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342 People Killed in Six States; Unforgettable Wedding Moments; GOP Field May Soon Grow; Gas Prices on the Rise; Raising Funds for President Obama; Curfew in Daraa, Syria; Endeavour's Final Launch Delayed; NFL Lockout Back in Effect; Challenges for Tuscaloosa; Recovery in Rainsville, Alabama; Starting Dream Biz After Layoff; PlayStation Network Hacked
Aired April 30, 2011 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, there, everybody, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. This is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I am T.J. Holmes, thanks for spending part of your day here with us.
You might have heard there was a wedding yesterday. Well, we have some new pictures of the royal couple the day after that historic wedding. Plus, some new information we're getting about their honeymoon.
Also this morning a new court ruling puts the NFL lockout back in effect. Yes, folks, it's back on again -- the lockout. We'll tell you what that could mean for the upcoming football season.
And just some compelling images from that massive tornado outbreak in the south. Our reporters are on the ground in some of these hardest hit areas and that devastation stretches for miles and miles. We are talking about from Arkansas to Virginia.
The death toll also went up overnight. Also went up, again, just in the past few hours. Now we have a total of 342 people that were killed in this week's tornado outbreak. That would make it the second deadliest outbreak in U.S. history. Most of those victims are in Alabama.
Take a look here. Have a before and after picture. A satellite image of the before and the after, gives you an idea of this destruction.
Also, look in the middle of your screen there. You see that -- that area, that tan area, if you will all the green around it. That's what was there or should be there, as well. But a straight line that lets you see how this tornado was on the ground and just took out everything that was in its way.
Also, you may know the President, he was there seeing it for himself yesterday. He said the government is going to do everything possible to help communities rebuild; added Mississippi and Georgia, as well to the federal disaster list.
We have CNN reporters who are dispatched all across the region this morning. We do want to start, though, in one tiny town in Alabama. That's where officials are scrambling this hour to help keep a hellish situation from getting worse; 29 people confirmed dead and more still missing. Every business just about wiped out.
CNN's Marty Savidge has just arrived there. Marty, give us an idea of the type of town you're in; one of these tiny towns that really define the south in many ways.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You're right, T.J. Exactly.
And we're on Main Street here and you can see behind us here that Main Street took one heck of a wallop and that is just one example of this town. Saturday morning normally is a time when people come to town or a time to do chores. They're doing both here, but the kind of chores they're doing is nothing, well, nothing like what they normally have done in the past.
As we drove into town up on 43 and it seems that this tornado came right up from the southeast along the highway. And in fact, I just took a drive with the chief of police and he said, yes, that's exactly what it was. He was racing ahead of the storm and saw it in his rear view mirror and realized he couldn't outrun it and eventually he drove off the road and he build (ph) into a gully to save his own life.
But the situation here is pretty grim; as we came into town, we found a team of searchers. They were spread out across a field and I went up and said, well, what is it you're looking for? And they said a hand. So that's what they're down to here. The destruction was so severe that they believe any more victims and there are still four people missing in this town are not going to be found fully intact.
They have set up a temporary morgue and had to use refrigerator trucks to store those who have been lost in this community. And speaking of losses three schools have been wiped out, the doctor's office, the pharmacy and they've also lost a baseball field and the Rangler (ph) plant, a huge plant just to the east of town here, employs about 500 people, absolutely flattened. They had about 16 people trapped inside and one person died.
And it goes on and on and on. So that just gives you an idea, T.J. and we just arrived. So as I say, we're still learning these stories. But it is extremely powerful to see what this storm did in a small community. The devastation, of course, on scale with everything else you find.
But the work that has to be done and the chores that lie ahead and -- and the logistics. I asked the chief, I said, what do you need? He said, you know what we need, trucks. We need trucks to store all the goods that have been donated. Refrigerator trucks is what he's talking about.
And then on top of that, they need those kind of storage shelters that people can put their goods in because their homes are destroyed and they're just trying to find some place to put their things.
So this is still a town very much in shock. And you can tell that the chief is running on adrenaline, as are most people here. But they are getting help for the first time today flooding in. And that's the good news -- T.J.
