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American Morning

Monster Twister Decimates Joplin; Joplin Search and Rescue Under Way; NOAA: Joplin Tornado "Deadliest On Record"; Volcanic Ash Prompts Flight Cancellations; RPT Pilot Error In Air France Crash

Aired May 24, 2011 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi reporting live from Joplin, Missouri, the scene of the single deadliest U.S. tornado on record.

One hundred sixteen fatalities are confirmed and that number could climb a lot higher. Hundreds, even thousands of people may be trapped and search and rescue teams are being hampered by thunderstorms and lightning with the threat of more tornadoes in the forecast for today. Two thousand homes and buildings around me have been damaged or entirely destroyed but from the rubble comes hope. Seventeen people have been found alive. Their stories ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: As the shock begins to wear off, the magnitude sets in. I'm Ali Velshi in Joplin, Missouri, at the site of the nation's single deadliest tornado in decades. More tornadoes are expected later today and this already devastated town could once again be a target.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans in New York. There is a six-mile stretch of unimaginable death and destruction in Joplin. No telling how many people may be trapped right now. Hundreds, perhaps thousands. Search and rescue teams forced to battle extreme weather and they're still trying to find more survivors.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. In the midst of the misery and mayhem in Joplin, there is some hope. They found 17 people and rescued them from the rubble already and so many more who survived a brush with death and lived to tell about it on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good morning to you. It is Tuesday, May 24th. We're getting a much better picture of the scope of the disaster that we're talking about in Joplin, Missouri, today and that's where our Ali Velshi is.

ROMANS: Good morning, Ali. What are you seeing there?

VELSHI: Good morning, Kiran, Christine. I wish I could tell you it's a good morning here in Joplin. It simply isn't. Over my shoulder, you can see the remains of the medical center which in this vast area is really the only building of significance that is still standing.

Let's begin this morning with some breaking news, however. President Obama in London this morning, is announcing that he will be coming here. He'll be visiting Joplin this Sunday as soon as he gets back from his European trip. Now the president says he wants the folks here to know the government will do absolutely everything they can to make sure that there's recovery here.

Thirty percent of Joplin is gone. It's decimated. Right now, hundreds of police, firefighters, national guardsmen, other volunteers are searching for survivors along this path of -- I can't describe it as anything other than utter devastation. Take a look at the enormous beast of a tornado that pulverized this town on Sunday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, we got lightning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Two thousand homes and buildings flattened. There is no way to know how many people may be buried dead or alive. The smell of gas is everywhere in this town. The danger is far from over because severe weather is still in the forecast here with a 45 percent chance of more tornadoes in the area today.

Here's the latest. Right now, the death toll stands at 116. Officials fear that number is going to climb. According to the National Weather Service, initial reports show the tornado was an EF-4 with wind speeds -- with wind speeds between 190 and 198 miles per hour.

Now this massive tornado was three quarters of a mile wide. It stayed on the ground long enough to carve a six-mile scar through the heart of this heavily populated area. Even though we still don't have a final number on fatalities, the National Weather Service says this was the single deadliest tornado since 1950, the year they began keeping records.

And around me you're looking at pictures from when the sun was up yesterday. The sun still some time from coming up, but the pictures haven't changed around me. There is just debris, personal belongings, and in many cases belongings that are from miles and miles away.

Determined search and rescue teams are trying to find survivors this morning. They're all over. But the stormy weather overnight has really slowed things down. Seventeen people, however, were found alive in the wreckage that stretches for miles around me. Casey Wian has been following that for us, including one of the survivor's pulled from that building over there, a solid multistory building that has -- you can't imagine the damage that's been done to it. Tell us the story of the survivor.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely, Ali. You know, when we were here yesterday, we spent time with survivors picking through the rubble. We spent time with search and rescue crews. And one young man we met yesterday outside of Home Depot that was flattened was actually working in that building when the tornado hit and let's listen to what he had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The winds were so strong it made my ears pop. I mean, my ears kept popping. The force, you know, the suction of it, I mean, it literally lifted up the ceiling and it dropped it back down on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: You know, it's really incredible, Ali, when you see just a few hours after devastation like this, people picking through rubble like we're seeing behind us, just trying to salvage anything they can from their lives. Part of our day yesterday as I mentioned, spent with search and rescue crews who are combing throughout this city, thousands of them from several states. They've had some successes as you mentioned. They pulled 17 people alive from these crumbled buildings.

VELSHI: Yes.

WIAN: We met one young woman outside that Home Depot yesterday. She feared that her father and her uncle were actually still in that building, perhaps dead. She was in tears. The search and rescue crews immediately went in. We do know they pulled one survivor out of that building. We do know there were three fatalities. We don't know if that young girl's family members were dead or alive. The search effort has been hampered by the fact that there's still power lines down throughout the city.

VELSHI: Yes.

