angeling will not be flying. i'll tell you why. head out for holiday shopping. pretty soon you may be able to leave your wallet at home as long as you have a smartphone with you. and sarah palin, is she about to go for a run for president of the united states? she's certainly making herself a lot more visible these days. almost a week after a tornado tore a half mile path through joplin, missouri, they're still searching for the missing. here's the information on the latest. in one of the most deadly tornadoes in the country. 156 people are unaccounted for as of this morning. the number of dead stands at 132, with more than 1,000 injured. we expect an update on the number of missing and hurt at 11:00 eastern time. more than 2,500 people have applied for federal disaster assistance. fema has approved a $2.8 million grants and aid. president obama will be in joplin tomorrow to meet with officials and survivors. the president is sure to hear some of the gripping stories of survival and bravery. our paul ver cammen has one such story. he's joining us live from joplin. paul, how are those search and recovery efforts going right now? good morning. >> well, joe, you know, all is very complicated because of the immense debris field. that's where we're starting to hear some of these stories of heroism. if you look behind me, imagine what it was like after the tornado hit. this is considered cleaned up to a degree. some of the debris piled up. all roads were impassable right after the tornado hit in this area. there's a key artery called range line and what happened was, david had his slingshot, well, jason had his chainsaw. a young man 18 years old, a logger, grabs his chainsaw and begins just cutting trees, debris, wood, anything in its path and he cleared the way for ambulances and all other sorts of rescue personnel and he even went to far to go up to a house where people were trapped and began to cut people out of that. it's a remarkable story of jason and his chainsaw. >> i saw smoke coming out, so i got my chainsaw, cut a hole in the roof to get through and when i did that, the house was on fire and part of the wall kind of came at me. the charcoal from it. that wasn't very fun. i don't like that. >> jason would like to find a woman des ser ray everette, trying to get in contact with her on facebook. there are some people who were bonded together in the moments after the tornado, joe, and then they lost track of each other for a week and there's a lot of such stories of survival and hopefully a lot of happy reunions for those able to survive this tremendous disaster. >> that's right, paul. during all this time, the president of the united states has been across the pond in europe, and just now getting there to joplin for what is just a huge disaster in the united states, has paid so much attention to it. what are people there saying about the president's visit expected? >> i think that they're very glad that president is coming here. i haven't heard one shred or word of criticism from any of the towns people as to why didn't he leave europe sooner. they're glad he's coming. they've been very resolute in the effort of trying to clean this up and rebuild and, of course, honor and bury the dead and find the missing people. there was no stinging criticism of the president for staying in europe and they're all sort of looking forward to tomorrow and the president, of course, will speak at a local university and so will the governor of missouri. it's expected to be, you know, quite an emotional memorial service, joe. >> certainly is. we'll be watching. thanks so much for that, paul vercammen in joplin. to find out how you can help those affected by the flooding and devastated by the tornadoes, go to cnn.com/impact. president obama is in poland right now. the stop in warsaw today is the last on his six-day european trip. president obama has been meeting with poland's prime minister on a host of issues, including tourist visas and f-16s. this trip was actually supposed to happen last year, but an ash cloud from a volcano in iceland changed those plans. jared loughner has been moved to a federal hospital in springfield, missouri. three days ago a judge declared loughner isn't mentally fit to stand trial for now at least for the shooting that killed six people and wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords. he was transferred from tucson to the facility in missouri for further testing. the casey anthony murder trial starts up in less than an hour. yesterday, jurors heard from the owner of a tow company that impounded anthony's car. he said he smelled what he thought was the stench of decomposing flesh in her car. anthony's father also talked about the smell. >> i didn't want to believe what i was smelling to a point. i was trying to not think too much ahead of myself. >> the odor that you were testifying a moment ago this reminded you of from your past, was that the odor of a human corps? >> yes. >> casey anthony is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter. the famous blue angels will be taking some time off after their commander stepped down. commander dave koss says he didn't live up to the precision flying team's safety and performance standards during this air show in lynchburg, virginia, last weekend. the angels have canceled their next couple of performances while a new commander takes over. police in metro atlanta say an armed robbery suspect nicknamed the grandma bandit, was shot and killed following a police chase friday morning, but there's a big twist here. the 57-year-old suspect, believed to be a woman, turned out to be a man. one thing they don't know is whether the suspect's fatal wound was self-inflicted. texas governor rick perry says he's thinking about running for president. that follows comments earlier this week when he said he was tempted but really didn't want to run. he says if he does get in, he'll join an already crowded republican field, but one thing may stand in his way, the gubernatorial campaign manager he had is working for none other than former speaker newt gingrich. sarah palin says she'll be at rolling thunder in washington tomorrow to kick off her nationwide bus tour. rolling thunder is a military veterans advocacy group that marks memorial day with a motorcycle rally. organizers say they didn't actually invite palin to take part, but they welcome anyone who wants to ride along. helping neighbors in need, we're seeing a lot of that in joplin, missouri in the wake of the deadly tornado there, but it's not just individuals. find out how one business is helping ease the pain in just 60 seconds. you love the aroma of beef tenderloin, don't you? 