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CNN Sunday Morning
Mitch Daniels Out; Obama Talks to Pro-Israel Group
Aired May 22, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good Sunday morning. We're still here.
And another Republican has made up his mind about getting into the 2012 race. Mitch Daniels says, "Thanks, but no thanks" and he even says he's sorry. You'll hear his one reason for not running.
Also, just days after President Obama angered many when he suggested Israel go back to its 1967 borders, he talks to a key pro- Israel lobbying group this morning. It's happening in just a matter of hours. A lot of people are wondering how is that going to play out.
Also, I want you to look at something playing out hundreds of miles out above us right now. This is always remarkable we can get a live picture in space. What you're seeing is happening right now, two astronauts, Drew Feustel and Mike Fincke, are doing a second space walk. They are two Endeavour astronauts.
I hope they know what they are doing because it looks like a lot is going on up there right now. But they have some maintenance work that they're doing on the space station. We'll be getting more about that. But that is a live picture. Always fascinating to watch them do this work and they were able to get these live pictures.
But, from the CNN Center -- hey -- it's me and Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey!
HOLMES: Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. That's Reynolds Wolf. We'll be checking in with him in a second.
But it's May 22nd on this Sunday. Glad you could be here. And as always, good morning to our servicemen and women watching us on the Armed Forces Network around the world. Glad you could be with us and glad you do what you do.
We do want to give you what is breaking political news from overnight.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels says he is not running for president. And while Daniels doesn't have the flash of, say, a Donald Trump, or maybe even a name recognition of Mike Huckabee, his decision could send waves through the Republican Party. GOP insiders were pushing Daniels as the clear fiscally conservative choice. But here's how he summed up his decision in an overnight e-mail to supporters. He says and I quote, "In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one, but that, the interest is and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all."
So, you see there, he is talking about the family consideration is one he couldn't get past. Now, many out there has suggested that Daniels' family would have gotten a whole lot of attention if he got into the race. His family situation many would call a little interesting, maybe a little complicated.
His wife, you see, left him in the '90s, married another man, and then got back with Mr. Mitch Daniels. They are married once again. Sherri Daniels is her name, largely stayed out of the public eye since then, but a presidential run would have changed all of that.
Here is more of Daniels' statement, apologizing to some in the Republican Party who wanted him to run. And I quote again, "If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry. If you feel that this was a non-courageous or unpatriotic decision, I understand and will not attempt to persuade you otherwise. I only hope that you will accept my sincerity in the judgment I have reached."
We will have much more on Daniels, his decision, and what it does for the GOP hope for 2012 a little later in the show.
Let's turn to some weather now. It's a nasty stuff. Look at this picture, just an ominous scene there. But one person has been killed after a reported tornado ripped through a Kansas town, damaging almost every home there. This happened in Redding, Kansas. At least 20 homes destroyed, 200 homes in the town were damaged. Hours after the storm swept through the town, emergency officials now telling CNN, again, we have confirmed now, one person killed, two others injured.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
HOLMES: Well, that sound you're hearing there, that's hail -- large hail smashing windows in parts of eastern Kansas. This is happening in Topeka. High winds there also snapped large tree limbs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's coming! Power lines right here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. And here is what some storm chasers caught up with in Oklahoma. A funnel cloud that was forming there -- and I will leave this picture up, I'm not sure how much video we have.
But, Reynolds, what are you seeing there in that picture?
WOLF: I'm seeing a tornado, I mean, quite definitely. It looks it might be a funnel cloud to some people, but if you look at the ground there's a little bit of rotation that's picking up. Whenever you have the contact with the earth's surface, boom, it's classified not as a cloud any longer but a tornado. One of many that popped up, one of many that we know from eyewitness confirmation but many others, they were picked up on radar.
T.J., this is the complete opposite of say a hurricane, where a hurricane is a long lasting event. It's like an elephant's gestation period. We see a hurricane develop across this side of the Atlantic. In some cases, it takes up to weeks to make its way across. But these tornadoes strike quickly and as you can tell, you see, in Kansas, obviously, in Tuscaloosa, when they strike, they don't have a lot of time to react and take cover.
HOLMES: This classified -- whatever we saw yesterday and I know they have to go out and confirm, that picture confirms a lot already, but this outbreak, a mini outbreak, a few here or there. How do you classify what we saw?
WOLF: I would definitely say that you said originally, referring to it as a mini outbreak is absolutely accurate. I mean, really is. You just had all the components that came together. You had a slow- moving frontal boundary, all the heat, all the moisture coming up in the Gulf of Mexico, very unstable atmosphere, and you have basically the catalyst, which was, of course, late in the afternoon, the wind out of the southwest -- everything rolled there and then the tornadoes.
And we may see more today. There's another chance that may continue.
Let's pop over here for just a few moments and, first, show you what we have happening right now. Live radar, is zooming in on a couple of key locations, especially back over towards St. Louis, areas north of I-70, we're seeing a few cells pop up, some of these relatively strong. Tornado warnings are not in effect, but one thing we might be seeing from this, T.J., and all of our viewers tuning in across everywhere, some that are tuning and also listening through, of course, satellite radio, heavy rainfall northeast of St. Louis, now moving northeast rather of Kansas City, northwest of St. Louis, a lot of the heavy rainfall will fall in places inundated by floodwaters.
This is the game changer in terms of the flooding story. Probably not. But it's still going to add a little bit more, more rainfall than what we possibly need.
The atmosphere dynamics are interesting here. We've got this area of low pressure that is right up near the Arrowhead of Pennsylvania and it curls back around this frontal boundary all through parts of the Central Plains. The second component we have is this other area of low pressure.
So, you got this double barrel of low driving eastward. That's going to interact with that moisture that's been streaming in from the Gulf of Mexico and then later into the afternoon, with the temperatures warming up, it's going to make for an unstable air mass.
If you happen to be flying into, say, O'Hare later on this afternoon. You're going to have a real bumpy ride flying over in this part of the world. We have (INAUDIBLE) of course. A chance of heavy rain, possibly some small hail, damaging winds, of course, with those damaging winds, the possibility of isolated tornadoes. So, we're not out of the woods yet.
Very quickly, as we wrap things up, your temperatures for the day going up to 83 degrees in Chicago, 87 in St. Louis, 92 in Atlanta, 83 in Washington, back out west, we go Denver with 73, some snow possible up in the Rockies. It's 59 in Seattle, 61 in San Francisco.
That is a wrap on your forecast. We got so much more to share with you.
T.J., back to you.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, we appreciate you.
And to our viewers, you may notice that Reynolds was not here yesterday. In just a bit, I'm going to explain why we could not be happier that we did not have to work with Reynolds yesterday. It warrant some explanation, but we will explain coming up here in a bit.
WOLF: More than usual. More than usual.
HOLMES: More than usual.