WIAN: There is still gas, the smell of gas throughout the city.

VELSHI: Yes.

WIAN: And the fact that the weather has been so bad. We've got a break right now.

VELSHI: Yes.

WIAN: But as you mentioned, it's going to get worse this afternoon.

VELSHI: And this is as pleasant as it's been.

WIAN: Absolutely.

VELSHI: But it's still -- it's still hampering. OK. Casey, we'll stay with you. We're also going to be speaking to another family with a young, young child, saved but for the grace of God. We'll be covering more of that. I'm right here. Right back to you guys in the newsroom.

CHETRY: In the midst of that, you still hear these miracles, you still hear these tales of unbelievable triumph over adversity.

ROMANS: And we're hoping we hear a lot more of those stories here today because, you know, people are still trapped in the rubble of those flattened buildings and they're hoping to find more survivors. Rob Marciano is here with us in New York this morning.

And, Rob, yesterday the search and rescue folks had a couple of lightning strikes and some bad weather yesterday.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

ROMANS: It looks like they could get hit again today.

MARCIANO: Yes. This is not the perfect weather for doing what they're doing right now, which is trying to save lives and dig through really some dangerous territory. We had almost two inches of rainfall since the tornado came through. A lot of times when a tornado comes through with a cold front, the weather clears out and at least it's dry and not windy. But yesterday, they had wind, they had rain, they had thunder and lightning and now we have flash flood warning that's out for Joplin proper. That's the red highlighted counties there. We don't expect to see a whole lot of rain in the next few hours, but later on today we do expect things to ramp up.

Here's the rainfall, the bulk of it. A couple of showers moving through Tulsa. That probably should miss Joplin proper. And then a pulse of energy moving through Memphis and Nashville. This is also moving to the east. So folks on the east coast are going to be under the gun for some severe weather today too. Back through Nashville, Tennessee, up through across the Appalachians, fairly quiet across the northeast right now, but very juicy. There's a lot of moisture in the atmosphere and a pretty wide swath of real estate that has the potential for seeing severe weather throughout the day today.

Let's look at the severe weather risk all the way from New York back through the Midwest. Severe thunderstorms are possible. It will be warm and steamy south of this front. But where the bull's eye is going to be is going to be across what's traditionally Tornado Alley, which is just to the west of Joplin proper. A high risk of severe thunderstorms today. That is a rare event issued by the Storm Prediction Center. We will see thunderstorms that produce tornadoes today. Some of those tornadoes will be violent. It's just a matter of where in that shaded area they develop.

Looks like Oklahoma City up through Tulsa. Notice that the shaded area does get just to the west of Joplin. That means Joplin tonight will be under the gun for severe weather potentially.

Here's what we normally expect as far as the severe weather season is concerned. March through May, we certainly saw that this year as far as tornadoes across the southeast. We start to lift it with the jet stream as it migrates a little bit farther to the north. And back to the west, April and May, May especially across the areas where we're concerned with today and then up towards the north as well.

We talk about this EF scale. I want to just kind of highlight how that breaks down. This has been rated an EF-4 tornado, and that means that winds are estimated to be 166 up to 200 miles an hour. This tornado on the higher end of that, EF-5, over 200 miles an hour. But you get to those ranges and it really doesn't mean a whole lot. We're talking about substantial structures obviously and infrastructure that has been completely wiped out in many cases. So we don't get many of these EF-4s and EF-5s especially on the higher end.

CHETRY: But that is what you said hit Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as well last month, right?

MARCIANO: Very, very similar in strength and size. This thing was three quarters of a mile wide. It was on the ground for at least six to seven miles and we're seeing that in the damaged path and we're seeing it in pictures.

ROMANS: You know, Ali says it's like a moonscape there. He says the pictures don't even really give you the full sense of what it feels like --

CHETRY: It's hard to capture it in television.

ROMANS: -- because there's just piles of cars and rubble and flattened buildings just really difficult.

CHETRY: I know.

MARCIANO: And when I was down in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, that's exactly the way to describe it. It looks like a moonscape. There's vegetation and buildings that used to be there and are not.

CHETRY: Right.

MARCIANO: You feel like you're in a completely different part of the world because that part of the world should have some vegetation, should have trees and it doesn't.

ROMANS: We've been trying to tell people where to meet us, you know, for our live shot location in the streets. There are no street signs in some of these places.

CHETRY: Yes.

ROMANS: You have to kind of feel your way and it might not be exactly where you thought. It's really interesting that even the markers of the town.

MARCIANO: Yes. It's surreal.

CHETRY: One other quick note just to reiterate, when they say there's a 45 percent chance of another tornado outbreak and you said it's in the evening, right, 4:00 p.m. until midnight, I mean, what does that mean? It makes it sound like there's a 50/50 shot this could happen again today.

