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247 Known Deaths In Southern Storms; 162 People Killed In Alabama Alone; Rainsville, Alabama, Devastated; Deadly Storms Rip Across South; The Royal Wedding; A Look Inside a Cockpit; Back to the Moon Bill

Aired April 28, 2011 - 12:59   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Suzanne, thank you.

Well, we knew it was going to be bad. We didn't know it would be catastrophic. When all the victims are known and the numbers confirmed, the tornado outbreak that began late yesterday afternoon and kept growing and spreading through the night may be historic. At last count 247 people were reported dead, some here in Georgia, some in Tennessee, including the woman who lived in the home that was crushed by this tree.

Well over 100 in Alabama, the state hit hardest of all. This is a girl being rescued slowly and gingerly from the ruins of what had been her neighborhood in Tuscaloosa. We'll have more incredible pictures in a moment.

But I want you to see the big picture right now. The national weather service is sorting through 164 tornado reports from 13 states. Not all of those will be confirmed and some are, no doubt, duplicate reports of the same twister.

But this much we know, in six states people were killed. At least one person died in Arkansas where there were two tornado reports. In Mississippi at least 32 deaths and 38 tornado reports. Alabama's emergency management agency now says 162 people are confirmed dead, that state had 66 reports of tornadoes. In Georgia, 14 deaths, 15 tornado reports. In Tennessee, 30 people are dead, 14 reports of tornadoes. Virginia, eight dead, 11 tornado reports.

Just minutes ago, we also learned President Obama plans to visit Alabama tomorrow.

Our coverage this hour begins with CNN's Reynolds Wolf in Tuscaloosa, and Martin Savidge in Birmingham.

Reynolds, let me start with you. Tell us what you've seen there today.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Randi, what we're seeing, we're seeing all - just kind of a flurry of activity. What's funny is you go back, just yesterday at this time, it was actually before the storm struck, we had partly cloudy skies, very humid conditions, and temperatures that were beginning in the upswing, getting up into the mid-80s making for a very unstable atmosphere. Then, of course, we had the storm, we had the tornado and devastation.

On this road, as we now look, you see a lot of people milling about. Some of the people survivors, other people family members and friends looking for people who happen to be missing. Now, one of the things they're seeing as they happen to walk about is the devastation, there's plenty of it.

I'm going to step over -- right through this little drainage area here, and you can see that we've got debris as far as the eye can see. The trees really tell the story, Randi, some farther back you can see almost completely free of any vegetation.

Some of the other ones closed up, they've got siding, insulation, clothing, pieces of plastic, all kinds of things. Just some of them even washing machines. It's just debris everywhere you happen to go, and it's not just in the trees but it's also in the ground below.

And occasionally on the ground itself, you're going to find strange things like splinters, splinters of wood which make a pretty dangerous thing when you think about it. I mean, when this gets picked up by winds of in excess of 200 miles per hour, it's a dangerous projectile. And that debris, caught by the wind, is one of the big killers when you get these storms.

Now, when you have these storms, the safest place to be, of course, is underground, but if you notice this structure and many others behind it, it didn't really matter. They didn't have basements, and even if they stayed in some of the inner most rooms, most walls are not even standing. You'll see a few interior walls but they're not enclosed. So, anyone in those houses who have to stay in there, they've -- chances of survival almost -- just almost nonexistent.

Front (INAUDIBLE), you see a couple of trees, Randi, there's one here, it's about 60 feet in height, the other, basically same type of tree, it's an Alabama oak, the result is also the same, ripped down. It's funny, you know, when you look at all this stuff, this is amazing. It's individual for each family but it's something that's shared by so many people around the state of Alabama and many other states that have been dealing with this tornado damage.

And what's odd is -- as we look at some of the wood and insulation and tar and the tiles that happen to be all over the place, you'll find a small thing like a sock, something really personal, even a stuffed animal. It's just a horrible thing, just a few bits of humanity and some of the people who call this area home.

Now, in Tuscaloosa, they've lost dozens, but around the state of Alabama, as you mentioned, 168 people have lost their lives and unfortunately that number may grow in the coming hours and days -- Randi.

KAYE: And Reynolds, I want to continue to talk with you but I also want to share with our viewers a very important moment. We do have -- we're looking right now, Reynolds, at members of that Tuscaloosa community who are praying. They're probably praying for those that they lost, those who they hope to still find, and probably praying, I would imagine, for the rescue and response that they hope is coming their way.

