.com. oh, i'm here to support our vets with the rolling thunder. we are making sure americans don't forget our vets are owed a debt of gratitude. i'm an american. i have no title, i have no office. and to be an american citizen with the freedom to come out here and assemble and thank our veterans, i can't tell you how honored i am to be invited to participate. >> what about the latest bus tour? >> the bus tour is to get out there and remind americans about our foundation and our constitution and the historical sites that should be a reminder every day to every american by how important it is to stand strong on our foundation and build upon what made us the greatest country on earth. >> that, of course, is the one and only sarah palin hanging out with her family and thousands of bikers. they gather every memorial day weekend in d.c. to honor america's vets. palin's appearance at rolling thunder caused a bit of a sensation. peter is here with more. peter, you know sarah palin and covered her during the 2008 campaign. she said it is just a citizen, a lot of people think today's event is a much bigger deal. is this a calculated move to get back in the spotlight? >> reporter: the short answer is yes, this is absolutely a calculated move. if you recall just earlier this week, pundits in d.c., republican insiders declared the republican presidential field to be a done deal. sarah palin enjoys the spotlight, she was lying low for several months and then all of a sudden you saw a flurry of news about her political and public activities coming out. and the short answer as people in washington sort of decide on their own what the presidential field is going to be like, that is exactly what sarah palin wants. she is always thriving on being unpredictable, she's always been underestimated. that's why you are seeing all of a sudden she is coming out of hiding. here we are in d.c. in the entire political press corps covering it. we are chasing her up the east coast this week, drew. >> she likes to be unpredictable. that's one thing i felt in the 2008 campaign she couldn't be. she was so controlled by the mccain camp. now we are seeing her potentially buying a house in arizona, she has a big bus tour. what's happening next and when, if she does announce, when will that happen? >> exactly. well, the palin team, her advisers, believe in my conversations with them that she can wait longer to jump into the presidential race than anyone else in the field because of her mega-watt celebrity and her about ability to raise money online and her core group of supporters that like her. she doesn't need to go into the presidential debates to introduce herself to voters. she will at some point have to campaign in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina to get some of the momentum earlier in the republican presidential race, but you're seeing right now this is just a reminder that she's still a player and that she will not be -- she does not want to be written off as a player. you may see her kind of play this game until the fall. we kind of have to pay attention to it because the power she does command in the republican primary. >> where is the bus going next? is that a big secret or does it have a posted schedule? >> it is a big secret. they were supposed to post the schedule on sarah palin's website, they have not done that yet. they are keeping this very hush-hush away from reporters. obviously, sarah palin is no fan of the mainstream media, but they are keeping it very mum. things have trickled out, like she said in the interview with sandra endo, they will stop at the places of historical significance up and down the east coast. we expect her in gettysburg, pennsylvania, tomorrow, later at the liberty bell in philadelphia and eventually she'll make her way up to new hampshire, which is, of course, the fist in the nation primary states. she has not been there since 2008, but that's the state that plays a huge role in the presidential nominating process. we are surely going to be paying attention, but we are just going to be following her and the bus up i-95 starting tomorrow. it will be playing it by ear the whole time. it will

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