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Tornado Slams St. Louis Airport; Libyan Rebels Fight for Misrata; Yemeni President to Step Down; Conflicting Reports Swirl Around Possible Negotiations Between Libyan Tribal Leaders And Rebels In Misrata

Aired April 23, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

After a night of a frightening tornado in Missouri, a big push now under way this hour to get Lambert, St. Louis International Airport up and running. Confirmation now that a tornado hit the airport's terminals. At one point, an airport official yelled at the passengers to get away from the windows. Some started running and screaming as they were evacuated. The airport remains closed.

Communities around the airport were also hit hard. No deaths have been reported. Right now, people are combing through what's left of their homes, trying to salvage what they can. Earlier, the Red Cross' Jessica Willingham explained how they're helping.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA WILLINGHAM, RED CROSS (OVER THE PHONE): If they don't have a safe place to go, we will make sure that they have a safe place, a warm place, you know, a place out of the rain that they got food, meals. Basic needs are all met, and then we can connect them with the case workers to help take care of their longer term needs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Again, no reporter death, but five people were hurt in the storm. Our Dan Simon is getting an up close look at the damage from St. Louis, and particularly the airport there. Dan?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it's just an enormous mess here at the airport. Let me explain where we are. We're at the main terminal here. You can see behind me, you got about a dozen windows that have been blown out. What crews are doing right now. They're taking the windows that have cracks in them and just basically getting the glass out of there. When you think about how thick that glass is, boy, it's just amazing, the wind, what it did here at the airport.

All throughout the airport, you're seeing broken glass. You have twisted metal. But crews are optimistic because you have all these people here working to get things back to normal, cleaning things up. Crews are optimistic if they can get the power back on, that they can get 70 percent of operations going tomorrow. That means you could have a significant amount of airlines coming through here. There is one terminal, though, or Concourse C, rather, which has so much damage, there are four airlines out of there, and the airport would basically have to move the airlines elsewhere.

There are really two stories, Fredricka, emerging with the storm. You have all the headaches with travelers at the airport and all the damage here at the airport. Then you have what's happened out in the community. You have hundreds of homes that took significant damage. A lot of them destroyed. Right now, crews really are still in the assessment stage, looking to see how much damage there is, trying to clear the roads of debris.

But really, the critical factor here for people who were not severely affected is getting the power back on. At this stage, we're told that 30,000 residents still don't have power. That's really the key to getting things back to normal out in the community as well as here at the airport. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Dan, as far as the airport, some officials were being quoted as saying as early as next week, it will be up and running again. Others say it could be even longer than that.

SIMON: In terms of full capacity, yes, it could be a significant amount of time because after all, you have all this damage, but they're saying that if they can get the power back on, and they're reasonably hopeful, at least, they can get that done tonight, if not tomorrow, that they can get most of the airport, airlines, get all the airlines back in here, at least most of them, and get, I don't know, they said 70 percent of the traffic they can accommodate. But we'll just have to wait and see how this plays out. There's going to be a press conference here in a little while, about a half hour, we're told. And hopefully we'll get some more information there. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Great. Keep us posted on that. Dan Simon, thanks so much, at the airport there in St. Louis.

Meantime, while we're talking, there are threats of more tornadic activity that could be on the way, meteorologist Bonnie Schneider here in the weather center, what's going on?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Fredricka. Tornado warnings are popping up across Ohio and Kentucky. This is going to be a busy afternoon for severe weather. Right now, we have tornado warnings for many counties across parts of southern Illinois into areas of Kentucky, just north of Paducah. There's Cape Girardeau, in this area here, you have (INAUDIBLE) Carbondale, Illinois, Paducah, kind of a busy area, and certainly we're getting some very strong thunderstorms right now.

And Doppler radar does indicate rotation with these thunderstorms. And when that happens it means a tornado can touch down at any time. So therefore, tornado warnings are issues for the counties you see here. Just not that we had another county that had a tornado warning, Mississippi County, and that expired. That's where a train spotter actually saw a tornado. So don't rule these out as just Doppler radar indicated tornadoes, they don't mean anything. It's very serious.