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[ female announcer ] chef michael's canine creations. chef inspired. dog desired. you can do this... get the ball, girl. hmmm, you can't do that. but you can do this. bengay pain relief + massage with penetrating nubs plus the powerful pain relief of bengay. love the nubs! producing products that save on fuel and emissions like ecopia tires... even making parts for solar panels that harness the sun's energy... working on social activities like clean up programs on beaches in many locations... and regional replanting activities that will help make a better world for all of us. ♪ one team. one planet bridgestone. you see it in every disaster. neighbors stepping up to help each other in tuscaloosa, alabama, last month. it was a grocery store owner handing out free food from his damaged business. in joplin, missouri, it's a pharmacy helping the community recover. we get more from larry sueward of afillate khsb. >> reporter: their son asks for prayer. see joplin's tornado disaster is personal. >> just have to help people. just have to help people. >> reporter: lynn morris doesn't live here. it doesn't matter. >> two of our employees actually lost their homes, so we know firsthand what it's like. >> reporter: he's collecting medical supplies, soap, toothpaste, even diabetic shoes from his 30 companies in southwest missouri. it's a giveaway. their store is open, it's centrally located and need is great. >> we're actually trying to fill prescriptions for seven pharmacies right now, and it's a lot of work but we're actually getting every insurance company to do overrides and emergency overrides. we're trying to make sure everybody has somewhere between a seven and ten-day supply. >> reporter: daryn mccormick who's spine condition limits movement is without painkillers. supposed to get them monday but sunday's tornado wiped out his home and pharmacy. >> it's nice this place is helping everybody the best they can. >> reporter: helping is the owner's mission in a town in a state of perpetual need. you can help the people of joplin, too. just logon to cnn.com/impact and check out our special page. it has all the tools you're going to need to really make a difference. is it is ten minutes after the hour. i know this sounds like a broken record but there is a strong risk of storms in the plain states today. another strong risk of storms in the plain states. >> joe, you could basically take the forecast from last weekend, at least last i guess you could say sunday morning, and re-run it for this morning. good for this saturday morning. what we'll look at is another shot of severe storms. we've already had some severe thunderstorms already. on radar you can see them popping up right on parts of the central plains, especially going from kansas back into missouri. they're intense, dropping quite a bit of rainfall. it's umbrella weather for you. same situations on parts of 44. making the drive from springfield back over to st. louis and you're listening on satellite radio you know what we're talking about. windshield wiper action that should continue through a good part of the day. out to the west the situation will be different. talking about snoefrl. snowfall. it has been the longest ski season ever for steamboat, aspen, supposedly opening up some of their ski runs for the weekend. even when you get into the sierra nevada mountains into the cascades snow will be a big story for you. we are going to see some of that pop up into parts of yellowstone too, yen trol and northern rockies and mountains towards the west. the reason we're seeing to the west, this area of low pressure that's going to pull in quite a bit of moisture from the pacific, but you've got the cold air sliding in from the north, the south, that interaction will give you the heavy snowfall. some places especially along i-70 going westbound, be careful in the high mountain passes. we mentioned the severe storms. in the southeast it's going to be very muggy for you. pop-up thunderstorms a possibility and in terms of travel, anyone making a flight out of atlanta today and going to the midwest, could get quite bumpy at times. look for delays maybe in chicago. maybe even into detroit before all is said and done because we're going to see that chance of rainfall exist from minneapolis back to places like chicago where highs will be in the 70s. 79 in new york, 75 the high in boston, 91 in memphis. 67 in denver and 69 in los angeles. 92 in albuquerque. 101 in el paso. we're into the century mark. for the rest of your memorial day weekend most of the places you're going to have rainfall today, unfortunately, looks like it might be the same situation into sunday and monday. expect the rain drops to stick around for quite a bit. if you were to draw a line from near new york, clear back over to say redding, california, all points northward, rain may be in the picture, also the snow we talked about in the mountains, but everything south, muggy and warm, hot in west texas, high humidity for much of the gulf coast, big surprise there. of course the scattered showers certainly may pop up, occasional thunderstorms for portions of central florida including the mouse house at disney and as far south as key west, joe. >> with all that snow, this late in the season, that stuff is going to melt and then you could have even more floods going much later than you normally do, right? >> there's always that possibility. i will tell you that in some places, especially into the rockies and sierra nevada, it's as though the landscape is better equipped to handle that kind of thing, than what we saw in parts of the midwest. into say where we had 600 times the amount of snowfall in parts of say the upper midwest, hence the flooding in the mississippi river area. it could be interesting to watch, say the very least. >> oh, boy. all right. >> never ends. >> yeah. weather is weather. thanks. be back at you. how much vacation time does your company give you? if it's not much you should check out cnn's money list of companies with the best vacation perks. google makes the list by offering 15 to 25 vacation days depending on how long employees have worked. they also get 12 paid holidays and all the sick time they need. that's pretty nice. software maker intuit offers flexibility and healthy amount of time off. employees get up to five weeks off and could save up to two years worth of vacation days and take it all off in one big chunk of time. that would be pretty nice. a vacation that's a year long. did i mention the 32 