Have you seen any sign of rescues being made or any progress being made there at all? And do they even have the tools left that those survived to do something like that?

REYNOLDS: We have seen some efforts, we've seen some possible rescue efforts. And to be completely honest with you, some that may be called recovery efforts. We've seen some dogs that have been coming through here, hoping to find people that may be trapped in some of the rubble that you see behind me. And there's a very real possibility that there may be people that are still trapped as we speak.

Another thing we've been seeing, it's not really a -- it's kind of, I suppose, sort of a healing process. We have been seeing people going through this rubble and finding small things, photo albums, a tool box, even a simple hammer, a glass, a cup, anything that they consider theirs that is lost, anything that they can hold in their hands. It's something that's very important to these people, but when it comes to the lives lost, there's no replacing that, and that is something that's going to be very difficult for families to come to terms with.

KAYE: I'm sure. All right, Reynolds, thank you. Appreciate it there in Tuscaloosa.

I want to get you now to Martin Savidge, he is in Birmingham. Marty, tell me the story there.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're actually in a suburb called Pleasant Grove, it's about 20 miles to the west of Birmingham. The problem here -- and they are considering themselves still to be in a search and rescue type of mode, the problem is the streets have been blocked.

Up until right now, this street has just in the last few moments been opened up. The major problem is you can look down that street, huge tree limbs, huge trees, and then you had telephone phone and electric lines all had been down and snaring that street and making it impassable.

This is one of the last neighborhoods where they really couldn't come in with the emergency personnel, at least not with the heavy equipment. They're starting to do that now and that's going to aid them as far as their rescue efforts.

I talked to the police chief. He says that there were six people known dead. We know the death toll's higher than that because well we've seen them for ourselves. In fact, this morning there are family members who are out there looking for loved ones who they last spoke to on the telephone who said they were taking shelter in their home. When the loved ones came looking for their family members, they couldn't even find the house. They knew exactly where they lived but the house was gone, the foundation, the only thing left is much like that throughout this community here.

It truly has been devastating, it's about a half-mile swath cut right through the heart of the community here. And as I say, the chief of police says he expects that the death toll will rise considerably, hopefully he's wrong.

KAYE: And Marty, do you have any sense in how much of a warning these people had?

SAVIDGE: People were aware. I mean there's no question, people knew that a bad storm was coming, and a lot of people had made preparations. They actually had closed the schools at noon. This was a storm that did not strike, at least in this community, until 6:00 local time. So there was hours of preparation, and thank goodness that many of the schools were in fact closed because schools were in some of those areas that had been hit.

And so, there were a number of businesses let people out early, there was the ability to prepare, but quite frankly, there's been a lot of storms coming through here so maybe some people let their guard down.

Now, in other cases though, it wouldn't have mattered where you were. The storm was so powerful that it would have found you, and it did find victims who were hiding, taking shelter, as they should in either the center of the house or in the basement. They died doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing.

KAYE: All right, Martin Savidge for us outside Birmingham. Marty, thank you.

And our coverage is just beginning, but one thing we want to share is how to help out. To find out more on how you can help tornado victims, head over to CNN.com/impact, and there you'll find all the organizations and all the ways you can help those in need. That's CNN.com/impact.

They're going to need plenty of help in Rainsville, Alabama. The police chief there says he's never seen anything like this. We'll talk to him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The ferocious tornado outbreak that struck the south killed 162 people in Alabama alone, one of the hardest hit towns in the state was Rainsville, that's in the northeast.

The town's police chief Charles Centers joins us now by phone. Chief, thank you for being with us. I know you have quite a busy day there. You said that you've never seen anything like this. Tell me how bad it is there.

CHARLES CENTERS, POLICE CHIEF, RAINSVILLE, ALABAMA (via telephone): Well, it seemed like after we'd get over one storm, we'd get another cell come through - three different cells come through yesterday with the last one come through about 9:00 last night. Just couldn't get to the injured due to the large amount of damage and still we're under search and rescue. There's a lot of chaos but we're trying to get it all under control.

KAYE: And how are those rescue efforts going? Are you still searching for people who may be trapped?

CENTERS: Yes, ma'am, we're still searching for people at this time. We got roads we can't get to but this is in another one of our county where we got power outage, no fuel, patrol cars just running out of fuel. We just seem like from one thing to another. Other than that, but we're working as hard as we can trying to get things soon back in order.

KAYE: I understand this is a town of about 5,000 or so. Do you have any idea how many of your community members have been lost? I understand that there was a large number of victims discovered in a parking lot. Can you shed some light on that?