WOLF: OK.
HOLMES: Reynolds, good to have you back, buddy.
WOLF: Back at you, man.
HOLMES: All right. We got to get a check now of some of the latest headlines from that flooding in the Mississippi, also along Louisiana this morning. Some good news, I haven't said that a lot lately, it seems. But in St. Martin Parish in Louisiana some people getting the news a mandatory evacuation order has been delayed because they now believe the river is not going to get as high as feared.
The river has already crested in Vicksburg, Mississippi, but people aren't being allowed back into their homes yet. Governor Haley Barbour is warning residents about the health risks. He says tests of the water show levels of E. coli bacteria 200 times the normal level.
Also, disturbing scene out of Yazoo City, Mississippi -- caskets have started floating up from a flooded cemetery there. So far, at least three have floated away.
Again in places like Vicksburg, the river is expected to stay above flood stage well into June. That makes a tough time for homeowners and as our Jeanne Meserve reports, it's also making it tough for people who count on the Mississippi River for their livelihoods.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Along the Mississippi, even those who work on the water are underwater.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you like me to come past you on there?
MESERVE: But Vidalia Dock and Storage isn't out of business. One of the tugs is headed down the river, though the river has never been like this before.
CARLA JENKINS, VIDALIA DOCK AND STORAGE: Mindboggling. It's really hard to comprehend how much water is coming through here right now. I'm in awe of it. I have tremendous respect for it and have a lot fear.
MESERVE: The Betty Ann (ph) Jenkins is headed south to meet up with another towboat and help it maneuver this stretch of the Mississippi.
MICHAEL MELTON, VIDALIA DOCK AND STORAGE: It's usually the easiest part of the river to navigate.
MESERVE (on camera): But not right now.
MELTON: Not right now.
MESERVE: Because of all this water?
MELTON: Exactly.
MESERVE: And all this current.
MELTON: Exactly.
MESERVE (voice-over): They tie up to a barge full of chemicals, and along with its tow boat, push against the current. Together, their engines put out more than 3,600 horsepower. But at points, they fight to go one mile an hour.
JENKINS: The water will go out and come in like an ocean tide and we have never seen that before. I've never seen the current white capping off the piers like it is on the bridge right now. I've never seen that in my life.
MESERVE: Only speed can keep the current from smashing the boats and barge into the bridge between Vidalia and Natchez.
JENKINS: Whoo! Very nervous. Very.
MESERVE: They are closer to the bridges than they like and can feel the river fighting for control.
JENKINS: Can you feel it sliding? We're breaking into a slide right now.
MESERVE: But they make it. And a little further up river, the boats untie, the towboat jock heading up north alone with its cargo.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: All right. And let me bring in our Jeanne Meserve who is there for us in Natchez, Mississippi. We talk so much and rightly so about people losing their property, trying to protect their homes, trying to protect their lives. But, you know, there's a lot of business being impacted on that river right now.
MESERVE: That's right, this particular business obviously has its offices flooded. Carla Jenkins says she doesn't think she's even got to get in there to assess the damage until mid-June. And as for on the river, her company is hoping to get more calls for assists, as they call them, to help other boats up the river through this area.
But she's really worried about the longer term. Here's one reason why: a lot of her income comes from hauling grain in barges up and down the river. The farmers here are flooded out. So, it's a real question when the grain elevators are going to be full again and when she's going to have business.
A complicating factor: the cost of fuel. Carla says she remembers in her lifetime when diesel was 45 cents a gallon. Now, it's up to $4 a gallon, that's having a big impact, too -- T.J.
HOLMES: And just quickly, before I let you go, any alligator update?
MESERVE: No, I don't know if he ever showed up over across the river over in Natchez. We're actually in Vidalia, Louisiana. Trust me, I'm keeping my eyes open. No alligator this is morning.
HOLMES: Just checking on you there, Jeanne. We appreciate you as always. We'll check in with Jeanne again a little later this morning. Thanks so much.
Let's turn now back to the picture, the live picture, yes, always remarkable that this picture is live, because this is happening in space. Can I hear this for a second, Deidre?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Sounds good. And looking forward from there, it would probably be good to get a consumable check at that point and see what the floor plan looks like.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good idea. We'll work on that.
HOLMES: All right. You're listening and you are seeing what's happening right now live, some 200 miles above us at the International Space Station. Two members of the shuttle Endeavour crew are on the second space walk of their mission. This started four hours ago. It's slated to go six and a half hours.
But two of them, Drew Feustel and also Mike Fincke, are doing work on the International Space Station, in particular, filling some cooling systems with ammonia, having to lubricate some joints, things like that. But a lot of maintenance, some handy work quite frankly, but always fascinating we were able to get these live pictures of the work happening right now, live, again, 200 miles above us, at the International Space Station. Let's turn now to President Obama. He may be looking to soothe some hurt feelings this morning with a speech before the annual AIPAC Conference in Washington. AIPAC is the leading pro-Israel lobbying group. The president may have ruffled feathers you may remember last week when he suggested Israel go back to its pre-1967 borders in effort to achieve Middle East peace. Much more on AIPAC's influence a little later in the hour.
And, again, the president is slated to speak to that group here in about four hours or so.
We want to update now on the story we were telling you about yesterday, an Oklahoma City sheriff's deputy is recovering this morning after surgery to try and repair serious damage to his face. Major John Waldenville was shot in the head at close range Friday night. The sheriff says there's no brain damage, though.
Police are searching for two men in connection with the shooting. It was all caught on security cameras.
Listen now to the major's wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARJORIE WALDENVILLE, WIFE OF WOUNDED SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: He's doing very well right now. Everything that they've done so far for him, all the surgeries he's had, has had the best possible outcome. They think he's going to pull through just fine. He's a fighter. He's a go-getter, and a fighter and positive person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, Waldenville was getting extra work as a security guard when he was ambushed.
Well, scientists are keeping a close eye on the volcano erupting in Iceland right now. No, not that one you're thinking about. You can see these pictures, though, a plume of smoke up in the air. It's coming from the largest glacier in Iceland, located in southeast Iceland. You remember the other eruption in Iceland a few weeks last year that disrupted travel all around Europe.
Speaking of travel, we were telling you about this, this weekend. Delta Airlines is giving some passenger a little extra leg room, comes as welcome news to some of you taller folks. But it's going to comes with a price. They call this economy comfort.
Now, that sounds great. It means you're in coach. But it means that you're actually getting four more inches of leg room and it also costs us a pretty penny in some cases, maybe 20 to 40 bucks per inch. So, yes, some of those flights overseas, at least, will cost you up $160 extra per ticket.
Well, if you had money on Shackleford to win the 136 Preakness Stakes, then you are buying the drinks today. You got a nice payday, 12 to one odds on this underdog, held off in the home stretch for the Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, win by less than a length, also means, of course, you know this, there's not going to be a Triple Crown winner once again this year. It's a drought that dates back to 1978.