MARCIANO: Within that area. Not in that particular point. So, you know, for Joplin to get hit again with a tornado that would be extremely rare. But there will be thunderstorms that produce tornadoes around that area and you remember, with only being three quarters of a mile wide, the odds of any town getting hit across anywhere in the country are pretty, pretty small. And that's the reason that cities don't get hit because we're just a dot on the map.

CHETRY: Right.

MARCIANO: It's just a matter of luck or in this case bad luck.

ROMANS: All right. Rob Marciano, thanks.

CHETRY: Thank you.

ROMANS: We'll talk to you again very soon on this.

CHETRY: Well, a lot of people are wondering what they can do. You know, you sit there and you see these disasters like we saw last month and like with the colossal flooding that's taken place, we want you to know that we're trying to help facilitate that if you'd like to help. And you can help the tornado victims in Joplin by going to CNN.com/impact. There you'll find organizations, American Red Cross, Salvation Army and others that are pitching in to try to help the people that are now suffering. It's at CNN.com/impact.

ROMANS: All right. New this morning, mandatory evacuations under way for residents in Butte La Rose, Louisiana. It's an area just 50 miles downstream from where the Morganza Spillway was opened. Efforts to divert the swollen Mississippi River could cause more than $2 billion in damages. According to a new study, more than 21,000 homes are now at risk at being -- of being flooded.

CHETRY: Flights across Europe are now being canceled. They were concerned this would happen and, indeed, it is happening because of that volcanic ash from Iceland now drifting toward Britain. Scotland already grounding all flights today, and Britain is cutting service to and from Scotland again because of that ash. The plume even affecting President Obama's week-long tour of Europe. He was actually forced to take an earlier flight out of Ireland because of it. The volcano started erupting on Saturday.

ROMANS: Also this morning, Israel's prime minister taking aim at President Obama's plan for peace negotiations with Palestinians. In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Benjamin Netanyahu says his country will not return to the boundaries it had before 1967. He called it indefensible. But he says he's eager to reach a peace deal. Netanyahu will outline a plan before Congress today.

CNN will be covering the prime minister's speech on the Middle East speech process. Just head over to CNN.com/gps. You can join the conversation through I-report and Twitter as well.

CHETRY: NATO is launching more than a dozen air strikes on the Libyan capital early this morning. Heavy smoke blanketing Tripoli. The air strikes targeted a compound for forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Officials say that the attack is one of the heaviest they've seen of the NATO missions since it began more than two months ago. Right now, reports are at least three people dead and more than 150 others injured. ROMANS: New revelations this morning in the case against the former head of the IMF. It's being reported that DNA from Dominique Strauss- Kahn matches that of the clothing on the clothing of a hotel maid and police are testing more DNA found at the scene. Strauss-Kahn is accused of sexually assaulting the woman at a swanky New York hotel last weekend. Right now, he's released on bail.

We go back now to Joplin, Missouri, where Ali is following our big story this morning. The survivors, the search and rescue in the Joplin tornado disaster -- Ali.

VELSHI: Yes. Christine and Kiran, when I checked into my hotel yesterday, by the way, the woman who checked me in said that when she came back here, she lives here, she couldn't find her street because there are no signs and there's a gas station on the corner and the gas station wasn't there. That's the kind of devastation. Imagine how it feels to have lived through that. Well, in a moment, I'm going to bring you a toddler, a 21-year-old boy, and his parents, imagine what it felt like to have to protect that boy's life through this tornado. It's a remarkable, remarkable compelling story. I'll have that as our continuing live coverage from Joplin turns up on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Imagine waking up to the sounds of tornado sirens, but the warning is too late, then the feeling of the fury of this devastating twister as it drops down on to your home.

I'm standing here with Rachael Neff and her fiance Zac Bronson. They lived through this nightmare with this little guy here, with Nolan. This is the incredible story of their survival. Nolan looks fine. He is unharmed, but because you were blocking him, you were holding on to the toilet with - with Nolan between you and the toilet. Tell me the story, Rachael.

RACHAEL NEFF, SURVIVED TORNADO: Yes. We had a few minutes warning. I - I've never taken any of the warnings seriously, but something snapped in me and I put blankets and pillows in the bathroom. And we were running to the bathroom. You could hear the home shaking. Everything busting out. We got down.

He was between me - Zac was hunched over us and we were just, you know, praying, screaming and, you know, as very loud and it all happened so fast. It seemed like forever but it happened very fast.

VELSHI: Zac, so Nolan was the closest to the toilet. Rachael was there and then you were trying to sort of protect them both. What - what were you feeling? Were things hitting you? What - you were in the bathroom. You went into the bathroom. What were you feeling?

ZAC BRONSON, SURVIVED TORNADO: As soon as I shut the door, we immediately felt the wind blow out the windows and start swooping underneath the door and insulation, glass was beating us on our backs. She said, I have my legs wrapped around the toilet, and I said my arms wrapped around you guys and the toilet. She was praying and screaming and he was crying. And five minutes later, you know, we saw - we could see daylight coming through the - the bathroom vent in the ceiling and we knew - we knew it was almost over, but we just had to hang on.