CENTERS: It was a trailer park. We've got -- I'm not for sure on confirmed in the trailer park but it was completely gone, demolished. And then, we had several businesses still open in town. I'm in the street that is leveled down to the ground.

KAYE: How much of your infrastructure in the town was actually destroyed?

CENTERS: I'm sorry?

KAYE: How many of your buildings were destroyed? I mean was it completely flattened?

CENTERS: We had some of our main industries, solar electric, restaurants, whole houses, our school, civic centers, homes destroyed, we've got roads still impassable. We still haven't gotten to the people yet.

KAYE: I'm curious what the hospital situation is there. I mean, if your police cars are running out of fuel, are the hospitals up and running?

CENTERS: They're all running on generators right now. It's just we've just got places that don't have generators but we're all working together trying to get everybody back up and running. Seems like biggest thing right now is the search and rescue and still help people trapped, trying to get to some of them.

KAYE: So, what is it that you need? I mean, do you think -- do you expect you'll get fuel in so you can actually get out and try and rescue these people?

CENTERS: No, ma'am. No, what it is we -- our main power station's been hit, three countywide -- the tornadoes leveled power station, our TBA (ph) power which dropped power in three different counties. So, when it did that most of our fuel was in the ground, we can't get it out. So, we're having to just go from city to city trying to get different gas trucks to come out. But we're working together, we're getting it back up, got trucks on the way.

KAYE: So, as we look at a map of where your community is, how's -- just help me understand, you know, set the scene a little bit if you can. I mean, are these neighborhoods completely flattened? Did any homes survive there? I mean, as you mentioned, these tornadoes came rolling through one after another.

CENTERS: We had three different cells come rolling through within hour and a half apart, started yesterday around 2:00, hour and a half, two hours apart, three. You're still breaking up, go ahead.

KAYE: I'm just curious if entire neighborhoods have been flattened or did anything survive?

CENTERS: Yes, we do have some entire neighborhoods flattened. We've got, I think as we had said, we've got one trailer park, we've got communities completely destroyed. We're still (INAUDIBLE) the way you just said, we're trying to get to some of these people that are still trapped. And again, we've got to -- it looks like it's going to be a pretty good -- large amount of fatalities before this is over with.

KAYE: Well, Chief Centers, we certainly wish you the best of luck in trying to get things organized there and get your people rescued. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today.

CENTERS: Thank you.

KAYE: And to find out more on how you can help tornado victims, head over to cnn.com/impact. And there you'll find all the organizations and ways you can help those who certainly could use it. That's at cnn.com/impact.

More on the deadly weather. Chad Myers will join us next with the latest on the storm and where it might be headed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Well, as we've been telling you, this storm system is on the move. To find out where it's headed right now, let's get to Chad Myers.

Chad, where's it going?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's going through the Carolinas and it's even moving into New York City. Now, not with tornadoes in the city, but certainly the potential for some wind. And let me show you why I say wind.

Here's the cells. All the way from almost Canada down to Florida right now. The red boxes indicate the potential for at least some of those storms to rotate. Not like they did yesterday, but they could rotate and it could put down a small tornado. That's always a possibility when you get a tornado watch. That's why they put those watches out. Now, I'll take you to New York City proper and into Philadelphia. Baltimore, Washington, saw the line come through a couple of hours ago. But there's the weather into New York City. And now let me take you to this tower (ph) cam. That's Lady Liberty. And the reason why it's shaking is because -- not because somebody is hand-holding that camera. That is on a fixed platform on the top of a building in New York City and it cannot stay steady because the wind is blowing from the storms that are heading in from New Jersey right now.

Here's a look at New York City. This is from the -- our Time Warner center looking down into Central Park. You begin to see the first edge of the weather coming in. This is the top edge of the thunderstorm rolling in from New Jersey. So soon we will see wind blow through. Could be 40 to 50 miles per hour. Not seeing severe weather, which means not above 60 or 70 or 80 miles per hour. But, you know, if you get a -- the wind tunnel effect there, Randi, you know what it's like in New York City. A 40 miles per hour wind can be multiplied in those city streets and it could be 60 right through the street and not even know it's even coming. But for you, New York, it is coming in the next half hour.

KAYE: Yes, you can be lifted up right off your feet with those winds waiting for that light to change across the street there in Manhattan.

MYERS: That's right.