HOLMES: Hearing that sound of chain saws and trucks and the work going on there. Martin Savidge, we're going to be checking in with you throughout the day here on CNN. We appreciate you.
I do want to turn now to Tennessee. Our Susan Candiotti found another one of those small towns being hit and hit hard and now trying to recover. Susie, tell our viewers, first of all, where you are and describe, as well, is this one of those, you know, one of those typical small towns where everybody knows everybody and now everybody coming together to lend a hand.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a lot like that. It's a -- mainly a rural agricultural community Apison in Hamilton, County. And it's considered really a suburb of Chattanooga if you live out in the burbs more or less. And it is the type of place where a lot of people do know each other.
It's also in terms of damage, typical of what you see with a lot of tornadoes. There is a large portion of this county that is untouched by the tornado, but that twister followed a killer path and this is the same twister that hit here that originated in Alabama, started there, came all across there, crossed over into southern -- rather northern Georgia and then here across into Tennessee, as well.
And that's the same one that traveled all that distance and managed to claim 34 lives here in the state of Tennessee. So, this little town of Apison and where I'm standing now is the staging area for a lot of the social service agencies, for emergency services for police and for utility crews that are using this as sort of a command post.
Yesterday we spent the day in the most damaged areas. But today they asked us to stay out for most of the day. Why? Because the utility crews have been in there, more than 2,000 of them, and that's the minimum number it's far bigger than that. Because they do most of their work in the overnight hours and wanted to get a lot done during the day. And frankly, with eight million news crews running around, it is hard for those utility crews to get their work done.
So, for a few hours, we're spending some time here. Here where people have come to serve food and offer free coffee, that kind of thing. For -- for crews and for volunteers who come by. They also have a line there for residents who are coming in to get these colored coded cards so that they don't have to stop every time they go to a checkpoint to show their driver's license. If they get this, they'll be able to get through more quickly.
One of those people is Kathy. Kathy, what is your last name. Dodd?
KATHY DODD, RESIDENT, APISON, TENNESSEE: Dodd.
CANDIOTTI: Now you are one of the lucky ones, your home was not affected. But I think this is a good teaching tool. You were prepared; you knew that thing was coming your way. Why did you decide not to stay at home and tell us how you spent that -- that night?
DODD: We live on top of a hill in a two-story house that has no inner room, so we have no safe place to go. So we went down the hill to my sister's house who has a wonderful basement and this is our routine every time bad weather comes through. We say, OK, we're coming. What's for supper?
And we just hang out there and have the weather channel on. And when it was really looking close, then we just all ran into the basement and hung out down there with our candles.
CANDIOTTI: And you came through it fortunately with no damage to your house?
DODD: No damage whatsoever, the next day we went out and cut down a really big tree on the corner of our house because it will come down.
CANDIOTTI: One quick question, how do you think this community will recover from this? What does it mean to see the devastation around you?
DODD: It's incredible. But I've seen so many people out helping. My son is going to neighbors and his friends have come to our house and we didn't even have damage, but it was just nice to see people and connect and say, OK, there's something, something normal.
CANDIOTTI: Thank you, Kathy, very much. And good luck to you. Good luck to this community, as well.
And -- and it's the kind of thing that we're hearing time and again, T.J., that we're hearing here, that we've heard in Georgia, that we've heard in Mississippi and Alabama, it is in time of disaster when things are not going well when people tend to pull together, help their neighbors and help a perfect strangers to get them out of this catastrophe. Back to you.
HOLMES: Right, out Susan Candiotti for us just outside of Chattanooga. Susan, we appreciate you.
And I want to remind our viewers here, if you remember it was this time last year that Tennessee was dealing with another natural disaster. You remember all this? It was May 1st, a year ago tomorrow. More than 13 inches of rain poured down on middle Tennessee. The countdown in just two days the Cumberland River topped 12 feet above flood stage forcing hundreds of people to evacuate Nashville.
Those stranded were rescued by boat and canoe; 30 people we're killed by that. We turn to our Bonnie Schneider here covering weather with me now. And we're also dealing with a flood threat, again, in parts of -- another part of the country.
But we've got blizzards and you've got follow up on this tornado and this mess; we're still understanding the scope of it. So you take it away.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right T.J., there is a lot going on for sure.