VELSHI: And then - and then when he went to open the bathroom door - this was the most amazing thing, you open the bathroom door and what was outside?

NEFF: The sky. That's - that's all was left. I begged him not to open the door. I was afraid it wasn't over. But it was all you saw was, you know, for blocks, so we're -

VELSHI: You're - you're over there. You're about a mile and a half away and you can see us from there now? And that - that wasn't the case.

NEFF: Yes. We can see further than here. I mean, we can clear across town. It seems like it goes on forever, so -

VELSHI: What happens now?

BRONSON: Now we've had a tremendous support system. Our employers, friends and family have been more than help - helpful and we move on and rebuild. We just start another life. We started a new life. You know, this is my child and my fiancee and - and we hope that things can only get better from here.

VELSHI: I think that's probably the case. How is he doing? Nolan, how are you doing?

NEFF: Can you say hi?

BRONSON: Can you say hi?

VELSHI: How has he - how has he been since yesterday?

NEFF: He's been a little startled. You know, we're having to drive across town to go take a shower. The gas isn't working. We're driving in the car and he's - he's screaming, crying. I don't think he has any concept of what really happened, but he knows something very traumatic happened and, you know, the lightning and stuff is scaring him now, which never happened before, so -

But we're alive and healthy, that's all that matters. We can get past this, you know? We had guardian angels for sure over us and we're the only room we were in was standing, so somebody was watching us.

VELSHI: All right. Let's hope there are other lucky stories.

NEFF: There are, yes.

VELSHI: We're still looking for a lot of people, but we'll keep the faith up.

Thanks to both of you, Rachael and Zac and Nolan. Good to see you, buddy. I'm glad you're safe.

All right, Kiran, Christine, there are - there are some hopeful stories here.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Ali. And it's so nice to see a mom - the mom laugh just for a brief moment -

CHETRY: I know.

ROMANS: -- a little smile on Nolan's face. So, kids are resilient. But it's going to be a tough few days.

CHETRY: Yes. I mean, that you start to think how lucky you are that you - she said healthy and everybody is together. That's not the case for many others.

ROMANS: Their instinct is to go into the bathroom and to hold on to the plumbing. You know, Rob was telling us yesterday that is a good instinct to have, because sometimes that's the only thing standing the tub, the toilet and that little room in the house when everything else is gone.

CHETRY: Well, up next, we're going to have some other stories that we've been following this morning including the president is in - in Europe.

ROMANS: That's right.

CHETRY: And he's actually going to be meeting the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge today, so that will be interesting.

Also, if you own an iPhone or an iPad, could AT&T be overcharging you for your data usage?

ROMANS: Also, choose your college major carefully, folks. We're going to tell you which college grads are making the big bucks right now and which ones never stand a chance of repaying their loans. Choose carefully. We'll give you some good tips right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: It's 23 minutes past the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.

About 3,700 contractors who received $24 billion in stimulus money to build roads and provide services, they owe more than $750 million in back taxes to the federal government. That's according to investigators at the General Accountability Office. A senate hearing today will try to determine how those tax delinquent companies were able to qualify for government stimulus money in the first place.

Toyota has some internal problems to fix. A panel of safety experts found Toyota has a tendency to dismiss customer complaints and there's no clear procedure for handling safety problems there. And more automakers are doing away with the spare tire so their cars get better gas mileage. For instance, there's no spare in the new Chevy Cruze and GM says by replacing the spare tire with a tire repair kit the car is 26 pounds lighter and that helps the car get 42 miles a gallon on the highway.

Want to make big bucks? Choose the right major. A Georgetown study found that of the top 10 undergraduate majors with the highest median salaries, eight were in Engineering. People who majored in Elementary Education and Psychology had some of the lowest median salaries.

AT&T is accused of overcharging iPhone and iPad users. According to a lawsuit, iPhones and iPads that weren't being used for days, still racked up data transactions. AT&T denies the charges, claiming data transactions run in the background, and just because you don't use them or know about them, it doesn't mean they aren't need.

And Lady Gaga overwhelms Amazon.com. The singer puts her new album for sale on the website for just 99 cents just for yesterday. But Amazon simply wasn't prepared for the traffic. The company's servers stalled and many users weren't able to download or listen to the entire album.

AMERICAN MORNING will be right back right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: President Obama in London this morning, just announcing that he's going to visit Joplin, Missouri, this Sunday as soon as he gets back from his European trip. The president says he wants the folks around here to know that the government will do absolutely everything it can to make sure that this area recovers a day and a half after the deadliest U.S. tornado on record ripped through the heart of this town, Joplin, Missouri. It's bracing now for more extreme weather today with the possibility of more tornadoes in the forecast.