The storm system is moving at about 30 miles per hour. So it's moving pretty quickly. And then as we head further off to Kentucky, look at this, a tornado warning that goes for the next 30 minutes. This one is for parts of Adams, Bracket, Browne (ph), Louis Mason and Robertson counties and it extends into parts of areas of Ohio as well. So it's going to be a busy day for severe weather, and not just today but an evening as well.

This large tornado watch box you see here, this goes until 8:00 p.m. tonight. So we'll be watching for the threat for severe weather across Illinois, Kentucky, as well as even to parts of Tennessee, into the evening hours. All these thunderstorms, particularly the powerful line that's moving through Paducah right now, it's all on the move.

And incidentally, a quick update for you on the tornado that you saw that did all the damage at the airport in St. Louis. Preliminary reports indicate that this was at least, meaning it could be stronger, an EF-3 tornado. That means wind gusts sustained for three seconds, at least 136 miles per hour. This is unusual. You know, we have tornadoes certainly this time of year and as we go into the spring season but only 30 percent of the tornadoes that you would see are EF- 2 or EF-3 or stronger, and really the frequency by month shows that May is the biggest month for tornadoes, not even April. So we're unfortunately, ahead of schedule for these strong tornadoes and next month we'll be even worse. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And that part of the country is still part of tornado alley or just north of?

SCHNEIDER: It actually is part. Some parts of it is actually. And it's definitely the area where we do see severe weather, and now the threat is for Ohio and Kentucky, today and tonight.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. Thanks so much. Bonnie Schneider.

All right. Turning now to the Middle East. The U.S. conducted its first predator drone air strike today in Libya. NATO says the strike took out a rocket launcher used by Gadhafi forces outside the western city of Misrata. Meantime, 22 people were killed in fighting in Misrata today. Rebels said they pushed fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi out of the city center. The government claims local tribes will take up the fight and opposition spokesman said that explanation was absurd, but the battle for Misrata is not over with Gadhafi loyalists battling near the western gate of the city.

Meanwhile, Senator John McCain visited Libya yesterday and said that he thinks Gadhafi's time is up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The end game that I envision is the departure of Moammar Gadhafi. Either he joins Hugo Chavez in Venezuela or he goes to international criminal court, which is my preference, or he joins Hitler and Stalin. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And now this, a Middle East leader and long-time ally of the U.S. may be ready to step down. A Yemeni official says President Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed in principle to a deal that would see him leave within 30 days. In a statement, the U.S. State Department said recent security measures won't solve Yemen's problems and that it's up to the people to decide how their country will be governed.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom joins me now from Islamabad. Mohammed, is that agreement in principle, assurance that the president will indeed step down?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (ON THE PHONE): Fredricka, actually I'm in Istanbul, but it's not yet clear as to what exactly the president will do. It is a big deal that the President Saleh has said that he will agree to this GCC, this Gulf Cooperation Council initiative, in which the leaders of the Arab countries were asking President Saleh to step down within 30 days and then for Yemen to have elections 60 days after that. So it is a very big deal that President Fatah (ph) and the ruling party there have said that they will accept the terms.

But it's still contingent upon other things. Today, we have heard people with the president say that they want to make sure that President Saleh and the people he's worked with and family members are given immunity. So they will not be prosecuted for any crimes that may have occurred when he was ruling Yemen. But also now, before President Fatah can actually sign off on this 100 percent, the opposition, the joint meeting parties, largest bloc of the opposition in Yemen's parliament, they also have to give the go-ahead on this.

And there's a lot of disunity among that group as well. Right now, it looks like there's been enough pressure put by Yemen's allies on these two different political factions for them to at least come out publicly and agree to this initiative so that they can try to appear though that they're trying to end the standoff, the crisis, the turmoil in Yemen, but you still have tens of thousands of people out in the streets. You got these two political groups that really don't want to talk to one another, and even the statement from the U.S. today, even though it's welcoming the GCC initiative, it's saying it's still calling on all the factions in Yemen to have a dialogue.

So this thing is really far from over and nobody knows yet when exactly the timeline, this 30 days when Saleh will step down, when that will start. So lots more questions than there are answers now. Certainly significant that he says he'll step down, but it's not really completely done just yet. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mohammed Jamjoom, thanks so much, coming to us from Istanbul, Turkey.