KAYE: All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

KAYE: We are not going to get very far away from the major weather story, of course, but there are some other things happening and we'll get you caught up on them right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The royal wedding isn't until tomorrow, but people started staking out their spots outside Westminster Abbey days ahead of the event. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, walked along the procession route earlier today greeting some of the cameras.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you all ready for tomorrow, your royal highness?

CAMILLA, DUCHESS OF CORNWALL: (INAUDIBLE).

QUEST: Are you ready for tomorrow, ma'am?

CAMILLA: Yes (ph) we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: If you didn't recognize that voice managing to be heard over that entire crowd, well, that was CNN's Richard Quest yelling at the duchess. As for the wedding, it will probably take over six hours to get from the moment that the first guests arrive to when the couple finally appears on the balcony. And for those of you who will DVR the entire thing but still want to watch live, well, the magical moments that everyone will be talking about later, well, here's Richard Quest to help us plan our morning, that morning.

Richard, what do we need to know?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, first of all, yes, shouting at the poor woman, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, you know, frankly, talk about silly questions, are you ready for tomorrow? I think if she'd said, no, I'm not, that would have been the real answer.

Listen. This is the royal wedding souvenir. This is the order of events that we've now been gotten. We now know how things are going to go, Randi.

The first thing you must not miss is the dress. And that happens at 6:00 Eastern Time when Kate will get out of the car. Let's start calling her Catherine -- gets out of the car and we see the dress in all its splendor.

Thereafter, about 15 minutes later, 20 minutes later, the vows. Will she get his name right? There's a history of them getting the name wrong. They get it all muddled up. There's quite a few of them.

Finally, of course --

KAYE: I'm sure she's been practicing.

QUEST: Well, I'm sure she has. But, you know, the fact is, I think Diana had been practicing and she got it wrong.

KAYE: True.

QUEST And princess -- and Sarah, Duchess of York, had been practicing and she got it wrong.

All right, let me try that with you then. Let me try it out with you. How does it go? Here we go. It's -- remember, you've got to get it right. Let me find the right page. See, just as well, I'm not the archbishop of Canterbury, isn't it? Catherine Elizabeth -- oh, there we go. The name is William Arthur Phillip Louie.

KAYE: William Arthur Philip Louie. I do take.

QUEST: Right. You got that right. Now put a couple of billion people watching, you're in the middle of the Abby, the archbishop and the queen's just standing behind you. You start to see it becomes a little bit more difficult. The moment before all that --

KAYE: Well, the studio crew make me kind of nervous, too, so, you know, I pulled it off.

QUEST: Well that's just for different reasons.

Now the moment of all is really -- actually, the queen's in. I wonder if she's watching. The queen is in. We know that because the flag is flying properly. It's the royal standard.

On that balcony, that is when the kiss takes place. Whether it will be on the cheek, a chaste kiss on the cheek, or a smackerooo on the lips. And, either way, a million people out there will be baying voristically (ph) for the most that they can get.

KAYE: And so, Richard, that will be their second kiss? First they'll kiss at the ceremony and then they'll -- then they go to the balcony?

QUEST: Well, good question. The order of service just says the archbishop of Canterbury says, I now pronounce you man and wife. May whosever -- God put -- don't put asunder. You know the wording.

Now, that's the normal bit where they're supposed to kiss. Where he says, you may now kiss the bride. It doesn't say that in here. And Charles and Diana's, Charles didn't kiss Diana. But that was generally thought of as a mistake. He forgot to do it. We will know tomorrow by this time whether or not William is going to go for a twofer, one in the Abby, one on the balcony.

KAYE: All right. Well, we will all be watching and I know you'll be there, so you're very excited about that as well. Richard Quest, always a pleasure. Thank you.

QUEST: And to you. Look forward to it! I'll ask questions tomorrow night.

KAYE: OK!

And, of course, CNN is all over it, this romantic royal event. CNN's coverage begins very early in the morning, 4:00 a.m. Eastern. Set those alarm clocks. Anderson Cooper, Piers Morgan, the one and only Richard Quest, Kiran Chetry and Cat Deeley will be live from Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. So be sure to join us for the big day.

From a joyous occasion to one of sorrow and heartache. An incredible trail of death and destruction in the south. The aftermath of dozens of tornadoes that killed at least 247 people. More details right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is half past the hour. Updating developments in today's big story.

It looks like a war zone across parts of Alabama and other southern states after another massive round of tornadoes. Just look at those pictures. The death toll so far, 247 in six states. Alabama was the hardest hit. Much of Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama, is a wasteland. One survivor says it happened so fast, it was truly unbelievable. Tornadoes and other fierce storms leveled entire neighborhoods. Hundreds of thousands of people are now without power.