Well, we're at 15 minutes past the hour now. Take a look at the screen here. It's kind of hard to make this out, hard to read, but what you are seeing there, this discovery of a 150-year-old tombstone actually helped piece together President Obama's past -- a past he did not even know about, but you're going to know about it in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, about 17 minutes past the hour now.
President Obama is leaving for Europe tonight. Here's a quick look at the itinerary for this trip. He'll arrive in Dublin tomorrow. Then he's scheduled to have several meetings with leaders there. He's also expected to travel to Moneygall, Ireland. We'll explain why here in a just a moment.
Also, Tuesday, he's on to London. He'll have lunch with the queen. She just got back from Ireland herself, so that's something they can certainly talk about. The president will also meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron. After a state dinner, the president then spends the night at Buckingham Palace.
On Wednesday, another day with David Cameron before heading over to parliament. The president will speak to both houses of parliament.
Then, on Thursday, on to France. That's where the G-8 summit is being held.
Then, Friday, it's more G-8 business, including meetings with world leaders and representatives from Tunisia and Egypt.
And the president boards the plane to Poland.
And then the president wraps up the trip in Warsaw. The agenda there is Russia and keeping U.S. warplanes on Polish bases.
Well, maybe a high point of everything you just saw there -- maybe the high point will be for the president, a stop in Ireland. He's expected to visit the small town of Moneygall. That is where Obama's great, great, great grandfather lived before he came to America.
The president had no clue about his Irish roots until it was discovered by a genealogist by the name Megan Smolenyak. That was back in 2007, she pieced this all together.
I spoke to her last week. She said it took four months, 150- year-old tombstones, and a bit of luck to connect these dots.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEGAN SMOLENYAK, GENEALOGY EXPERT: It was easy to march back the first few generations and find out, OK, there was this fellow Fulmoth Kearney who came from Ireland in 1850. The challenge was finding the exact location. Irish genealogy can be quite challenging. And I was -- it took a bit of luck. It took two months of research.
But it also took a pair of tombstones in Ohio to tell me where to look in Ireland. That's how I discovered it was Moneygall.
HOLMES: OK. Make that connection for me, because Moneygall, like you just said, tombstone to Moneygall. How did you do that?
SMOLENYAK: They found this other Kearney family and it seemed like he fit into them. I wanted him to belong to that family because the father, Joseph's tombstone and the brother William's tombstone both said that they were from Moneygall. So, it was a matter of fitting the puzzle piece, a Fulmoth, into this family. And once I was able to do that, I knew that that's where he was also from.
And then I did some work across the pond, reached out to a number of churches over there to find who had the corresponding marriage and baptisms records for this family. It wound up in America.
HOLMES: Now, how sure are you that you got this right and you got this town and they're not over there celebrating for naught?
SMOLENYAK: One hundred percent. One hundred percent. Other people have piggybacked off of the research and taken his roots back further and so, you'll find roots also in Shinrone, and Kilkenny and Dublin. Everybody, of course, wants to claim their piece of Obama. Yes, but Moneygall is the most immediate destination I'm absolutely sure of it.
HOLMES: OK. Are you sure it's warranted as well? We see how they're celebrating now and people writing songs about him, and putting up American flags and he's 1/32 Irish. So, do you still -- do you still get it and say they have a right to celebrate over there?
SMOLENYAK: You know, I'm half-Irish-American myself. So, I may have a bias. But I think it's almost -- it's almost a tradition, isn't it, for American presidents to claim their Irish heritage and Ireland loves to claim their native sons as well. So, it works both ways. So, I think it's a win/win situation.
HOLMES: All right. And you plan on heading over -- do you have any plans to meet up with the president? He is going to Ireland. We think he's going to stop by Moneygall. We believe -- or a lot of people hope he will at least.
Do you plan on seeing the president and saying, hey, I'm the one that put it together for you?
SMOLENYAK: I sure hope so. I have one of the treasured passes into Moneygall, so my odds are pretty good. And I'm sure hope so.
HOLMES: You sure hope so. Well, ma'am, congratulations on the works you were able to do in putting this together. You enjoy your time over in Ireland and we appreciate your taking the time out with us.
SMOLENYAK: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Also, on the political front, as we talked to you earlier, a big name in Republican circles has decided to sit out the 2012 election. We are talking about Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. In an e-mail to supporters this morning, he said he is not running for president.
Daniels is a former White House budget director under President George W. Bush. He cites family considerations for his decision. His decision comes just one day after radio host and business veteran Herman Cain officially announced his candidacy. Cain has announced critic of President Obama and the administration's economic policies.
On the Republican field will grow by one tomorrow, at least one that we know of. That's when former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is expected to officially announce his 2012 run. That's just one of the big political stories we'll be watching this week.
CNN deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, has some of the other key story lines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, good morning, T.J.
Tuesday, the fight over Medicare is in the spotlight. Voters in New York's 26th congressional district go to the polls to fill their vacant House seat. You know, this month's little talk about special election is now a proxy battle over House Republican plans to alter Medicare.
The winner will fill the seat of Republican Congressman Chris Lee. You remember him. He quickly resigned earlier this year, just hours after the gossip Web site, Gawker, posted photos and e-mails from the married congressman soliciting a date with a woman through the Web site Craigslist.
In the race for the White House, Iowa is in the spotlight this week. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota who could be close to announcing a run for the White House, she visits the state on Thursday. The next day, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney who's all but declared his second bid for the Republican nomination, he makes his first trip to Iowa this cycle. The state, of course, and its caucuses kick off the presidential primary and caucus calendar -- T.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Thanks to our Paul Steinhauser, as always.
Have you heard about this story? Got a lot of people talking last week, and we have all been there. You're in a store, or maybe on a train, you're on a bus somewhere in public, and somebody just will not stop talking on their cell phone. How long can you tolerate it?
Well, some passengers tolerate it, would you believe, for 16 hours. And then once they confronted her, she's the one that got mad. The story, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Twenty-four minutes past the hour now.
A weight loss blogger and her mom grounded by Southwest Airlines told they were too fat to fly and the humiliation actually gets worse. Let me tell you this story, you may have heard it from last week.
Kenlie Tiggeman said she had to answer questions about her clothes size, how much she weighed -- all of this was happening at the gate. A lot of passengers were all around. So, this was happening in front of everybody.
Now, the lady once weighed 393 pounds. She's trimmed it down, though, to about 268 pounds. Southwest says that the passenger cannot fit into a seat with the armrests down. They'll have to buy a second sit. That has been a policy for awhile now. That means that Tiggeman and her mom would have bought four seats.
The airline has since apologized. They allowed them on a later flight, refunded their tickets and gave them free vouchers.