Now, take a look. Take a look and listen to this monster tornado that flattened a six-mile stretch of this city on Sunday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. We got lightning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to go back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got the car out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's getting big, big.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Wind speeds were clocked up to 198 miles an hour -- 116 people now confirmed -- say that's going to -- the sun will be rising here shortly and the search and rescue efforts are going to continue. Two thousand homes and buildings around where I'm standing have been destroyed or damaged in Joplin. Hundreds of firefighters, police and national guardsmen are going block by block trying to find survivors.

Seventeen people have already been rescued, but thunderstorms and lightning throughout yesterday afternoon and evening, into the night, have been making that rescue very tough. Now, right around, you get some sense of the picture. It is utter devastation.

As it starts to light up, it's not enough to see, but you're looking at the medical center, you just saw that on the video. That's just over there to my left. And it is the only standing structure and it is damaged quite a bit. You're going to see this in the picture right now.

Between here and there is just a field of devastation. Broken trees, absolute destroyed houses, and everything you see between the medical center and where we are right now, piles of cars and debris. This is very -- making it very difficult to search for survivors although they believe that there are probably survivors and more fatalities in and amongst everything that's going on around here.

Now, let's talk about what happened yesterday. There was a home depot that was in the direct line of this tornado. I want to bring in Jacqui Jeras, CNN's Jacqui Jeras. She was there, watching what was going on.

Set the scene for us. What happened there, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, if you've seen some of the pictures, I think we have some we can roll them for you and see the Home Depot. I mean, it's basically just flattened, nothing left.

So, it's amazing that some people actually survived during this situation. We talk about safe places to be during tornadoes and a building like that, these home improvement stores, have these long span roofs and so, it's actually a very dangerous place to be during a tornado.

Seven people were rescued yesterday. A couple of them were from that Home Depot. Out of the 17 total that we were talking about rescued out of Home Depot, some of those people were in there for, you know, a good 12 hours or so. And you also mentioned, if you remember in Alabama, the tornado that touched down there, some people took refuge into the Home Depot.

VELSHI: That's right.

JERAS: And those people survived. So, it's amazing to think a similar type of intensity tornado, some people it worked out for them in Alabama and this time, you know, there some fatalities in that store as well.

VELSHI: Well, you know, we talk about where you should go, what you should do. You heard me talk to Rachel and Zach with their little baby. They were in the bathroom around the toilet.

When you look at this, it will become evident to our viewers as the sun comes up, hard to believe there's anything you could have attached yourself to in these homes.

JERAS: No, not really. I mean, you really almost have to be underground to be able to survive something like this. And it's amazing and as you look through this area, I've been to the scene of many tornadoes, Ali. I've seen a lot of video and this is the first time I personally at least have witnessed this most destruction for this long.

We drove down this main strip and street, and this is six miles that this tornado just chewed up and ripped up absolutely everything. I mean, things are leveled, the slates are clean. I mean, this is the one --

VELSHI: This is the one thing that's left behind. There's nothing else here. Cars are mangled like you might have taken a can of Coke and crumpled it.

JERAS: Yes. I saw one car which was wrapped around a tree. You couldn't even tell that it was a car. I was in front of the hospital yesterday and there was a vehicle that you could the -- siding, what do you call the side of the car? Like the fenders.

VELSHI: Yes.

JERAS: And all that stuff was ripped off around the car. It was crushed. The smell of gas is out there from all these vehicles because so many cars have been affected.

We also, by the way, just on our way in this morning, there's another natural gas leak. We could smell that. So, the conditions that the workers here trying to rescue these people are really it terrible. I mean, it was pouring rain.

VELSHI: Right. This is a break. This is beautiful compared to what it's been.

JERAS: Oh, huge.

VELSHI: It was torrential last night.

JERAS: And this is going to help a lot of people, too, to see that moon this morning is a great sight because it was constant rain all day. There was thunder, there was lightning, there was hail yesterday, Ali, and the rain was coming down so hard, our tent collapsed, OK? And it was extremely heavy.

There's flooding -- flash flooding. Intersections are blocked off because the water is covering the roads there. So, this is another hazard the people are dealing with.

And we also saw about 10, 11 emergency workers -- there was a woman who they thought was trapped in her house. They couldn't find her, and they were there for hours in the pouring rain to the point that I didn't want to get out of my car, that's how heavy the rain was and here these people are working in the terrible conditions. It's chilly. You know, it's maybe 60 degrees here. The wind has been gusting. So, that makes it really tough. And you do worry about some of those victims that might still be trapped because you start worrying about things like hypothermia and that kind stuff.

VELSHI: But you've been through that last night. We saw people still working to get them out. So, they are not stopping. They're working very hard.

OK. Jacqui, thanks very much -- Kiran, Christine.

ROMANS: Ali, Jacqui, thanks, guys.