The continued crackdown on protesters in Syria has left more dead. An eyewitness tells CNN, security forces opened fire from rooftops today killing 10 demonstrators who turned out for a funeral for dozens killed in protest on Friday. In Friday's violence, security forces and anti-government activists clashed in several Syrian towns. You're seeing these images from eyewitnesses there on the ground. Nearly 80 people were killed. Today, a member of Syria's parliament resigned over that violence.

Back in the U.S. now, authorities have released more photos of a man they consider a possible suspect in a mall bomb investigation. Police found a pipe bomb and two propane gas tanks at a mall in Littleton, Colorado, on Wednesday, the 12th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting. Surveillance camera saw this man leaving the mall and later on a city bus. Police are still looking for him.

And Miami police are investigating a domestic violence incident that left Miami Dolphins wide receiver Branden Marshall stabbed in the abdomen. Police charged his wife with aggravated battery. His wife said she acted out of self-defense. Marshall's injuries are said to be non-life threatening.

Some Japanese face the prospect of never returning to their homes in the nuclear evacuation zone. Now anger and frustration are growing for people who may have lost everything. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's take a look at some other stories making headlines around the world.

Two American soldiers were killed in southern Iraq yesterday. The Pentagon has released few details about the deaths.

And Nigeria is stepping up security ahead of next Tuesday's elections. The last leg in a series of elections marred by violence. This week officials delayed gubernatorial elections in two states there.

And skirmishes on the Thailand-Cambodia border have left at least one soldier dead, according to Thai media. Both nations claim an ancient temple, that sits on the border and blame each other for the violence.

Patience is giving way to anger in Japan. And evacuees from near the Fukushima nuclear plant pin the blame on the plant's operator. CNN senior international correspondent Stan Grant spoke to them about their frustration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Up close to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, the waves of the ocean that last month crippled this facility now lapping against the rocks. Inside, workers are still trying to properly shut down the plant. These images have been taken by a Japanese film crew deep inside the 20 kilometer no-go zone.

They wear full protective suits and measure the radiation levels constantly. Around them, towns deserted. Widespread destruction from the tsunami. Animals abandoned. At this farm, the carcasses of dead pigs presumably starved. These are likely to be some of the last images of the exclusion zone. The government has now cracked down even on residents going in. There are fines, potentially even jail terms for those breaking the law.

Some rush to get in to retrieve possessions before the new restrictions take effect. "Even if I bring these things home," this man says, "I don't know whether I can use them. I wanted to bring something back. It's just ridiculous to buy new clothes. I'm worried about contamination, but I think I will just wash these and wear them."

These stark images captured here fit with those of our own CNN crew just days ago. Houses at this village just inside the 20 kilometer limit sitting empty.

(on camera): Some cars still moving through this area. We passed through the 20-kilometer exclusion zone checkpoint, and they are allowing people to move around, to come in and out. And that's why we have been allowed to come in here now.

(voice-over): This man back briefly to check on his home, prefers not to be identified but told me he worries about his health and his future.

"I'm young and have no children. If I think about marrying and having a baby in the future, will they be healthy? Even more than older people" he says, "I worry about it." This is a common story for the tens of thousands of people forced from their homes by the nuclear crisis. It's a crisis that has shamed the owners of the Fukushima plant.

The president of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Masataka Shimizu visiting displaced residents and begging forgiveness. "We are sincerely sorry," he says. This man, though, not so understanding. "This kind of lifestyle is tormenting us. There are sick people here, and instead of getting better they're getting worse." "Yes," said the TEPCO boss, "We are sorry. We are terribly sorry."

Right now, though, all so many people really want to hear is that the crisis is over and they can finally go home.

Stan Grant, CNN, (INAUDIBLE) Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Back in this country, a tornado in St. Louis last night, and now new threats of more potentially destructive weather.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Love under the big top, Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon teams up with "Twilight's" Robert Pattinson in a new romance film that's based on a best-selling novel.

Matt Atchity, a film critic with Rottentomatoes.com is here for this weekend's reviews. to see you.

MATT ATCHITY, ROTTENTOMATOES.COM: Thank you. Good to be back.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, first, let's take a quick look at "Water for Elephants," awful lot of buzz about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world's run on tricks. Everyone plays. You must learn, my dear boy, that the rules of these United States of suckers do not apply to us. To talent and illusion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. So Matt, she's kind of the upper crust of the circus group, and he's not upper crust. And they come together. Kind of a Romeo and Juliet-ish story, yes?