And here's what one Virginia survivor said about last night's horrific storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was sitting in my recliner and I could feel the house lift up like it was going to go. And I thought we were going to take a ride. But praise God, he sustained us. And -- but it was scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: At least eight people were killed in Virginia.

CNN meteorologist Sean Morris says these storms could be the most devastating tornado outbreaks in the nation's history. President Obama plans to travel to Alabama tomorrow to see the damage firsthand.

At least 36 people died yesterday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama alone. Search and rescue efforts continue there after tornadoes left much of the city in ruins. Joining us on the phone is Walter Maddox. He is the mayor of Tuscaloosa.

Thank you so much for your time, Mayor.

Tell me, what is the latest in the search and rescue efforts there?

WALTER MADDOX, MAYOR, TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA (via telephone): Well, we're continuing on grid patterns through many of the neighborhoods along a four-mile stretch of the city. And that stretch hitting parts of the half mile wide of going house to house searching for every person that's been identified as missing.

KAYE: And you said earlier that there are parts of your own city that you don't recognize. Can you explain that?

MADDOX: It's a surreal scene in a community that you've grown up in and that you love, that you look out and you basically see just debris where once neighborhoods stood and where commerce took place.

The last 20 hours have been a nightmare for this community and indeed it's a very dark hour. We've lost, that we know of, 36 of our citizens. We have well over 600 injuries as a report (sic) of this tornado and I think both of those numbers may be ever increasing and we've got hundreds if not thousands of homes and businesses that are either destroyed or severely damaged.

KAYE: If you can, help us understand how difficult the rescue and recovery efforts might be. I mean, from what I understand you've got police precincts, fire stations.

I mean, isn't that just compounding the damage there and making those efforts much more difficult? MADDOX: Absolutely. It's the worst case scenario that you could have with the tornado that not only do you have your city impacted. You had the services that would be the primary responses, gone. So we're very fortunate Governor Bentley has been extraordinary in providing resources and those resources are beginning to come in now and will really help us in the next 24 to 48 hours.

KAYE: And has there been any sign of help from FEMA?

MADDOX: We know that -- we believe that help will be coming and FEMA is coordinating with the state EMA. And so we believe that FEMA help will be forthcoming and I will have more discussions this afternoon on that.

KAYE: You talked about the number of people there that you lost. Do you have any idea how many people are homeless now in your city?

MADDOX: Hundreds, if not thousands.

KAYE: And where are they?

MADDOX: In shelters throughout the city. The city has one primary shelter that at last count had over 500. The university has opened up a shelter for students who were off-campus housing but yet their apartments or condominiums were destroyed and that has, from last night numbers, over 200. And then area churches have opened up their doors and from what I understand have hundreds of individuals there, as well.

KAYE: So do you have enough beds, enough space for all of these people?

MADDOX: Well, we're making do. The great thing about this city is its resilient spirit of its citizens and the generosity of this community. And right now you're seeing the worst that could be brought upon us was yesterday, and today we're seeing the best of the soul of this community in terms of its help for its fellow citizens.

KAYE: I'm sure there's a lot of children there that are trying to figure out what's happened to their homes, what's happened to their loved ones. Can you shed some light on just how the youngest in the community are doing?

MADDOX: Well, in many of the areas that were hit had a large number of young children, whether they were preteens or teens. We don't know the exact number of those in terms of the fatalities and injuries but I'm sure it's significant.

KAYE: Yes. And we're watching even here as we talk with you this rescue of this young girl. It is amazing to see that anyone , as you said, I know you have said that it's hard to believe anyone could have survived this. And as we watch these incredible pictures of these rescue efforts, some of the elderly and certainly some of the youngest as we're seeing here. It is truly a miracle.

Mayor, we appreciate your time and we certainly wish you luck. MADDOX: Thank you very much.

KAYE: Thank you.

And to find out more on how you can help tornado victims, head over to CNN.com/impact. You can find all the organizations there on our web site and certainly a lot of ways that you can help those in need. That's at CNN.com/impact if you want to reach out.

As we continue to keep a close eye on all the weather developments, we also want to take you inside the cockpit of a plane for an extremely rare look at the interaction between a pilot and an air traffic controller.

That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: As we continue our in-depth coverage of the problems the aviation industry is facing right now, we thought that we'd give you a unique look at what goes on inside a cockpit.