Now, here's a story that certainly had a lot of people talking last week, another one of a rejected passenger, this one on an Amtrak train. Not a lot of sympathy for this woman, we are finding out there. She was removed for kind of going off after being confronted for talking too loud and for talking too long on her cell phone.
This was on the train now. This was some 16 hours she chose to keep the volume up on her conversation inside one of the quiet cars, despite signs everywhere asking passengers to keep the volume down. Police were asked to remove her. They say that's when she got aggressive. She's been charged now disorderly conduct.
Well, can you imagine going to bed and waking up to a town you hardly recognize? A suspected tornado tears through America's heartland last night. We will take you there.
Also, also from campus to boot camp -- an increasing number of college grads enlisting in the U.S. army.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're coming up on the bottom of the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
The United States military offering the one thing college students pride the most once they graduate -- a job. And they are signing up in droves right now. Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence looks at the surge in enlistment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: T.J., one of the things that the military is seeing now is a surge of college graduates enlisting in the military. Again, college grads are not going the officer route but enlisting. One of the reasons is, of course, the economy.
A lot of these graduates have come out and they thought they would be getting, you know, jobs in their field with fairly good salaries. Well, that just hasn't happened the last couple years.
In fact, take a look at this. Back in 2007, just before the economy tanked, about 3,500 soldiers joined the Army with bachelors ands masters degrees.
By last year, that number was well over 6,000. Now, the Navy and the Air Force have both reported some increases, too.
In fact, we traveled to Ohio to talk to a young man who's been out of Ohio State for the better part of two or three years. He's been working fast food jobs, nothing in his field, just can't get a good shake with anything. And he talked to us about the difficulty of trying to find a job in this economy.
BEN HARRIS, OHIO STATE ALUMNUS: That's the thing. I've even tried to apply at local banks, as just a basic teller. And because I haven't been given that experience of anything more than handling a restaurant cash register, I can't even get those jobs right now in this market.
LAWRENCE: So what did Ben Harris do? Well, he walked into the recruiting station and signed up for the Army.
Now look, he's going in eyes wide open. He knows he could be in Afghanistan within a year, but what Ben said, and one of the reasons why he and some others chose the enlisted ranks is because in the enlisted ranks, they get more of a choice in getting a very specific job skill. So, if certain people really want to get a specific skill and be guaranteed to do a certain job, they can sort of lock that in before they head off to boot camp.
Another reason is: some people really want these hands-on skills that perhaps in some fields, you don't get as much of from the officer ranks where you're more in the position of leadership. So, again, big increases in the Army, Navy, Air Force.
But just as a funny aside, we asked the Marines, they said, no, we haven't really seen any increase in the number of college graduates. But then they told me, look, the Marine Corps is not a stepping stone to any other job. It's a destination in and of itself -- T.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We are 32 minutes past the hour. I want to you stay with me until after the break. We have a breaking story we need to bring you. The world did not end yesterday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, 35 minutes past the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We appreciate you being here with us.
Well, if the former head of the IMF was staying at your building, wouldn't you want to know about it? Well, the building where he was crashing, some of the building managers say they weren't told. Now, you know the name by now, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He is staying at -- as someone's guest in a Manhattan apartment. He was released on bail on Friday.
The building managers, though, where he was staying did not know about the arrangement. So, then they sent out an e-mail saying that he'll only be there for a week, trying to let some of the other tenants know.
Strauss-Kahn is accused of trying to rape a maid last week in a suite at a New York hotel. He has resigned from the IMF.
Now, we've been watching this drama play out with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, certainly proved irresistible to the folks at "Saturday Night Live." Last night' show, the former head of the IMF confronted by some opinionated inmates at Rikers Island. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably not the high accommodations you're used to, Mr. Strauss-Kahn, but make yourself at home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear what I heard?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we best introduce ourselves.
Hey, we heard all about you on the news. Mr. Dominique Strauss- Kahn, former head of the IMF.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, guess what, Mr. Strauss-Kahn? I have a question for you. What's the IMF going to do about the debt crisis in Greece?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: But they had some other stuff, too. That was probably a little better than that.
Also, you probably surely noticed Doomsday yesterday, we weren't necessarily doomed, it came and went, the world is still here, last we checked. We'll check again next hour for you. People are not reporting any major earthquakes. You all just were keeping an eye out for things.
Some people we talked in New York, how are they taking this thing?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Better luck next time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last time, it was wrong. They said they had to recalculate. They recalculated to this date. So, maybe they'll have to recalculate again.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HOLMES: For months, they've been calculating.
Followers of Christian broadcasting Harold Camping have been warning of immediate demise. It's not immediately clear what they're saying this morning, however. We haven't heard from Mr. Harold Camping so far this morning.
But people around the world have been making jokes like there is no tomorrow, of course. Twitter, of course, went crazy yesterday about this. Got a lot of people's attention, but still, not a whole lot of people put a lot of stock in that May 21st date.
Give you a look at some other stories making headline this is morning:
It was over before it ever really started. Indiana's Republican governor, Mitch Daniels, telling his supporters overnight that he will not mount a presidential campaign for the 2012 election. In a late night e-mail, he said, quote, "If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry."
Also, at least 13 people are dead, 67 more wounded in a series of bombings that have rattled Baghdad this morning. Authorities say at least 16 explosions targeted both Iraqi and U.S. security forces renewing doubts of Iraq's ability to protect its citizens from insurgents once America's drawdown of troops begins later this year.
Also happening right now, some 200 miles above us. Look at this -- this is a live picture, folks. This is happening right now. They've got some maintenance to do -- fulfilling a scheduled maintenance work aboard the International Space Station, a couple of hours into the space walk, started around 2:00 Eastern today. They should be done in a couple more hours.
Also, this morning from overnight, one person dead after reported tornado ripped through a Kansas town, damaging just about every home in that town. This happened last night in Redding. At least 20 homes were destroyed.
This is just an ominous picture we saw. You can't see much when it's dark and then that lightning just lights up the sky and you see what's the in the background there. As many as 200 homes within the town are damaged. Again, not all destroyed. But a lot of them damaged.
Hours after the storm swept through the town, that's when emergency officials gave us the word that one person was dead. At least two others injured.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
HOLMES: You're hearing hail there -- large hail smashing windows in parts of eastern Kansas. This was happening in Topeka, Kansas. Also, high winds were snapping large tree limbs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's coming. Power lines right here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, I was about to tell you about this, but Reynolds is standing next to me.
And you're looking at this picture and you just kind of started shaking your head. What were you seeing?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: What I'm seeing is just -- again, just a part of the outbreak, a very small outbreak but still potent certainly. It is amazing in the late afternoon to see these storms erupt across parts of the Central Plains. We have all of the components that came together, southwesterly flow, plenty of moisture from the Gulf, the front came through it.