ATCHITY: Yes, absolutely. You know, it's out of the circus. There's definitely a hierarchy, a nobility, if you will, amongst some people. The great Christoph Waltz plays the owner of the circus, Reese Witherspoon is his wife, and Robert Pattinson plays the veterinarian, who gets a job as the kind of vet, the traveling vet for the animals who starts to fall for Reese Witherspoon and it is definitely, there's kind of a star-crossed lovers' story.

WHITFIELD: OK. So what's your grade on this one? Did you like it?

ATCHITY: You know, I liked it a lot more than I thought I was going to. I gave it a "C." I thought that this was going to be a movie I wouldn't be able to stand. I haven't read the book. But it was kind of enjoyable. I tell you -

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Why, because you thought you keep seeing Pattinson as a vampire or because of the storyline?

ATCHITY: No. Kind of - yes, you know, I'm not normally a romance guy. There's not a lot of chemistry, not really good chemistry between Pattinson and Witherspoon, unfortunately.

WHITFIELD: Oopps.

ATCHITY: But the story kind of works and Christoph Waltz is fantastic in this.

WHITFIELD: Oh, really.

ATCHITY: And the theater I was in was - yes, absolutely. And the theater I was in was packed with people who were fans of the book, and they all agreed as an adaptation, they were really satisfied. So if liked this book, chances are you're going to like this movie.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Well, let's talk about the greatest movie ever sold now. Why I have not heard a whole lot of buzz about this one? ATCHITY: This is Morgan Spurlock's latest movie. He gave us "Supersize Me," his movie about easting McDonald's for a month. It's in limited release, but it's going to be expanding. This is his movie that is about using product placement and marketing, and he uses that to actually make his movie about product placement and marketing.

WHITFIELD: And we are seeing a lot more on that product placement aren't we in movies? Television shows?

ATCHITY: Absolutely. And he goes into great detail as to how the system works. You see him pitching different advertisers and different companies about being in his company and then he talks to some people in Hollywood whose job specifically is to get products in films. It's a really, really interesting movie and very, very funny, very revealing and very irreverent. He really does have fun with the whole idea.

WHITFIELD: OK. And your grade on this one?

ATCHITY: My grade on this is a "B." I found it very, very funny.

WHITFIELD: Good.

ATCHITY: Very enjoyable. I kind of wish he would have gotten into a little bit more detail about the effectiveness of product placement, whether it really makes a difference at the stores and in retail, but for the most part, it's a great movie.

WHITFIELD: Meantime, if you can't get to the theater, you know, you bring the theater home. So a few new DVD releases, including "Gulliver's Travels" and then "Rabbit Hole." So kind of refresh my memory on what you thought about these two. Maybe you have a grade or two as well.

ATCHITY: Yes, "Rabbit Hole" is definitely worth seeing. It's a relatively heavy piece about a couple who has lost their son, about eight months previous, and it's them dealing with their grief. It stars Aaron Eckhart and -

WHITFIELD: Nicole Kidman.

ATCHITY: Nicole Kidman, thank you. I was having a blue screen. Nicole Kidman, who is fantastic in this. She got a much-deserved Academy Award. This is one of her best performances. This movie is a little bit lighter than you would expect based on the subject matter. I really enjoyed it.

WHITFIELD: Really, I thought it was a heavy duty - even she talked about how heavy of a heart that she had while filming that movie. It just was a difficult emotional roller coaster.

ATCHITY: Yes, it is a heavy piece, I will agree with that, but it's not all doom and gloom and just awful grief. There are some laughs in this, honestly. It's a little lighter than I expected. I was kind of dreading (INAUDIBLE) - WHITFIELD: Grade on that one, real quick?

ATCHITY: My grade on that is an "A." Definitely something to see.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. That was an Academy-Award winner. And a nominee for - wasn't it also a nominee for best picture?

ATCHITY: I believe it as a nominee for best picture, yes.

WHITFIELD: And then "Gulliver's Travel," real quick. Grade on that one.

ATCHITY: "Gulliver's Travel," avoid it at all costs. I give it a "D."