Private pilot and aviation analyst Miles O'Brien shows us the interaction between a pilot and a controller.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, AVIATION ANALYST: Wow. What a nice day for flying. Just some puffy cotton ball clouds. Little bit gusty. But good day to be in the air.

It's quarter of 10:00. This is my airplane. It's a Cirrus SR- 22. It's a lot smaller than a commercial airliner, obviously, but still flying in the same system as the airliners using air traffic control in exactly the same manner.

Charlie victor is taxiing right now for a departure on runway 1-5 and will be headed off to the north and west out of College Park. Let's do it.

OK. Everything's in the green. We're looking for about 70 knots. We'll go a little faster today. And here we go. Let's go flying.

1-2-2 Charlie Victor just of College Park.

The system is a 1950s architecture based on ground-based radar, spinning antennas on the ground. Radar by definition has a latency, a lag to it because it takes a certain amount of time for that antenna to spin around, about 12 seconds.

In today's day and age, satellite technology FAA is now making progress on this modernization to a satellite system. But the truth is, you have more GPS technology in your family SUV than the typical airliner does. We have all the technology in this airplane for me to receive all the vital commands, reroutes, everything by text, e-mail, whatever, satellite communication, and yet today in this country, everything we do, all the commands, it's all done on VHF radios. And there's a lot of margin for error in that system.

I have national weather picture here using satellites. You can see there's a killer storm here, lower central part of the U.S. There's also a lot of convective thunderstorm activity in the Appalachians right now. It's up to controllers to warn us about this stuff. But it's very nice to have the capability to see it for yourself, as well.

So having the layers of safety are what's important. If a controller for whatever reason doesn't see what I see or isn't paying attention, I can see it, as well, I can call that to his or her attention and I can keep myself safe. So the system has lots of layers. I'm not going to fly into a thunderstorm just because the controller is not doing his or her job properly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To Charlie victor, traffic is due south about 10 miles. Also if you direct to (INAUDIBLE) there's a 737.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To Charlie Victor to turn to right traffic for runway 2-2 (INAUDIBLE).

O'BRIEN: Aviation is safe if it's done well and it's done right and if corners are not cut. And air traffic control is just part of the picture. We're focusing a lot on that right now in a way that's very healthy because we're focusing on events that have not led to people getting hurt. So let's hope that's a wake-up call for the system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Certainly unique perspective from Miles there to see exactly how pilots land with the help of air traffic controllers. But as the experts have told us as we continue to dig into this in depth, they've told us that the pilots are trained. So just in case an air traffic controller is possibly asleep or watching a movie as we've certainly seen over the weeks, they do know what to do. There are other ways to land those planes, which is certainly some good news.

Well, another big story that we're watching is the preparation for the space shuttle launch tomorrow. Just over 26 hours to launch. Up next, should we go back to the moon?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Time now for CNN political update. CNN's senior political editor Mark Preston joins me now from Washington.

Mark, Donald Trump is being advised to follow the John McCain model in New Hampshire, I understand?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: He is. And he's being advised by a very influential newspaper, the "New Hampshire Union Leader" has an editorial today, Randi, telling Trump that if he wants to really run for president, that if he wants to win New Hampshire, he's got do it the old-fashioned way, and that's retail politics.

You know, Trump was up there yesterday. We saw him all over the television. He went in this his helicopter. Had he a security detail. He was holding all these private meetings. But when you're up in New Hampshire they like retail politics.

In fact, let me just read you one line from this editorial from the "New Hampshire Union Leader."

"Ditch the limo, the security detail and the chopper so you can interact with voters one on one."

In fact, they said that's how John McCain won New Hampshire back in 2008. You know, Randi, talking about the "New Hampshire Union Leader," as well as WMUR Television, which is a powerhouse television station in New Hampshire, well, CNN, we're going to work with them. We're going to do a presidential debate on June 13th up at St. Anselm College.

John King last night in his interview with Donald Trump asked Trump if he was going to be at the debate. And Trump said, look, if I'm in, then I'll be there. So it'll be interesting to see him on the debate stage, Randi.

KAYE: I think we'll know on the little show he does -- on the last night of that little show when he announces -- when he's going for announce -- if he's going to announce, right? That's what it all comes down --

PRESTON: And what he's going to say. Imagine what the ratings are going to be when the final -- the finale of "The Apprentice" --

KAYE: No, no, don't even say it. Don't even say the name of the show.

PRESTON: No, but you know what I want to say? I bet we won't even know if he really is in. I bet you he's going to even be are more cryptic about his plans.