I want to show you a really unique vantage point, 22,000 miles above the earth, the NASA satellite is taking pictures of what the tornado outbreak looked like from outer space.
So as I put this into motion, you'll see the brighter white. If we zoom in on here, that indicates the highest cloud top, the temperature of the clouds showing how cold it was and really indicating the severity of the storm. And you can see the -- the burst of cloud coverage. That's the tornadoes forming.
Now, we do have some new information from the storm surveyors that are on the scene that the actual long track super cell that started in Newton County, Mississippi, and then dissipated in North Carolina was on the ground for seven hours and 24 minutes. That means it traveled 380 miles, incredible.
Now, this was not one continuous tornado, but it was the parent storm of multiple violent and unfortunately deadly tornadoes. There's some new information as the surveyors are on the scene still gathering information.
Well, we're not only tracking, of course, what has happened with the tornado outbreak, but what will happen going forward and our next big threat for dangerous weather. And that is in the Midwest. That's where we're watching out for flooding. Notice the advisories all the way from Arkansas up into the Great Lakes but it's really this part of the country right along the Mississippi Valley, the Ohio River Valley.
That's where we're really monitoring a lot of the rivers this weekend. Because many of them are already at flood stage and more rain is expected and because that more rain is expected along the front that will remain somewhat stationary over the next few days. Unfortunately, that flood threat will persist. So we're watching that, as well.
Well, to the north, as we go to the northern plains, its cold enough not just for rain, but for snow. Hard to believe on this last day of April -- the first day of May being tomorrow -- that we are tracking a blizzard in the northern plains. That's right. Blizzard warnings for blowing and drifting snow up to nine inches of snow in North Dakota. Today and tonight, the winds will gust up to 50 miles per hour, T.J. This really is a little bit of everything this weekend from blizzard conditions in North Dakota to scorching hot temperatures and fire danger in the southwest.
HOLMES: When -- when do things calm down? What part of the year? It seems like it never does, right?
SCHNEIDER: Well it's not going to calm down in May because that's when we get the most tornadoes and then June starts hurricane season. So we're going to see.
HOLMES: The most tornadoes.
SCHNEIDER: Yes.
HOLMES: OK. Well, we appreciate you, as always, Bonnie. Thanks so much.
I want to turn back to London here in just a moment. You may have seen this. There wasn't a lot of coverage, if you weren't looking for it. But there was a royal wedding yesterday. The royal couple now, where are they spending their first full day as husband and wife? They're actually on a trip, but it's not that one, not their honeymoon. We've got the details.
Also, some new pictures this morning hot off the press -- the official wedding photo. You will see it right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, quarter past the hour. Take a look here. These are some of the first pictures we are seeing, video at least of the royal couple the day after their big wedding; dressed a lot differently, more casual, not all that formal stuff. Prince William and Kate Middleton now called the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. They just came out of Buckingham Palace this morning chatting with some staff members before heading off to a secret weekend hideaway.
The prince returns to work next week. The palace says he and his new wife will take their honeymoon, though, at some point in the future. So, this little trip this weekend, not the honeymoon; the timing and location of that trip will not be announced in advance.
The palace also -- take a look at this -- that is the official photo, the official wedding photo. That's one of three being released. They were taken by their photographer, Hugo Burnand. That was in the throne room of Buckingham Palace, this was immediately after the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
A photographer has taken photos of Prince William before and was also, actually the official photographer at wedding of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall back in 2005.
Now, you may have seen a lot, a whole lot of the wedding yesterday. A lot of you got up early to watch the whole thing, didn't want to miss a second. Some of you just saw a little bit of it in news coverage. No matter what, you probably saw a lot of it.
There are some unforgettable moments, though, you most likely did not see and did not hear.
Isha Sesay fills us in. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISHA SESAY, CORRESPONDENT, CNN INTERNATIONAL (voice-over): It's one of the most anticipated moments: when a groom sees his bride for the first time. But with all eyes on Catherine, you might not have noticed Prince William standing with his back to the congregation, wanting to be the last one to see her.
He waited for his cue from his brother, Harry. As she approached the final stretch, he whispered, "She's here now."