WHITFIELD: OK. It's all coming back to me on that one. That was a terrible review.

ATCHITY: Yes. The seven-year-old I watched it with enjoyed it, but you know, if you're seven, you might like it.

WHITFIELD: OK. I get it. All right. Thanks so much, Matt Atchity. Good to see you, as always.

ATCHITY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Momentarily, we'll get back to the top story of the nasty weather. We're talking about a tornado that swept through St. Louis. A press conference will be taking place momentarily. We'll bring you up to date on that, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. I wanted to bring you up to date on what is taking place in St. Louis. Some pretty dangerous weather that happened last night. Take a look at these images right now. On the left, you're seeing some images of the damage that resulted from what you're seeing on the right. The tornado actually happening, hitting the airport there in St. Louis.

On the right, this is thanks to some surveillance video from the airport that is just now being released. You see that the wind simply swept its way right inside the terminals after blowing out glass. There were an awful lot of passengers there on Good Friday. None reportedly hurt. Many of them were urged to get away from the windows and really in the nick of time. Because a lot of the windows, as you see right there were blown out as a result of all that wind blowing.

And then again, to the left, the result of that tornado that struck St. Louis last night. And now we understand that while we are awaiting a press conference to take place in the St. Louis area to update us on the damage and the fact that the airport is closed, when it might reopen, we're also hearing now new threats of more bad weather on the way. Bonnie Schneider in the weather center.

(WEATHER REPORT) WHITFIELD: That was the big story here in the United States.

Well, there has been a lot going on overseas as well. Let's bring you up to speed on that. NATO is using a new weapon against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, American predator drones. The alliance said the drone took out a rocket launcher used by Gadhafi forces outside of the western city of Misrata.

And Libyan rebels could be close to a breakthrough in Misrata as government troops withdraw. The city has become a rally cry for rebels battling Gadhafi loyalists. But, as Fredrik Pleitgen tell us, it is not clear who controls that city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It remains somewhat unclear what exactly is going on in the town of Misrata. There are differing accounts depending on whether you ask the rebels or whether you ask the forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.

No, from Gadhafi's side, we're hearing that his forces are effectively withdrawing from the town and they want let the local tribes to go in there, negotiate with the rebels. And, they say, these tribes would attack the rebels if, in fact, no agreement is reached.

The rebels say something very different. They say they have effectively ousted Moammar Gadhafi's forces from downtown Misrata. And they also say they're not going to let anyone come in there and negotiate any sort of surrender with them. That simply isn't going to happen. And they also say they don't believe that any tribes in Libya have any sort of interests in coming there and trying to get the rebels to leave. Especially since they say that most people in Misrata are on the side of the rebels anyhow.

It is going to be interesting to see what is going to happen in the future, in Misrata. However, the fact that Gadhafi's forces seem to be withdrawing from Misrata does not mean the siege of that place is over. We're hearing that fighting is still going on, that Gadhafi's forces are still shelling the town with mortar and artillery. We're hearing of 22 people who were killed on Saturday alone, through that fire. And also more than 60 people who were wounded.

Meanwhile, NATO is continuing to step up the air strikes and the air campaign here over all of Libya, a lot of command and control infrastructure was hit in the Tripoli area, and around Sirte, a lot of telecommunications instillations as well. And also, NATO also seems to be ramping up its close air support for the rebel forces.

One of the key things that happened on Saturday is we saw the first drone strike on targets on Misrata. This is a U.S. predator drone that apparently struck a rocket launcher in the Misrata area. These predator drones are capable of striking targets very, very precisely and picking them out even in densely populated urban areas. This as NATO continues over flights, over Tripoli, and continues striking targets in and around the Libyan capital, as well as elsewhere around the country. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tripoli, Libya. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yemen's president could be the next to step aside in the Middle East. A senior official says President Ali Abdullah Saleh has accepted a deal which would see him step down in the next third days. The agreement will don't take effect until President Saleh signs it. The U.S. State Department says it is ultimately up to the people of Yemen to decide how their country is governed.

To health news now: The number of patients with Alzheimer's is expected to double over the next 20 years. If you were at risk, would you want to know? Our Doctor Bill has new guidelines for early detection after the break.