KAYE: Yes, he will toy with us some more, I'm sure.

All right, Mark. Thank you.

Your next update from the Best Political Team on Television is just an hour away. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Are you ready for the big day? The most anticipated wedding in decades is less than 24 hours away right now.

Here's the black and white photo of Prince William and Kate that will appear in the official royal wedding program. Cat Deeley is following all the excitement for us in London, she's back at CNN's bureau after spending the morning outside Buckingham Palace.

Cat, I can only imagine the scene on the streets there. Is the royal madness even more than you expected?

CAT DEELEY, CNN WEDDING CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, my goodness. Randi, it is reaching fever pitch here in the capital. I mean, literally. It's kind of been building every single day. And you know what us Brits are like, we're very kind of reserved, but now it's literally reaching fever pitch.

We've got people camping out on the streets that want to get a really good spot to watch the procession go past. There's over 8,000 journalists down at Buckingham Palace. Of course, there's 1,900 people going to turn up at the Abbey.

And when I was down at the palace at the palace today, the royal standard was blowing in the breeze which means that the queen is home and she can survey all the craziness as it happens.

KAYE: I'm sure they're soaking it up. It is amazing to see all those little kids out there that are going to be sleeping in the street very likely to watch all this and wait for the big day.

Any last-minute tidbits for us, Cat? Anything more leaking out today?

DEELEY: You know what? That's one thing that they actually have been so good about, is not letting anything really leak out. So we are going to see loads and loads of great surprises on the day. You know, the kiss, the dress. We're going to see lots of big surprises.

One thing that did actually come out, though, was that Ellie Golding might actually be performing at the party afterwards. So she might be performing at the party. There is also rumor going around that Jay-Z and Beyonce might there be, too.

So those have been the latest rumors circulating. But do we know for sure? We're not sure.

KAYE: All right. That's good to know.

Listen, we also know there's certainly been a lot of secrecy around Kate's dress. I don't know if you have any more on that. But I'm also curious, I know you've been keeping your dress in the closet, very big secret. Are you going to share any of those details? I'm just as excited about that as Kate's dress.

What are you wearing?

DEELEY: Well, it was very funny, because the other day I had on a pair of leather shorts and I think they raised Piers' temperature a little bit too much. So I don't think they'll be making --

KAYE: I can imagine.

DEELEY: I don't think they'll be making another appearance. So I'm going for kind of like a long kind of lacey dress. It's very romantic, but it's kind of carky (ph) with like a giant belt. So it's kind of -- it's kind of rock 'n' roll princess. So your Catherine Elizabeth, but without the title, will still look like a princess even if she's not by name.

KAYE: Rock 'n' roll princess, I like that.

DEELEY: A rock 'n' roll princess

KAYE: What about bridesmaids? I haven't heard anything about them either. Do we know what they're wearing?

DEELEY: You know, what? There has been rumors circulating about Alice Temperley. Alice Temperley is a British designer, she makes beautiful, incredibly feminine, slightly kind of hippie bohemian-style dresses, but they always bring out the women's femininity. They are undoubtedly beautiful.

That, again, is just a rumor. We don't know for sure. But we know they were spotted coming out of Alice Temperley 's choice and, indeed, she would be the perfect choice, I think.

KAYE: I'm sure. Well, we know they won't be wearing leather shorts, that's for sure. We'll leave those to you, Cat.

DEELEY: OK. Thank you very much.

KAYE: Thanks again.

Cat Deeley, part of the CNN team along with Anderson Cooper, Piers Morgan, Richard Quest, Kiran Chetry who are in London to cover the royal wedding. Our special coverage begins 4:00 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow. I'll be setting my alarm clock. We hope you do, too. Be sure to watch right here on CNN and participate as well. You can check out the website, we've got all kinds of great stuff planned for the royal wedding.

Another big story that we're watching is the preparation for the space shuttle launch tomorrow. Just over 26 hours to launch time. Up next: Should we go back to the moon?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: This just in. Coming up in over two hours from now, we expect to bring you a news conference out of Alabama. That is, of course, the state hardest hit by the tornadoes.

The governor there, Governor Bentley, Robert Bentley, and also the Alabama emergency management director, Art Faulkner, they're going to be taking reporters along a tour to see the damage and see some of the worst-hit communities, take a look at the rescue and the recovery efforts underway. And they're holding a news conference along the way, and we're going to bring that to you as well. It will really be the reporters' firsthand look at devastation and the destruction there in Tuscaloosa and Cullman County.