The best-kept secret, her dress, was revealed to the world and her prince, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. It was the perfect mix of modern and traditional.
But there were some things you couldn't see. A blue ribbon was sewn inside the dress to represent something blue. Her earrings were a touch of something new, a gift from her parents. They were custom- made with a diamond-encrusted acorn in the middle to represent the Middletons' new family crest.
And surprisingly, her something borrowed was from the Queen: a diamond-entrusted tiara called a Cartier Halo, made in 1936 for the Queen Mother.
Although we couldn't hear him, the groom melted hearts around the world, when he leaned over and said to his bride, "You look beautiful." Then he seemed to relax and cracked a joke to his soon- to-be father-in-law, saying, "Just a small family affair."
The ceremony went off without a hitch. Sorry for those of you who betted on Prince Philip falling asleep, but you may have missed the moment of nervous laughter when the prince had to wrestle Kate's ring onto her finger. Rest assured, he got it on.
The happy couple left the abbey and made their way into the 1902 State Landau carriage, where it appeared Princess Catherine said to her prince, "I'm so happy."
She wasn't the only one. One of the clergymen forgot all about the cameras in the Abbey and did a series of cartwheels up the aisle.
Even the Queen was pleased. Upon arriving at Buckingham Palace, she was overheard on camera saying, "The wedding was amazing."
When the newlyweds were introduced to the country on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, you have to watch closely as the princess seemed to be taken aback as she mouthed, "Oh, wow."
But then there was the moment that sealed the deal, as the hundreds of thousands chanted, "Kiss." Prince William appeared to ask his wife, "Are you ready? Shall we kiss?" The crowd erupted with cheers, except one young girl.
With all eyes on the newlyweds, many missed 3-year-old bridesmaid Grace Van Cutsem. She didn't seem to care she had the best seat in the house for a kiss that would go down in history. She just wanted some peace and quiet.
Many thought the excitement was over. But then the couple did the unthinkable. The prince appeared to ask his princess if she'd give one more kiss. She obliged, giving the crowd what they wanted, a historic second kiss.
As the royal family made their way inside, the bride and groom were the last ones to say adieu as Princess Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, turned around one last time to take it all in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. And that dress you saw her in -- this didn't take long at all, folks. The minute Kate Middleton appeared in that wedding dress, wedding dressmakers around the world went right to work to try to produce knockoff versions of that Sarah Burton design. So, you'll see the copy cat gowns in stores in time for those summer weddings.
Twenty minutes past the hour now. Bridge construction to tell you about with a twist, no down time here; engineers have found a way to just slide the new bridge right in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Let's give you a look at some stuff making news across the country right now.
Indiana's governor, Mitch Daniels says he will sign a bill to cut most federal money from Planned Parenthood in his state. He says Indiana women will still have access to basic health services, just not abortion. Indiana will be the first state to enact a law like this. Planned Parenthood says Daniels is playing politics with women's health and they plan to file a lawsuit.
In Stanford, Connecticut, you don't want to see this, do you? That is the sight. You pulling up and gas is $5. Some economists say $5-gallon gasoline will become the norm actually. But here, you see the price at $5.19 for premium at this station. It's above $5 for the mid-grade stuff, as well.
Then in Bellwood, Oregon; this is time lapse video. It's showing now a novel way to build a bridge. This is a new method. It's called a shoe-fly bridge. Engineers literally slide the old one out of the way and then slide the bridge that is already built into place. So, you don't have to go there and construct it.
You know, the traditional way, they build it and build it on top where it is going to be. Instead they build it somewhere else and bring it in and slide it over. Not bad.
The controversy over President Obama's birth certificate may be winding down a bit, but Donald Trump, boy, he found something else, another way to get some attention. The real estate mogul and possible presidential candidate gave a speech in Las Vegas. And he managed to drop the F bomb, not once, but a bunch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MAGNATE: We built another school, we build another road. They blow them up. We build again. In the meantime, we can't get a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) school built in Brooklyn. It's unbelievable.
We have nobody in Washington that sits back and said, you're not going to raise that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) price. You understand me?
Listen you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) we're going to tax you 25 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Forgot to give you the heads up for that piece, the MF as well.