First, here is a question for you. Do you know how many people have Alzheimer's disease? A few choices are listed right on the screen. The answer coming up in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Before the break, we asked how many Americans are afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. The answer is D. Estimates from the U.S. National Institutes of Health estimates that 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer's.

So for the first time in 27 years, there are new guidelines for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. They identify three stages of the disease and incorporate biomarker tests. We'll explain what that is, in a moment. But first Doctor Bill Lloyd is our healthy living expert. He joins us now to talk about these changes.

So, Doctor Bill, let's talk about the three stages of the disease, how are they different than what we knew about them before, and what do they mean?

DR. BILL LLOYD, HEALTHY LIVING EXPERT: Expert guidelines have categorized Alzheimer's, Fredricka, into three categories. In the past, there were only two. Mild to moderate and severe Alzheimer's. Now there's three categories, including the important first category which we call preclinical Alzheimer's.

This means individuals have no symptoms whatsoever, but they have measurable changes. Abnormal levels of the biomarkers that we'll mention. These changes pre-date the development of Alzheimer's disease by 10 or 20 years.

The second category is minor cognitive impairment. This is the mild or early form where people notice changes in their memory or their language. And maybe their family notices it as well. These individuals are still able to move along and function in everyday life.

The third category is Alzheimer dementia, where there's a profound drop in both thinking and behavior, noticeable to the patient and the family. These three categories have completely reorganized what we know about Alzheimer's disease. WHITFIELD: So, learning more about these I guess, precursors, then does that help us find out, detect, whether we are going to have it?

LLOYD: It is very important to say that these biomarkers are not related to the cause of Alzheimer's disease. And don't assure or guarantee that someone is going to get Alzheimer's disease. These are laboratory studies that research over the past several decades has confirmed a high correlation. Meaning, if you're not having any symptoms, but you have these abnormal levels, you might think about options for treatment to protect yourself in the years ahead.

WHITFIELD: OK, now let's talk about those biomarker tests. What are they exactly and how is it they measure these biological changes in the brain?

LLOYD: Sure, there are two big categories. The first measured the changes in brain tissue. This is done with typical brain images. Things like CT scans, MIR, or PET scans. They actually measure the change in the amount of health brain tissue that an individual has. This of course decreases over time. Then there's a series of blood tests, tests for specific carrier genes, for Alzheimer's disease. And spinal fluid tests, looking for amaloid (ph) and other proteins, that we know are dangerously associated with Alzheimer's disease.

WHITFIELD: Since we know there's no cure for Alzheimer's, what kind of benefits are we learning from the idea of diagnosing it very early?

LLOYD: Fredricka, if I told you one year from today, your house was going to be robbed, I have a strong feeling you would spend a lot of time over the next year protecting your property, to protect yourself from that possible robbery. Same thing goes for Alzheimer's. By now knowing with the use of these biomarkers, individuals who are susceptible for getting Alzheimer's, early intervention, early medical treatment can preserve that valuable brain tissue before the disease moves on.

Now, there's no cure for Alzheimer's, but we know that appropriate use of medical therapy for Alzheimer's will delay the onset of symptoms and prolong the symptoms without disease progression. Once again, if you knew the burglars were coming, you would take extra steps.

WHITFIELD: You try to protect yourself as best you can. All right. Thanks so much, Doctor Bill Lloyd. Good to see you.

LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.

WHITFIELD: All right, he saw the disaster of 9/11. Now he makes sure volunteers respond to other disasters. I'm talking about a CNN hero, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We hoped to get an update from officials in St. Louis momentarily. The airport there is closed as a result of a tornado that swept through last night. There was a lot of extensive damage. When that happens we'll bring that to you. Meantime, we are also learning that that tornado was a bit stronger than earlier reported. Our Bonnie Schneider, in the Weather Center now.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Fredricka.

Originally, when the preliminary team got on the ground, and they did early, they said at least this was an EF-3, meaning the winds sustained for 3 seconds were at least 136 miles an hour. Now we're getting new reports that just to the north, two to three miles north of Lambert Field, this was likely an EF-4 tornado. That's is an more intense one. In fact, when we're rating these in terms of wind speed and also words to describe it, it goes from devastating -- I'm sorry from severe to devastating in EF-3 to EF-4. So that means we're seeing winds 166-200, those are wind gusts. And likely, this is devastating, as you saw from the video.