CHETRY: So, you know, we talked -- they were talking about the chilling conditions that are still happening as they try to go door to door and rescue people. And it looks like they're bracing for the possibility of more severe weather today.

Rob Marciano is following all of that for us.

I mean, it's really the last thing they need as they're trying to at least find survivors and then think about putting the town back together.

MARCIANO: Yes. I don't think the severe will come until tonight. But, nonetheless, what they had last night was just horrible as far as all the rain and thunder and lightning that Jacqui was talking about. It's chilly there. You know, typically, when a tornado outbreak happens, it's associated with the cold front that comes in and basically clears the atmosphere out and at least we have some calm, dry weather after that.

But this is not the case with this storm. And we're kind of resetting the atmosphere today. The front has kind of stalled along this area, so the threat for showers and thunderstorms persist.

But from Springfield back to almost Tulsa, we're dry at least for now. That little shower is going to move just north of Fort Smith looks like it will miss for the most part of Joplin. If you notice, there's a little bit of radar action behind me and then off towards north and east.

So, we're kind of expanding the scope of where we're going to see the threat for severe weather today. Right now, some thunderstorms rolling through Nashville, up through Lexington, getting across parts of West Virginia and eventually up into the I-95 corridor. This area as well will see the threat for seeing severe weather.

So, we got another pulse of energy that will develop into a low pressure system, right into the plains. This is just -- you know, about 48 hours after the last one came through, and this one will have punch with it as well. And we've highlighted that in the way of some pinks on the map there, high risk of seeing severe weather in this area later on today. So, the Storms Prediction Center indicated that from Oklahoma City, especially up through Wichita. That pink area means that there's a 30 percent chance of seeing a tornado touch down within 25 miles of any point in that area, all right? So, that's a big deal. Notice that Joplin is around the 10 to 15 percent mark there, moderate to slight risk there. But all the way up through New York, D.C., up to Boston, this is a very soupy atmosphere. That is where the stalled stationary boundary is and that's where the thunderstorms are going to fire up again, and some of those are going to be potentially severe.

On to the next graphic, we'll show you the high temperatures for today. Obviously, kind of toasty in Memphis, muggy, and 82 as far north as New York City. So, that's where you get fuel for the fire there and then 92 degrees in Dallas.

So, again, we didn't have the cold front come through and blast all that heat and humidity out. So, that's why we have the thunderstorms.

As far as frequency of tornadoes that we typically see month to month, May is usually the big month. That's certainly a scary thought considering what we had during the month of April. Obviously, April this year was an anomaly as far as the record setter, but May is typically the highest month and then June is actually the second highest as far as the number of tornados that we typically see. Luckily, we've gotten to the first couple weeks of May at least we're slow, but, obviously, now we're in very active pattern and it doesn't look like it's ending. So, it's really unusual to see.

CHETRY: Yes, and as you point out, just the nature of where it hit. I mean, in these city centers, in the busiest part of the city of 50,000, Joplin.

MARCIANO: We saw that in Tulsa, you know? A lot of times, they'll go just north of the city like we saw in Birmingham, in the northern suburbs. But right through Tuscaloosa, excuse me, and then right through Joplin. I mean, to have that not only in -- happen -- and then happened in the same area twice.

CHETRY: Yes, a month apart. It's very sad.

MARCIANO: Yes.

CHETRY: Thanks so much, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

CHETRY: Well, 17 people as we've been talking about have been rescued already and rescuers are still going block by block this morning, checking structures for survivors.

This morning, though, there's still no clear sense of just how many people may be trapped.

ROMANS: One of those still unaccounted for is 18-year-old Will Norton. He was driving home from his high school graduation with his dad, that's right when the storm hit. Will's dad was hurt and is now in stable condition. Will, according to his family, was sucked through the sun roof of his Hummer, which you can see right there.

Will's family spoke to Anderson Cooper last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA NORTON, SISTER: Well, I was riding with my mom and we were in a separate car and we are about 30 seconds in front of them, one blocked. We pulled into the garage, trees started blowing in. We immediately got our dog and went to the basement.

And then my dad called and he said, "Open the garage door." He didn't know it was so serious. I heard him say, "Pull over, Will. Pull over." And then they started flipping and praying.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "A.C. 360": They were in a Hummer?

NORTON: Yes, in a Hummer H3.

COOPER: And what happened to Will?

NORTON: Well, my dad said -- when my dad gained consciousness, he said that he saw my brother, his seat belt snapped and he was ejected through the sun roof.

COOPER: He was actually ripped through the sun roof.

NORTON: Yes, that's what my dad says, yes.

COOPER: And how is your dad?

NORTON: He's in stable condition. He has broken bones and, you know, he's got 20 staples in his head. But he's stable, thank goodness we found him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: High school graduation one minute, and then searching for your brother the next. The family's set up this Facebook page to help find Will. They tell Anderson they got word will was taken to a hospital alive, but the hospital transferred Will and they're not sure where he went. They have hope, Kiran, that he is alive.