days of -- hours of paid volunteer time. not all the best perks come from computer companies, of course. st. jude children's research hospital has the most all truistic vacation policies. employees not only get 15 to 20 paid days off but the company has a vacation time bank. staffers can deposit unused personal time and sick leave and make those days available to other employees who are in need. you think these companies are generous? what if your company didn't even count the number of vacation days you took. i'll tell you who does right after this. confidence available in color. depend® colors for women. looks and fits like underwear. protects like nothing else. depend®. good morning. great day. before the break, i told you about some companies with great vacation perks. what about the ultimate perk of all. unlimited vacation time. about a year ago, the software company hub spot stopped tracking its employees vacation and sick days completely. company officials say the change has reduced administrative costs and employees, take the time they need, it's also been a great recruiting tool. other companies with a similar policy of not tracking vacation time include morning star, ibm, best buy and netflix. compared to the rest of the world u.s. workers not only get fewer days off, they don't take all the days they do get. in fact, only 38% of u.s. workers say they take all of their vacation days. according to an expedia.com survey, the average worker in the u.s. got 18 vacation days last year, but used only 14 of them. in france, workers got 37 days of vacation and used 35 of them. in great britain, workers received 28 vacation days and used 25. if you're planning to use some of your vacation at the beach this summer you want to stick around. at 10:30, tech expert katie lindhdal will share great beach gadgets you might want to take. if you try to take a swim in a public pool this weekend, don't be surprised if it's closed. the government announced a recall on thursday of about 1 million pool and spa drain covers. the consumer products safety commission says they could pose a risk to swimmers. pool drains have about 500 pounds of vacuum force. the federal agency says poorly designed covers can trap swimmers, especially young children, under water. >> hold the butter, professors at the university of maine, yes, it had to be there, have found an eco-friendly use for lobster shells instead of throwing the shells away, they're being used to make biodegradable golf balls. joe carter of hln sports cracks open this story. in today's "start small, think big." >> reporter: these are the sights and sounds of maine's lobster industry. but here's a new one. it looks and sounds like a golf ball, but it's made of recycled lobster shells. >> it's a dynamic, exciting combination, lobsters and golf. >> reporter: the mix an idea from one of robert bayer's graduate students and took form one night in his kitchen. >> i did it on a whim. cooked up a few lobsters, groubds ground them up in the blender and made a golf ball mold of plaster. >> reporter: he took the prototype to research labs at the university of maine where david, an undergraduate student and alex, added the final touches. >> what we did was take the concept, make a product out of it. had to look like a golf ball, perform like a real golf ball as much as possible. >> reporter: except this one is 100% biodegradable breaking down in the ocean about two week's time. >> we're targeting single use balls. looking at the cruise ship industry which up until '91 you were able to hit golf balls off the back of ships and then it was banned for pollution reasons. >> reporter: the idea beyond the cruise ships and golf courses, he thinks it's the lobster fishing industry that will take the upswing. >> it used to go to the landfill and it has values. our hope this comes back to the fishermen in more return for their harvest. >> reporter: the balls are being handmade in the labs but the university is working on plans to get them into production and into the water very soon. joe carter, cnn. >> from the water back to the water. that's pretty good. just how smart do you want your phone to be? google is betting you'll let it handle your financial affairs. mario armstrong is going to tell you how new virtual wallet works. [music playing] confidence available in color. depend® colors for women. looks and fits like underwear. protects like nothing else. depend®. good morning. great day. show me the carfax. oh yeah, can you show me the carfax? sunglass holder... for sunglasses. just show me the carfax. before you buy a used car, get a carfax vehicle history report. see accidents and service reported to carfax and a price based on the car's history. free, at thousands of reputable dealers. just say, show me the carfax. google wants to turn your smartphone into a virtual wallet. the technology would let you get coupons on your phone and make payments by waving it at the checkout counter. our lifestyle expert mario armstrong joins me now. you're in new york for this announcement. google is partnering with a couple other companies. give us an idea how this thing would work? >> that's right, joe. i mean, essentially we were there in new york city when this was announced. it was to a small group of journalists that were allowed to go in and see this event, although they did stream it on-line. the bottom line is, they want to be able to make it so that you can now use your phone to be able to be your wallet of the future. you no longer would have to dig for credit cards or look for things in your purse. you would use your purse to tap at the merchant's register and be able to pay for everyday goods from food to clothing and other items. >> are we talking about an application you would download or would you have to get a new kind of phone? >> both. great question. this is a free app, and it's an android only app at this point. and it's only available on the nexus s phone, a google phone, android phone. this will roll out initially to san francisco, new york city, and those markets initially, but then it will roll out to future phones and other markets over the summer and over the year. >> are we talking about this year or how soon? >> well, we're definitely talking this year. one of the things they stress at the announcement they want to make this an open platform. they want as many partners and as many manufacturers of phones, banks, credit card companies and others, to be involved in this because they need that in order for this ecosystem to truly take off and for consumers to really adopt it. they're going to be pushing rathe