You're looking here. This is happening in New Hampshire; three other possible presidential candidates speaking in New Hampshire, of course, an all-important state. This is called the First in the Nation Freedom Forum and it's under way in Manchester on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University.
The agenda includes speeches by U.S. Representative, Michele Bachmann; former U.S. Senator, Rick Santorum, and also former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. We are monitoring what's happening there.
Now, I mentioned three possible candidates, but the list of Republican presidential hopefuls could actually get a lot longer. Find out who could be announcing their candidacies in just two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We're getting close to the bottom of the hour here and the field of Republican presidential candidates may get a little larger in the coming weeks. Let's bring in a friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser; he's in Washington for us.
Paul, we say we could get some announcements. Are these announcements going to be, hey, I'm in the race or that I'm just thinking about getting in the race or that I'm thinking about forming a committee to figure out if I'm getting in the race? What is it?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think these could be the real deal, T.J.
HOLMES: OK.
STEINHAUSER: Listen, tomorrow is May 1st. I think by the end of May we're going to have a much clearer picture of the Republican presidential field.
Let's start with Mitch Daniels; you were just talking about him a couple of minutes ago. He says he'll sign that law in Indiana that cuts Planned Parenthood funding.
That could be a signal maybe, maybe that he's running some (INAUDIBLE) because earlier this year he called for a truce on social issues. That angered social conservatives. They're very influential. Maybe this is a move maybe to curry favor with them. Either way expect an announcement from him in the next couple weeks on whether he's going to run or not.
Let's move to Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker. He has already taken one of those pseudo-moves you mentioned, T.J. Well, he told reporters the other day, check out my Facebook and Twitter pages next week -- this week coming up -- for maybe some more signals on whether he's going to officially announce, formally announce for the White House.
Let's talk about John Huntsman, the former Utah governor. He has been in China last year serving as the U.S. ambassador to China. Today is his last day officially as ambassador. He is back here in the U.S. Expect him to make some news whether he runs or not; probably an announcement in the next couple weeks or maybe early June at the latest.
And finally, you were talking about him. Donald Trump, T.J., has said all along most recently with our John King the other day that he will have it announced by June.
So sometime in the next couple weeks by June whether he will or will not be running for the Republican presidential nomination.
HOLMES: OK, I didn't see the whole interview, but he didn't cuss out John King when he talked to him, did he?
STEINHAUSER: It was quite an interview, back and forth like almost two price fighters going at it, but I don't think there weren't any profanities.
HOLMES: All right, that's good, at least. Let's turn to the president, at least and maybe some of these Republican candidates think they have an opening here to attack the president.
Because when people see gas prices going up, they just don't feel good about it. No matter what other indicators there may be about the economy. It just has a negative effect on the president, does it not?
STEINHAUSER: Who gets the blame? The guy at the top, the boss and that's the president of the United States. Gas prices go up, the president's poll ratings go down.
We've seen it before with past presidents. We're seeing it right now. The president's approval rating has definitely dropped, T.J., from earlier this year and that is troubling of course because that is a very crucial indicator.
But remember gas prices go up and they go down and remember also the election is still a year and a half away. So let's stay tuned, I guess, on that one. HOLMES: All right, last thing to you here, buddy. We know the president talked about it. He set all kind of records when he ran last time back in '08, but now he announced that he wants to raise $1 billion for his re-election campaign and some new groups out there are trying to raise $100 million of it?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, this is an outside group that just announced officially yesterday. It's called "Priorities USA" and what their plan is, they're an independent group. They're not aligned with the White House, but plan is to raise $100 million and basically spend that money to defend the president from other outside groups on the Republican side that are going to be attacking the president.
But the two people who were leading this group, T.J., used to be two top people at the White House. So, you know, say what you want. It's also interesting because remember President Obama last year railed against those Republican groups and a lot of these groups do not have to disclose where they get their money and neither does this new pro-Obama group.
So is there's a little hypocrisy here? The White House says, listen, no, not at all. The president still feels the same way and there is no official coordination between this new group and the White House. But, T.J., any way you look at it, a lot of money. Maybe up to $3 billion could be spent alone on the race for the White House in the next year and a half.