But, again, sucked out of the sun roof of the car and his mom and sister got into the garage and are fine. The dad has -- is in stable condition with some broken bones.

CHETRY: Yes, it's amazing to know -- so, they know that Will is alive and they know that he's at a hospital, but they haven't been able to figure out where that is. And a lot of this, Christine, is because of the limited phone service.

And so, what's playing a crucial role now are these social Web sites, such an important way for people to connect and for people to get and give out information.

So, let's show you a couple that have really been used. This one here is the Joplin, Missouri Tornado Survivors' home page.

And on it, you can find out information on how to help victims. There are other people who have just been writing in. Words of support, Delia is from Los Angeles offering prayers. There are others. A New York schoolteacher, Jonathan. And there are people who are offering help any way. They don't know exactly what it is they can do to help, but they want to let them know that they're supporting.

Another one that people have been using is the Survivors page. This is Joplin, Missouri Tornado Survivors page. This is where people can say things like: how can I check on the state of St. John's Medical Center? Others -- has baby Skyler (ph) been found? I mean, this is heartbreaking. Somebody writing in, inquiring about that. Syria Waters (ph) writing in, "No," three hours ago.

But there are many others talking about who they're looking for, where they were -- looking for Randy, his truck was found at Home Depot. Please call with a phone number.

I mean, this is when it gets heartbreaking just knowing that these people still have no information on where their loved ones may be and they're reaching out on social networking sites to try to find out.

Now, there's another one, because in some of these cases and we can still hold out hope here perhaps that people are alive. They just can't reach their loved ones to let them know. This is where the American Red Cross site comes in.

This is called the Safe and Well site. And what you basically do is you register yourself. We saw this after Katrina and other natural disasters. Safe and Well, you click list myself as "safe as well" button -- here it is and then you can register on the site.

Then others can come to the site, concerned family members can search the list. So, you can search registrants right here, to find out how you locate a loved one. And if f you live in Joplin, you can let folks know you're OK. So, this is proving to be a key site as well.

National Guard is also mobilizing the social networking trying to find ways to help people out. They're giving the latest information. I mean, in many cases, people need to know where to go. They need to know where they can find vital services that they needed. And again, this is the National Guard site as well. And we're going to link all of these up with our home page.

Finally, our "Impact Your World" site. This is for people who feel helpless, who want to know what it is they can do. This is CNN.com's "Impact Your World." You can find out more about the story, victims and scroll through this entire list here of organizations that are taking donations to try to help people who are struggling and hurting so much in the wake of this disaster in Joplin -- Christine.

ROMANS: Kiran, meantime, the president this morning is in London for a state visit. He says his thoughts and prayers are with the people in Joplin and that he will make a visit there as soon as he's back from his European tour. This morning, though, he's going to meet the queen at Buckingham Palace in the next hour.

Also, the armored Secret Service limo. It's nicknamed "The Beast." This is what the president rides in. It's got, you know, bulletproof bells and whistles, but a little trouble getting out of the driveway at the U.S. embassy in Dublin. There you go -- the Beast stopped in its tracks.

We'll have more for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Today for President Obama, in fact, we just heard from Ali that he's actually planning to make a stop in Joplin, Missouri, to visit survivors and to view for himself the devastation. I believe that's going to be taking place on Sunday, but this morning he's in London. It's the second stop on his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe.

ROMANS: And he's scheduled to meet the queen at Buckingham Palace just about 40 minutes from now. CNN Zain Verjee is live in London. Zain, we're also getting word that the president is going to meet with the duke and duchess of Cambridge, also known as Will and Kate.

CHETRY: Hi, Zain.

(LAUGHTER)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Will and Kate. Hey, guys. Good morning. He is -- today is kind of like the fun day, OK, before they get into the heavy duty politics and serious stuff on Wednesday. He's going to be there. He's expected by car in the next ten minutes or so. There's going to be a ceremonial welcome, a gun salute, an honor guard. The president and Michelle Obama will be staying at Buckingham Palace for two nights.

They're also, later today, going to be going to Westminster Abbey and to lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier there, and then, will have some more fun later today. There'll be a state banquet, about 200 people, lucky guests, royals as well as dignitaries are going to be invited, and also at the palace.

You know, Buckingham Palace has something like 775 rooms, so the one piece of advice that anyone who say stays there gets is that it's really cold, bring an extra sweater. They have big heating bills over there, too.

ROMANS: Those palaces are so drafty, aren't they?