And, of course, it's a very volatile atmosphere. And there is a chance we might see the same pattern take place today. But it's but going to move a little bit more to the east this time, T.J., but people really need to be on standby, especially in Missouri, parts of Illinois, perhaps even as far south as your home state of Arkansas. So, it could be kind of rough.
Another component, possibly some heavy rainfall. A lot of people concerned about that, how it may impact the flooding. The impact is actually going to be minimal, which is the good news.
All things considered, one of the reasons why we had to have the flooding in parts of the Mississippi is because we had 600 percent more rainfall than we normally have. So, with the storm this big moving through, although it is certainly not going to help matters, it's not going to be a big major game changer, so to speak.
The big story will be the chance of more tornado activity, a slight chance but still an opportunity, some strong thunderstorms, other damaging winds, perhaps even some hail, from about Texas north to the central and western Great Lakes. The best possibility of this, late afternoon, early evening hours and the atmosphere becomes most volatile. Very quickly, your high temperatures for the day as we get this map out of the way, you can expect your highs to rise up to about 72 degrees in Minneapolis, 83 in Chicago, 87 in St. Louis, 92 in Atlanta, and New York with 62, and out west in San Francisco, 61, 66 in Salt Lake City.
T.J., let's send it back to you.
HOLMES: I'm going to send it right back to you, Reynolds.
WOLF: Oh, boy.
HOLMES: Reynolds Wolf, folks, he was not here with us yesterday, and he had a doggone good reason.
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: Reynolds, you look good. You don't look as tired as you should, or they're great in the makeup room. Can we place show that beautiful boy footage? Look at this folks. This is our new guy. This is Patterson Wolf.
WOLF: He's a mess. He's an absolute mess.
Yes, he was born, let's say, on Thursday. It was a very quick delivery. You know, his mom, this is our third baby, has this down to a science.
T.J., have you ever seen a trident missile launched from a nuclear submarine.
HOLMES: Oh, my God.
WOLF: Seriously, she makes it happen.
HOLMES: Don't give the country that visual of your wife.
WOLF: That kind of speed is how quickly she can have the baby. And she's doing very well.
But, seriously, we've had the same doctor, Dr. Laura Kaufman (ph), who has delivered all three of her kids. She knows what to expect when it comes to our babies, we showed up, we're in a crash helmet and bullet proof vest and just waited for the baby to launch. And by gosh, he came in and here he is.
HOLMES: This is supposed to be a beautiful moment.
WOLF: It is. You know, it is a beautiful moment. And I have to tell you, and I think a lot of folks knew about this. I lost my father about a month ago, which was just heart-wrenching, very unexpected. And to have new life in the family like this -- it's a healing thing, it really is and it's a wonderful moment. We're certainly happy to have him here. It's just, still can't believe he's here.
HOLMES: And I said Patterson, but it's a longer name and a significance of the name with your dad.
WOLF: William Patterson Rhodes Wolf (ph). William after my dad. So, it's a happy time. It's a loud time at the Wolf house. Seriously, you've got to come over.
HOLMES: We absolutely will, buddy. Congratulations.
Deidre, leave that picture up for us as we go into break.
It's 42 minutes past the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A quarter to the top of the hour now.
Won't you believe an Oscar winner, a Grammy winner and Hall of Famer say they haven't really done anything in their lives just yet. They say they are not done. I'm talking about three icons I had a chance to speak to -- Morgan Freeman, Carlos Santana and Ernie Banks in town being honored for their careers -- careers that they say still haven't really hit the high light. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: You guys, whether it's in the profession you're doing, something outside of the profession, what would be the highlight in your career for you?
MORGAN FREEMAN, ACADEMY AWARD WINNING ACTOR: I'm going to have to say that one of my main career highlights was having the opportunity and the ability to channel Nelson Mandela. That was something.
(APPLAUSE)
FREEMAN: Great man, and I didn't embarrass him.
CARLOS SANTA, GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING MUSICIAN: That's a good question. I probably would say going to Cuba and invite Mr. Desmond Tutu and Mr. Mandela and the Dalai Lama and bring them (INAUDIBLE), you know, do what we did with Woodstock with Cuba. So, my highlight is still up ahead.
HOLMES: What about you, Mr. Banks?
ERNIE BANKS, HALL OF FAMER: Yes, it's still ahead.
HOLMES: Still ahead?
BANKS: I haven't found it yet. I'm still searching for that.
HOLMES: Everything you've through in life, everything you've accomplished, and a Hall of Famer, you're telling me you're still looking to are that thing in life you want to do?
BANKS: That's correct. And my goal was -- my long range goal was to win a Nobel Peace Prize, and still is.
FREEMAN: What's stopping you?
BANKS: Huh?
FREEMAN: What's stopping you?
BANKS: I don't know. Is 80 too young or to old?
MORGAN: No, you're never too old. Never too old. Get on the bus, Gus (ph).
(LAUGHTER)
BANKS: But I always wanted to do that. I wanted to be an international lawyer when I first started out, didn't make it there.
MORGAN: Just too good at baseball.
BANKS: And then good into baseball and that was it, through Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron, you know, all of the guys who played before me. I mean, they really helped me, inspired me, and, you know, I just followed them, and that was it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Well, at 13 minutes to the top of the hour now.
Some unusual traditions happen all over the world, including this one in England. These people literally risk breaking their necks to chase something down a hill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Nadia Bilchik here with our "Morning Passport." Always something interesting but these are a little unusual -- the month of May, at the time for some unusual festival, celebrations? What do you call these?
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Traditions, festivals. And the reality is that in Britain right now, it starts to be spring in May and June. So, there are al kinds of festivities.
HOLMES: Are they just silly? Or there's something rooted?
BILCHIK: There's some substance --
HOLMES: Some substance.
BILCHIK: -- about celebration of spring. But one that is particularly unusual, takes place in Gloucestershire, England. And this is the cheese rolling on Cooper's Hill.
Now, again, the origins are very strange and maybe not very clear. But what happens is you have a group of people trying to catch the cheese. So, the aim is you roll down and catch the cheese.
Now, remember that the cheese is going around 70 miles an hour. So people rolling down to get the cheese usually get injured. So, at the bottom of the hill, there were some paramedics that are standing by.
Now, in World War II, it wasn't real cheese because there was such a shortage. So, they used a round wooden block. Wooden block seems incongruous, but yes, they used a round wood to go down the hill.
But here, you have people meeting. Now, what happened was in 2010 it became so dangerous, they actually banned it. Here they are rolling down the hill to fetch the cheese.
HOLMES: Never understood why people do this. We've seen the video every -- it is insane.
BILCHIK: And they never catch the cheese, by the way.
HOLMES: Now, the people -- I don't guess we've had anybody get killed at this thing. But like you said
BILCHIK: Not killed but severe injured. The 2011 cheese rolling competition which was scheduled has also been delayed because they've been charging admission. So, people will do it informally, but the official Cooper's Hill cheese rolling is not going to happen.