It's incredible that everyone survived and we had reports of injuries, but it could have been so much worse. Part of the reason for that was the lead time. There was at least 20-minute period where the warning was issued before the damage occurred.

Just to let you know, right now, we are tracking severe weather, including tornado warnings across parts of Kentucky and Ohio at this hour And in Eddyville, we had a report of a funnel cloud. So, even though we don't have reports of tornadoes on the ground, a tornado can touch down at any time when you have really strong thunderstorms like this. So, take cover if your see your county listed here, or if you are part of the wider area where the watch box is issued, into the evening hours. That means you are going to see a severe threat through 8:00 tonight. That covers a good portion of Kentucky all the way to Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois, and Ohio. So, this is a widespread severe area. Look at this thunderstorm line forming right here, working its way to Madisonville. This is just the beginning, unfortunately.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Bonnie Schneider in the Weather Center.

September 11th changed the lives of millions of Americans. Jeff Parness was one of them. The New Yorker was overwhelmed with the volunteer response from across the country. So now, Jeff makes sure that other volunteers are helping others through disasters. He's our CNN Hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF PARNESS, CNN HERO: September 11th was a very tough time for the fire department. I lost friends, guys I went to the academy with. Afterwards, people came from everywhere to help us out. It was incredible. You knew you weren't alone.

As a New Yorker to see that outpouring of kindness and generosity was more powerful than the terror that happened. That really changed me.

I'm Jeff Parness, and I want to show the world that New York will never forget what the world did to us following 9/11. Every year on the 9/11 anniversary, we take volunteers from New York and send them to some part of the country where they had a disaster and help folks rebuild. You pull into town and the tallest thing there is the grain silo. It's definitely a little culture shock.

Rebuilding homes or barns or churches, it's our way to say thank you. Now more than half of our volunteers are not from New York. People from all the small towns that we helped, they keep showing up to help the next community. They're from Louisiana and California and Indiana and Illinois. Every year you keep seeing more T-shirts from more locations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to pitch in as much as we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After Katrina, we jumped on his bandwagon. This whole paying it forward thing is just contagious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a like this big dysfunctional family reunion of all these disaster survivors who get together and do a barn raising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are banging nails and building something, but it's the relationships that help you heal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about using the 9/11 anniversary to celebrate the volunteer spirit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll see you all next year.

PARNESS: People say thank you for doing this and I say, you want to thank me. Show up on the next one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Jeff's next project will rebuild -- be about rebuilding an animal shelter in Georgia destroyed by a tornado earlier this month. A documentary about his work entitled "New York Says Thank You" premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival next week.

Tell us about the heroes in your community. Send us nominations to CNN.com/heroes.

A school district in North Carolina is planning to replace its current system of integration with one that favors neighborhood schools. In two minutes, why the move is being called the return of segregation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Despite decades of efforts to desegregate schools, a report from Boston's Northeastern University shows many school systems are more segregated than ever. CNN Special Correspondent Soledad O'Brien takes a look at why some say that's happening in their school system in North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you do the next? SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Joshua is two, his sister, Malia, one. But their great grandmother, Geraldine Alshamy is already worried about their education. Six years ago, she moved her extended family to Wake County, North Carolina, because she didn't like the school system where she lived.

GERALDINE ALSHAMY, GRANDPARENT: We moved to what they called neighborhood schools, and it was basically just segregation.

O'BRIEN: Segregation, because neighborhood schools means students attend school closest to where they live. A black neighborhood means a black school, a white neighborhood, a white school. Since 2000, Wake County has been mixing students from families of all income levels to create fully integrated schools. Then, 13 months ago, a mostly new school board voted to replace that system in favor of neighborhood schools.

REV. WILLIAM BARBER, NAACP: They argued that diversity is the enemy of student achievement when we know almost 100 percent of the research in the last 50 years says that diversity and resources are keys to student achievement and excellence.

O'BRIEN: The NAACP complained to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, which says re-segregation is a growing trend nationally.