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: You know, last month when we were in town for the royal wedding, I mean, it was downright hot in London. That was pretty funny. The president also getting, you know, I was reading some of the tweets, and they said, well, he may be getting criticism in the U.S., but Europe loves him. And they also talked about the rock star reception that the president, our president, got in Ireland yesterday. VERJEE: Yes. He won everybody's heart in Ireland. As he went in search for his missing apostrophe is how one newspaper put it here in the UK, but yes, I mean, they loved him. He went to his great, great, great grandfather's hometown of Moneygall. He chugged a Guinness. People were thrilled with that.

Michelle only had a half pint there. He spoke a little bit of Gaelic as well. He gave a speech at Dublin, and people, guys, they were just thrilled, and they really were among the crowds and hugged people. The reception was so warm, and they were just totally mobbed.

CHETRY: Wow. I love how you say chugged the Guinness.

VERJEE: And when you go to London, sometimes, they'll give the pint to a man, and they'll give the half pint to a woman automatically. Half pint is just enough for me.

CHETRY: There's way more alcohol --

VERJEE: We didn't have to do that with Kiran here.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: Yes. I wanted to ask you, guys, about the beast, because I guess the bigger they are, the harder they get stuck. The beast, that big presidential limousine, snafu, what happened there?

VERJEE: Yes. Just take a look at this video. I mean, this is kind of embarrassing, right? The beast was leaving with the motorcade and the convoy coming out of the U.S. embassy in Dublin and take a look at what happens, OK? There it goes and up the ramp and oops. See? Stuck. It was stuck there, guys, for three hours because of that ramp.

I mean, this is a vehicle that has reinforced steel plating. It's bulletproof. It's bump proof. It can withstand a chemical attack, a missile strike, and the ramp in Dublin stopped it. The president, though, wasn't in it. He just took a different route and headed to Moneygall to have that pint.

CHETRY: Wow. I'm sure you can see how thrilled these secret service was -- not -- and have people standing there taking all those photos as it was stopped there for three hours. Little embarrassing.

VERJEE: Yes, I know. Very embarrassing. And they just, you know, it was right there, front and center, so after three hours, they got a recovery truck that helped take it somewhere where nobody could see it, and the secret service said that they're going to deal with the situation.

ROMANS: The beast failed in Dublin. Zain Verjee, thank you so much. Don't forget you can watch Zain every morning at 5:00 eastern on "World One" right here on CNN.

CHETRY: Meantime, it's 51 minutes past the hour right hour. When we come back, boy, it happened before and it's happened again, an Icelandic volcano spewing ash and actually bringing air traffic to a halt in parts of Europe. We're going to have the latest on flight cancellations out of Britain as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Coming up on 53 minutes past the hour here to look at your headlines this morning. We're, of course, following a latest at the Joplin, Missouri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (voice-over): They're facing a threat, at least the area is, of more tornadoes today. It's a day and a half after the deadliest single twister on record killed 116 people there. The area has been described as looking like a moonscape by our reporters on the ground. Search and rescue teams have already saved 17 people, but the number of dead is expected to rise.

You take a look at the radar, the National Weather Service is saying there is a 45 percent chance of another tornado outbreak today. You see the areas to watch in red and orange there. Five states are affected. Joplin, Missouri, is part of that danger zone. The biggest threat coming between four o'clock this afternoon and midnight.

A volcanic eruption in Iceland causing airlines to cancel flights over parts of Europe. It's a massive cloud of ash and it's drifting toward Britain today. Scotland has grounded all planes today. British airports also canceling some flights.

The operator of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant confirms meltdowns at two more reactors. TEPCO now says that fuel rods at the number 1, 2, and 3 reactors melted down early on after an earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant. They say, though, that it took some time to discover that had, indeed, happened.

Looks like pilot error may have caused an Air France jet to crash into the Atlantic back in 2009. All 228 people on board were killed. According to preliminary findings from the plane's recorders, the pilots may have been distracted by a technical glitch. Meanwhile, investigators say they may be able to identify two bodies that have been recovered earlier this month.

And the California preacher, who predicted that the world would end this past weekend, is now apologizing, but also making a new prediction. He says his prophecy was off by about five months. That would mean if you believe him, mark your calendars again for October 21st.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi with our continuing coverage from Joplin, Missouri, where a tornado devastated this town yesterday. The sky is clear after a heavy, heavy day of rain and thunderstorms into the night, but it's a short break for rescuers. You can see a broad swath of devastation behind me. Just give you some sense of what's going on here. The only lights that you will see as the sun starts to come up are lights coming from news trucks.

There's no power around here. There's some vehicles moving. That's the medical center where people were killed inside there, and that's a solid structure. You'll see that in just a second. The medical center is just over to the right. And between here and there, a few blocks distance, is just a sampling of the damage and the devastation that really the best word to use is carved a six-mile path of destruction through this town.

There are still searches going on for survivors. Authorities hoping that there are people, but they're going through every one of these houses and these cars to see what the story is. We'll be talking to emergency workers and the people in charge of the rescue effort in just a few moments. All the day's top stories just ahead on the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)