HOLMES: OK, the next one you have is not as painful. Is it or isn't?
BILCHIK: Well, it could be painful, depending on who does it. But this is known as face pulling or gurning. And this is an ancient tradition. It's called gurning or face pulling.
HOLMES: Face pulling.
BILCHIK: The idea is, OK, to see how strange a face you can pull. Now, very interestingly --
HOLMES: Oh! What in the world are we watching?
BILCHIK: We are watching people. Now, this gentleman that you're watching now has had his teeth taken out so that he can gurn, he can pull his lip up to his nose.
HOLMES: He did that on purpose?
BILCHIK: Yes.
HOLMES: Why?
BILCHIK: The great gurners of the world who win the competition, because it makes their face more mobile and more elastic. The origins of this are unclear. Some say they used to tease the village idiot into making faces and throw a horse collar over him. And one myth or legend says a gentleman came home to his disgruntled wife and he said to her, stop gurning and he threw the horse collar over her face.
HOLMES: Why would they -- why would they want to make the faces? Why?
BILCHIK: You know, again, it becomes tradition, and tradition is how strange a face can you pull? Now, in Australia they pull duck faces. But it's how elastic can the face become.
HOLMES: OK, I'll give this a shot later in the mirror by myself. I won't admit it later that I did it.
BILCHIK: But you definitely won't be taking your teeth out.
HOLMES: I will not be doing that. Nadia Bilchik with our "Morning Passport" -- thank you as always.
Well, members of the U.S. military who have been injured in combat have found a way to heal through competition. You'll see it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: U.S. service members wounded on the battlefield are now challenging themselves and each other in competition.
Our Jason Carroll had a front seat at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They marched on Colorado Springs. The drums of battle are igniting the warrior within. But this time, these servicemen and women who once fought side by side will be competing against each other.
SPEC. DAVID OLIVER, U.S. ARMY: Being lazy has not been an option in our life. We've been very damn busy training for this thing.
CARROLL: Army Specialist David Oliver is ready, so is Marine Captain Jonathan Disbro.
CAPT. JONATHAN DISBRO, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I wasn't really an athlete before this. So, this whole experience has been really an eye-opener for me.
CARROLL: The experience, the Warrior Games, an Olympic style competition for wounded service members.
(CHEERS)
CARROLL: David Oliver lost his right arm during a Humvee accident in Afghanistan two years ago. Jonathan Disbros' right leg amputated below the knee in 2005 after an injury in Iraq.
JENNIFER DISBRO, WIFE OF CAPT. JONATHAN DISBRO: It was 17 surgeries where they tried to save his foot in six months. JONATHAN DISBRO: The challenge is there, it presents itself to you, so you can either accept that limitation or take that challenge and overcome it.
CARROLL: And there are more than 200 others here eager to show how they've overcome their challenges.
(on camera): Right now, Jonathan is getting ready to compete in his first event of the morning, it is the shot put, so they're going to strap him in to get him in to position.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice throw!
CARROLL (voice-over): Disbro gets the shot put gold and competes in four other events.
David Oliver medals, too, fighting for the bronze in the 800- meter.
OLIVER: I was about to fall on my face, like the last quarter of the thing and I'm sitting there thinking to myself, I got my family to think about, the Army to think about. I haven't pushed myself harder than that in my entire life.
CARROLL (on camera): Do you remember what happened when the idea first came across your table, you first heard about the idea, what your thoughts were?
LT. GEN. ERIC B. SCHOOMAKER, SURGEON GENERAL, U.S. ARMY: It was a blinding flash to the obvious, even as they've recovered from these wounds and injuries and illnesses to be symbols of the highest and most capable of their type. And I think -- I think they must take -- I would take extraordinary pride in that.
JONATHAN DISBRO: Some of these guys that hadn't been involved in sports before, now they're involved in sports. They have expectations on them and the Marine Corps teams doing pretty well. As you can see, a lot of medal winners here.
CARROLL: Including you.
JONATHAN DISBRO: I'm just happy for the whole team. I'm proud of the team and, you know, it's been a great experience so far.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Ultimately, that's what Warrior Games is all about -- men and women continuing to push themselves, never giving up.
Jason Carroll, CNN, Colorado Springs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, we had breaking news from the political trail overnight, one Republican decides he will not run for president, and he gave one reason and one reason alone. It's about his family. We'll tell you about it and what some say is his complicated marriage. He calls it a remarkable love story.
We'll reset at the top of the hour. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good Sunday morning, everybody.
Just days after President Obama angered many when he suggested Israel go back to its 1967 borders, he talks to a key pro-Israel lobbying group this morning -- happening in just a matter of hours. How is that going to play out?
Also, something we have been keeping a close eye on, just a couple hundred miles above us. This is happening in space. It continues right now. Spacewalk is taking place; two astronauts out there doing some maintenance work. This is one of two space walks that have taken place so far.
Space shuttle Endeavour on its mission, expected to continue for the next hour or so. We'll give you another update about what's happening above us.
Also, the CDC has put out a very important, warning you about zombies. I am not kidding, this is real, I will explain.
But, from the CNN Center, this is your CNN SUNDAY MORNING -- the day after the end of the world. Lo and behold, I'm T.J. Holmes, and we are still here.
Let's start with the Mideast peace politics and what's happening a couple hours from now. President Obama will be talking to AIPAC. That is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. It is the most powerful pro-Jewish lobbying group in the U.S.
And today's speech comes just days after President Obama ruffled some feathers when he suggested Israel go back to its 1967 border. That's certainly upset a lot of people and got a lot of attention, in particular, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who had a meeting with the president on Friday, just a day after the president made those comments.
And CNN's senior State Department producer, Elise Labott, live for us in Washington, in advance of the president's speech.
Elise, good morning to you. How are they going to receive the president this morning?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, I think it's going to be a mixed reception, T.J. Obviously, the other day, there was a lot of consternation about those '67 borders. But President Obama did also offer some other things about refugees and about dealing with Hamas.
So, I think what the audience is going to be looking for and the Israelis are going to be looking for today for President Obama to, you know, say, yes, we do have an agreement on -- disagreement on the '67 borders, but at the same time, try and assure the Israelis and the American Jewish community that the U.S. does consider Israel, as we say, an unshakable ally, and also that the U.S. is really guaranteeing Israel's security even as the peace process goes forward, T.J.
HOLMES: Elise, I believe it was, I believe it was Politico that had an article out a day or so ago and essentially, they posted an e- mail that came from the head of AIPAC, reminding their members essentially how to treat their guests. Some took that as being -- they're telling people, hey, don't boo the president. We wouldn't think it would go that far.