So that's coming up at 4:00 Eastern time, and we will bring that to you as soon as it comes in.

Just about 24 hours away from the final launch from the space shuttle Endeavour. It is set to blast off in space tomorrow afternoon. It's headed to the International Space Station on the next to last shuttle mission.

The end of the shuttle program begins a new era in space travel. With a new NASA plan from the White House, the space program has its sights set on travel around the solar system, and no longer the moon.

Well, every day on the show we do a segment called the "Big I," it's all about big, new ideas and innovations. And in today's "Big I," a new bill that's proposed that would take us back to the moon by 2022. The name of the bill is the Reasserting American Leadership in Space Act or the REAL Space Act. One of the sponsors of this bill, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, she joins us live from Houston.

Representative, this bill hopes to, quote, "...direct the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to plan to return to the moon and develop a sustained human presence on the moon."

Let's start why you think we need to go back to the moon in the first place.

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D), TEXAS: Randi, first of all, may I offer my sympathy and concern as a member of the Homeland Security Committee to all of those Americans suffering from the devastating weather events, and my sympathy to the losses that have occurred and certainly to the people of Alabama.

But I ask the question, why not? I'm reminded of President Kennedy's remarks in 1961 that challenged us to go to the moon and how exciting it was, whether you read it in the history books, saw the old film of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon and five other missions that landed on the moon.

The reason is because science is the work of the 21st century. Who, other than the United States of America, can be the creator, the innovator, the inspiration tool for the minds of men and women, the genius of men and women, going to the moon provides for better life on Earth, such as what we secured with medical imaging, fire detectives, fire equipment, the new technology in TVs, all of that came about through space exploration, going into the outer orbit or on to the moon allowed us think beyond our imagination and create tens of billions of scientific application and many, many jobs.

I want America to be at her greatest. And frankly, it is important to restore and redesign NASA's mission for us to have a goal, because where will be the next generation of scientists?

KAYE: So where does the legislation stand?

LEE: Well, right now, Randi, it has been introduced. I'm very glad to say it's bipartisan. Members come from all over the country, there are not just those of us who happen to be advocates of space exploration. We expect the membership on this legislation to grow, and we want to work with the White House. This has to be bipartisan.

We believe if we can share with the president, who will be at the launch tomorrow, and I will join him at that launch, it will be such an exciting experience. I've experienced it, it's such a moving, emotional experience, that you can't help but say, what else can we do. How else can we make America greater?

And I want America to be great not for itself and not for greatness, but to share this technology with the world.

I just came from the Texas Children's Hospital and walked through the echo lab, it's a lab formulated after NASA.

KAYE: Right.

LEE: There are astronaut doctors who test children's heart disease through the technology that they have secured from their research in space. What a moving experience?

So I want America to be back at that and I want us to be at the top of the game, if you will, and the REAL Space Act allows us to refocus on going to the moon again.

KAYE: Before we run out of time, I want to ask you about something else. Also on the radar, also involving more legislation, the space shuttle is retiring, as you know, the four shuttles going to Los Angeles, to Florida, Washington, and New York City.

You support now a new bill that would bring one of the shuttles to Houston. Why is that so important to you?

LEE: You know, I think we should all be in the business of looking forward and looking at a new mission for NASA, but at the same time, there's something about legacy and art and loss.

Randi, I want you to know, I don't think any city equates to Houston in terms of the loss of treasure of those dear souls who flew into space as American heroes and did not come back.

In addition, this is the place where we actually heard and spoke to those who landed on the moon. We have the control center, the command site, if you will, for guiding astronauts in all of the space exploration efforts that remain.

Houston has given a great debt to the United States of America. It's not political, it's about the legacy of this great city. And we wish the other cities well, but we believe the legislation that I've introduced to get one of those particular shuttles, those orbiters on loan for 15 years to this great city. Let us be Americans that share and care. And though we're going forward redefining NASA's mission going to the moon, I believe that the orbiter in Houston will be a site of destination for the world.

(INTERRUPTION OF LIVE FEED)

KAYE : I'm sure. Oh, OK, we seem to have lost Representative Jackson Lee there, but clearly very important to her to have that in Houston.

Once again, the shuttle lost is set for tomorrow at 3:47 p.m. You'll be able to see it live right here on CNN. And if you're away from your TV, you can watch it online and LiveCNN.com.

Also, to check out the Moon Bill before Congress, head to our blog, CNN.com/Ali.