RUSSLYNN ALI, ASST. SECRETARY FOR CIVIL RIGHTS: In schools that are isolated racially, they tend to have fewer of the things that we know make the difference in public education. They are far more likely to have more than their fair share of our least effective teachers. We don't see the access to the rigorous curricula that we know they'll need to succeed.

O'BRIEN: Critics of the proposed changes in Wake County worry that schools in poor neighborhoods will be neglected and fail. The new school superintendant says he's aware of concerns.

ANTHONY TATA, WAKE COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: We're trying to make sure that we avoid the problem of high poverty schools.

O'BRIEN: By 2012, they'll decide how to assign students. Geraldine Alshamy is unhappy.

ALSHAMY: When we go back to neighborhood schools we're facing segregation all over again. And everything that has been done will be undone.

O'BRIEN: Soledad O'Brien, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Soledad O'Brien is examining U.S. public schools in a special report "Don't Fail Me: Education in America" which airs May 15th at 8:00 o'clock Eastern Time.

Meantime, top of the hour, just a few minutes away. I know you can't wait. Don Lemon is here with more of the NEWSROOM.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: I'm so happy you're back. It seems like Fred has been away forever. When you're gone, the light is gone out of the newsroom, it's a dark place.

WHITFIELD: I'm touched. Happy Easter weekend.

LEMON: Happy Easter weekend, to you as well. You look great, very Eastery.

WHITFIELD: Oh, thanks. You have your Easter colors going, too.

LEMON: Yes.

Serious story first that I want to talk to you about. Did you hear about these two 14-year-old teenagers hanging themselves together, in Minnesota. There were reports of bullying on Facebook, and possibly, possibly, they said it might have been a suicide pact. We're going to talk to our Wendy Walsh. Doctor Wendy Walsh, to see what is going on. And what information parents need to know to keep this from happening.

Also, I brought things here on another story we're going to be doing. Take a look at this. These are the pieces of a camera from Nic Robertson in Tripoli. Remember (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

WHITFIELD: Yes, it has been a very violent situation-and for the journalists covering it.

LEMON: Yes. When they busted up the camera and roughed up the journalists, and not to mention that woman in the hotel. We're going to do a whole half hour, 7:30, on CNN, with Nic Robertson. It was supposed to be three minutes and I got to talking to him, Nic.

WHITFIELD: Yes. LEMON: I was like, we have to do more. To find out what happens next to for the region.

And Fred, I got this for you. Speaking of Easter. There you go.

WHITFIELD: Yes? Should I don it?

LEMON: Purple, what about the purple? Try one on.

WHITFIELD: Oh, purple is-are you saying I need to.

LEMON: Try one on.

WHITFIELD: OK. Which part, I'm never sure when I see these bends, which part -- I can't see.

LEMON: Oh, that looks good.

WHITFIELD: You know, I'm feeling like I should go to the Kentucky Derby.

LEMON: That's great. WHITFIELD: That's where I'm going with this one.

LEMON: Well, the royal wedding is next weekend. Easter is tomorrow. We're going to be talking to --

WHITFIELD: I can't see.

LEMON: The owner of "It's Unforgettable. Her name is Janette Daniel Giffs (ph), She's going to be talking to us about hat etiquette.

WHITFIELD: Fab. That's for the Kentucky derby when I go. So maybe this --

LEMON: It is her, she's going longer, producers, remember.

WHITFIELD: I'll do this one for the wedding?

LEMON: The other way.

WHITFIELD: Oh, the other way.

LEMON: That's cool. I don't know.

WHITFIELD: Like this?

LEMON: No.

WHITFIELD: It's like this.

LEMON: You're right.

WHITFIELD: Or is it like this? OK, you'll ask the specialists. And the pins, too?

LEMON: We're out of time. Just so you know, it's Fred.

WHITFIELD: My fault, sorry. Much more of you straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. You know, glad I'm wearing it and not you?

LEMON: Yes, but it is working for you.

WHITFIELD: I don't know. I think you can pull this off.

LEMON: I am not putting this on.

WHITFIELD: Thanks for being with me this afternoon. Don Lemon, more, next.

LEMON: We'll see you two minutes later than we were supposed to at 5:00.

WHITFIELD: More of the chapeaus. Totally digging this one.

LEMON: You're so cool, Fred. I love it.

WHITFIELD: See you soon. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)