LABOTT: Well, I wouldn't put it past some members in the crowd. I mean, you know, there are thousands of people there. Some people feel very strongly. And so, so they try to get a little rowdy.
Sometimes it does happen, in the past, you know, depending on what the president said the day before or, you know, how people are thinking. But at the end of the day, the U.S. and Israel are very close allies. American Jews know that, you know, the U.S. really is indispensable in terms of helping advance Israel's interest, not just in the peace process, but we've seen all this turmoil in the region, that they really know that they need the U.S. support.
So, I think they're going to be looking for some concrete things for President Obama to say to the crowd -- to assure them that the U.S. has Israel's interest is in mind. But at the same time, there is a lot of anger over what he said the other day about those '67 borders because they feel it's not something that the U.S. is really taking into account their needs.
HOLMES: And this last thing you could probably answer this pretty quickly. What's next in the peace process? A lot of people are saying there is no next step. We don't know what's next.
LABOTT: Well, there's no next steps in terms of President Obama certainly didn't say I'm going to send Secretary Clinton or an envoy out to advance the peace process. And so, there's no negotiations. But we have this date coming up in September at the United Nations when the Palestinians are seeking recognition from the international community.
So, you really have to get some kind of process going before that, because Israel and the United States really went to head that off.
HOLMES: Elise Labott for us from the State Department -- good to see you as always, thanks so much.
Meanwhile, the president today just starts at AIPAC, but it is going to -- and he has a busy week ahead. President Obama will be climbing aboard Air Force One this evening for a long flight to Ireland. He'll spend all of next week in Europe, after Ireland. He heads to London, to lunch with the queen, and economic meetings, the G-8 summit in France.
Let's turn though to some other big breaking political news from overnight. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has made a decision. And that decision probably won't make a lot of fiscal conservatives happy.
He says he is not going to run for president. GOP insiders were pushing him to get into the race. They saw him as the clear fiscally conservative choice.
But here's how he summed up his decision in an overnight e-mail to supporters. Quote, "In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one, and that, the interest is and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all."
Some political observers have suggested that Daniels' family would have gotten a lot of attention if he decided to get into the race. Some called his family situation, well, complicated, if you will.
That's his wife you're seeing there, Sherri. She left him in the '90s, married another man, then came back to Mitch Daniels. And now, those two are married once again. Sherri Daniels stayed out of the public eye since then, but a presidential run certainly would have changed all of that.
Hear now more from Daniels' statement, even apologizing to some Republican leaders. I'm quoting again, he says, "If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry. If you feel that this was a non-courageous or unpatriotic decision, I understand, and will not attempt to persuade you otherwise. I only hope that you will accept my sincerity in the judgment I have reached."
More on Daniels' decision and what it does to the GOP hopes for 2012 just a little later.
Head back to space, shall we? That's always fun. The International Space Station -- this is taking place above us as we speak, always remarkable to get these pictures. But two astronauts are out there right now. Drew Feustel and Mike Fincke, they are doing some work on the International Space Station.
They have been at this for the past five hours or so. This was a walk slated to go maybe some six and a half plus hours. But they're doing some maintenance, really some handy work up there on the International Space Station. Of course, this is the last -- the last mission for the shuttle Endeavour.
We'll turn to Oklahoma, a story you saw developing yesterday on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. An Oklahoma sheriff's deputy is recovering this morning after surgery to try and repair serious damage to his face. Major John Waldenville was shot in the heads at close range Friday night, the sheriff now telling us there's no brain damage.
Police are still searching for two men in connection with that shooting. It was all caught on security cameras. We, the public have not seen that video just yet. But listen now to the major's wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARJORIE WALDENVILLE, WIFE OF WOUNDED SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: He's doing very well right now. Everything that they've done so far for him, all the surgeries he's had, has had the best possible outcome. They think he's going to pull through just fine. He's a fighter. He's a go-getter, and a fighter and positive person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Amazing to hear. She's saying he's going to pull through just fine. Waldenville was doing some extra work as a security guard when he was ambushed.
Take you now to Iceland. Take a look at this picture, another volcano scientists keeping a close eye on. It's erupting right now. It's not the one you might be thinking about that caused the problems last year. The plume of smoke you're seeing is coming from the largest glacier in Europe, located in southeast Iceland.
But, again, the one you'll remember, another eruption in Iceland, that was the one that disrupted air travel in Europe for weeks last year. So, a different one this time.
But actor Jeff Conway, battling for his life this morning in a California hospital. The 60-year-old star of "Grease," yes, Kinicki, that's him right there. And later starred in the TV hit, "Taxi." He is suffering from pneumonia, and that's infection -- sepsis as well -- an infection of the blood.
Conway's struggles with addiction have been chronicled in the TV reality show "Celebrity Rehab" with Dr. Drew.
Also, the Delta Airlines right is trying to help you out by giving you a little extra leg room, if you give them a little extra money. They're putting you in what's called economy comfort. Sounds great, doesn't it? That just means you're in coach and you have four more inches of leg room. It will cost you a little more, $20 to $40 an inch in some cases. So, yes, some flights overseas cost you an extra $160.
Well, did you have money on Shackelford to win the 136 running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday? Well, you got a very good pay day. Twelve to one were the odds. The underdog held off a home stretch one for a Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom to win by less than a length. There will not be a Triple Crown winner -- a drought that dates back now to 1978.
Well, we've been covering a lot of weather lately, certainly keeping a close eye on the flooding. Still, a number of problems they are still facing in parts of the South. We'll tell you now about a new health warning that's being issued for some folks.
Also, also let's say good morning to daddy, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning. Yes, it's good times, no question about it. Unfortunately, it's bad times in terms of some rough weather. We've had incredible storms across parts of the Central Plains, some damage also popping up across portions of Kansas. Now, what we can se today is a lot of that severe weather pushes a little bit further to the east, to Great Lakes and Texas. More on that coming up in a few moments.
You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, 14 minutes past the hour now.
One person is dead after a reported tornado ripped through a Kansas town, damaging just about every home there. This happened in Redding, Kansas. At least 20 homes were destroyed.
You see this ominous sight here -- 200 homes in that town damaged. Hours after the storm swept through that town, that's when emergency officials were able to confirm to us that one person -- at least one person had been killed, another two have been injured.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
HOLMES: That's hail, large hail you're hearing there -- smashing windows in parts of eastern Kansas. This is in Topeka. High winds there also snapped large tree limbs.
And as I bring in Reynolds Wolf, as we're talking about, we always, the day after, it seems silly sometimes to be looking at video which at least in my opinion shows clearly a tornado -- but we always have to wait for the weather experts to go in there and make the official rulings on the stuff.
WOLF: Absolutely, this is the way it works. It's very strange. It's almost like having some kind of a sporting contest where you have the officials, you know, at the scoring table so to speak. I mean, it's just kind of a weird analogy.
HOLMES: It's official.
WOLF: That's how it works.
But, yes -- I mean, a tornado is a tornado. There's plenty of them out there in parts of the Central Plains.
The video -- let's go ahead if we can show you some of that video again. It is really just compelling.
I've gone storm chasing a number of times. And when you storm chase, the objective is to get to the southern half of the storm or southeast corner, because the storms move to the northeast -- 99 percent of all tornadoes move to the northeast. We can see some of those during through parts of the Midwest and into the Central Plains later today.
Let's show you what we've got, T.J. As you take a look at the national perspective, there are a couple of key places to hone in on. One would be in parts of Missouri, where we some development right here, just southwest of Peoria, everything developing, moving eastward, some just in to the northeast of I-55.
Also, in T.J.'s home state of Arkansas, look how quick some of these things have just been popping up. I mean, just 20 minutes ago, we didn't have any of these rain showers. The eruption of them near Little Rock and back in Conway, if you happen to be tuning in from say, Searsay (ph) or even towards Clarksdale on the other side -- keep in mind: all of these are going to be dripping off to the northeast, doing so in about 45 miles an hour.
So, just keep that in mind -- rain, hail, possibly some flash flooding across parts of the Central Plains. And, of course, we can't rule out the chance of a tornado or two, perhaps even more by late in the afternoon.
All your atmospheric components are there. We've got moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, the frontal boundaries are going to be driving off towards the east. That combined with the heating will make a very volatile atmosphere, giving us chance of this storm -- as we wrap it up -- from parts of the central Great Lakes to the end of the Central Plains all points driving eastward, late afternoon will be your best chance of dealing with those rough storms.
More on your forecast coming up throughout the morning.
T.J., let's pitch right back to you.
HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you, buddy. Good to have you back as well. Thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: Well, let's look at some of the headlines from the flooding in Mississippi and Louisiana this morning. There's actually some good news to reporting for the people of St. Martin Parish in Louisiana. Mandatory evacuation order has been delayed because they now believe the river is not going to get as high as they once feared.
The river has already crested in Vicksburg, Mississippi. People aren't being allowed back in their homes there, however, just yet. Governor Haley Barbour warning residents about the health risks once they get back. He says tests of the water show levels of E. coli bacteria 200 times the normal level.
Also, a disturbing sight in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Caskets have started floating from a cemetery there. So far, at least, three have floated away.
Well, floodwaters in the region aren't really going anywhere any time soon. Some places expect to be under water until at least mid- June. It's making it tough for everybody, especially people who live and work right on the river.
Jeanne Meserve is right on the river for us this morning.
Jeanne, good morning once again. It's one thing, you have -- you know, you try to just save your home, but then you have to worry about saving your livelihood as well.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You have to worry about your business and the full cost of business, and to farmers, has yet to be calculated, T.J.
The good news for this story right now is that the levee system appears to be holding. Yes, there have been minor problems, sand boils keep cropping up. But thus far, they've been able to control them, and there have been no major problems.
The second piece of good news is that although the water is still rising in some places, in other places, it is dropping -- not a great deal yet, but it is going down somewhat. The estimates, as you mentioned, are that won't go back to normal until mid-June. That's because there is so much water in the Mississippi and in its tributaries that still has to drain out of this system.
Now, it means that thousands and thousands of people are still out of their homes, and the full cost of this flooding has yet to be calculated. Of course, as you mentioned, a lot of people make their living on the water, we went out yesterday in a tugboat and saw some of the challenges they're facing in this environment.
The most important thing is the current. The volume of water is so great that the currents are at an unprecedented strength. It's making it very hard for barges and tow boats to make their way up the river, that, of course, a critical part of the economy in the middle part of the country.
So, some people are saying that when the water does go down, it's likely that the floodwater also have changed the contours of the river, underwater, they're saying sandbars will have moved and so forth. There's already talk of their having to do dredging when the floodwaters go down and that will be a while yet.
T.J., back to you.
HOLMES: All right. Jeanne Meserve for us this morning -- Jeanne, we appreciate you as always.
We're at 20 minutes past the hour now. You know, the CDC is there to protect the public safety. But the CDC is putting out a warning, saying they need to be protecting us from zombies.
This is not a joke. The Centers for Disease Control is officially putting out a guide telling you who you to survive a zombie apocalypse. You'll hear it, next.
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HOLMES: Twenty-four minutes past the hour now.
It's not often that the Centers for Disease Control are on the same page as the plot of horror movies. It's a new day now. It's a new day even for the living dead.
Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen tells us about the CDC's zombie plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, the Centers for Disease Control this week had a warning for all Americans. They said be prepared for the zombie apocalypse. It's apparently is the end of the world as we know it, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants you to be prepared.
Take a look at this blog post. And yes, look at the URL, it really is CDC.gov.
In this blog post, the CDC promises to provide technical assistance to cities or states who are dealing with a zombie infestation, and they say that if you get infected from a zombie bite, they'll be there to try to prevent further transmission of the virus or whatever it is the zombies carry.
They have all sorts of advice about what to do if zombies attack. So, if the zombies attack -- first of all, you want to have plenty of water on hand to stay hydrated. Also, keep a kit of food that will stay, you know, good for a long time. And also have a copy of important documents like your passport and your driver's license.
And keep extra bottles of medication that you might need, as well as a first aid kit. This is particularly important, some Off! to keep the zombies off of you.
If all of this looks like what you would expect to have ready in case of an emergency, that's the point, the CDC wanted to get people's attention and it worked. Their blog site actually crashed because so many people read their article.
And what the message they wanted to get out is that you need to have a preparedness kit together and ready at your home in case there was a natural disaster or something else went wrong. So, don't wait for the zombies, get your kit together and you can be an empowered patient and an empowered zombie survivor.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Thanks to our Elizabeth Cohen there.
Well, another potential GOP presidential candidate has said no to a White House run. That's Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels we're talking about it. He made it official overnight. I'll tell you who was pushing him to run, after the break.
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HOLMES: Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels says he will not seek the Republican nomination for president, making this announcement overnight in an e-mail to supporters. And he's a former top aide to President George W. Bush. He had the backing of many powerful conservatives, including the Bush family. Daniels joins Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, Haley Barbour in deciding not to run in the 2012 presidential race.
Also, take a look at this, just how cool is this. This is happening right now some 200 miles above the earth. Two astronauts on a space walk. They're doing a mission right now, trying to do -- because that is some handy work around the International Space Station.
Two of them out there right now, Mike Fincke and Drew Feustel. But they've been at this for the past five hours or so when the space walk started. But what you are seeing right now is, in fact, a live picture we can bring you of work happening right now at the International Space Station. Of course, these are the Endeavour astronauts on the last Endeavour mission.
I'll be back with you at the top of the hour for more live news.
Right now, it's time for the good doctor.