HOLMES: You have got to be kidding me. That much money --
STEINHAUSER: You take all the money and all the groups and put it together, it could be up to that.
HOLMES: All that money and what do we get? Stalemates, governments, border line shutting down. That's what we get for $3 billion. I'm sorry, that was just me, soap box. See you later, buddy. Thanks so much.
Only 32 minutes past the hour. I do want to turn what some of you are calling ground zero for this latest monster storm that hit just this week in parts of the south. It's in Alabama. CNN Reynolds Wolf, my partner here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING is standing by there. Hello, again, to you, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, T.J. Just a gruesome story still here in Alabama. Of course, it's a story of lives lost and homes damaged and in some places businesses completely destroyed. Coming up from Tuscaloosa, we'll bring you the story. You're watching CNN SATURDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 35 minutes past the hour now. I'll give you a look of some of the stories making headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The number has gone up, folks. This is a historic, a historic tornado outbreak we saw this week.
Three hundred and forty two people now confirmed dead in six states. That makes this the second deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history. More than 250 of those deaths were in Alabama alone. President Obama visited Tuscaloosa yesterday. He said it was the worst devastation he has ever seen.
Let's turn now to the upper big branch mine in West Virginia. It is going to be sealed, permanently. An explosion one year ago killed 29 workers. It was the worst mining disaster we've seen in this country since 1972.
Earlier, there had been talk about possibly reopening that mine, but a spokeswoman for the Mine Safety and Health Administration says the owner, Nasty Energy, has now agreed to keep it closed.
The Syrian government has now imposed a curfew. Just yesterday the 19 deaths were reported in that city, the center of continuing protest against the President Bashar Al Assad.
Witnesses say soldiers are stationed on rooftops and helicopters flying overhead. Some Syrians are starting to trickle over the border into turkey in a bid to escape some of its violence.
NASA says shuttle "Endeavour" will launch Monday at the earliest. Now, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords status uncertain right now. She flew to Florida. She wanted to be there to watch her husband take off.
Of course, Mark Kelly, the commander of the mission. She is still covering as you know from that gunshot wound though doctors haven't decided if she will return to the rehab center in Houston.
She was only supposed to be in Florida a short time and don't know if she'll be able to stick around to see the launch. That's still uncertain now.
The NFL lockout is back. Training camps briefly reopened earlier this week after a judge ruled that the lockout was illegal. But then yesterday an appeals court granted a temporary stay of that ruling.
So that allowed owners to reinstate the lockout. Team owners, players are at odds over a new collective bargaining agreement. If this dispute continues, it could threaten the upcoming football season.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, let's turn back to Alabama right now. They took the brunt of Wednesday's deadly tornado outbreak. The destruction seems to go on and on and on.
Reynolds Wolf is in Tuscaloosa in the middle of it. Reynolds there you are, but when I say on and on and on, there are reports that this big sucker could have been on the ground for up to 200 miles. WOLF: Absolutely. You know, it was an immense supercell that came and spawned as many as three tornadoes and each of those were long track tornadoes. Killing, of course as you mentioned, T.J., possibly hundreds of people around the region.
Obviously in Alabama, over 200 and the number continues to rise. We've been talking about the loss of life, the loss of property, but one thing that has really been affected, especially here in Tuscaloosa, a number of businesses.
We were in Krispy Kreme earlier today and we spoke with the owner and got his first impressions of the damage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVAN SMITH, OWNER KRISPY KREME: A total loss. We will scrape and rebuild, buy all new equipment. There's nothing, you know, that we can reuse in here. It's tough. You know, we're fortunate. We have great insurance.
We have Krispy Kreme corporate reaching out to us and you see these people who lost their homes. I get to leave here and go home with my kids and a lot of people in this town that if they still have their kids, they don't have a home to go to for miles and miles and miles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: Well, T.J., for Evan Smith and his friends here at Krispy Kreme, the rebuilding process begins now. In fact, they've already started stacking stuff up. They put it in the trailer. They about to move it out and they're going to get things really under way possibly into next week.
But it's not just the building itself, we're talking about a couple of vehicles. They had four, in fact, if you happen to look over here on the other side of this parking lot. They were picked up by the winds in excess of 200, perhaps even as high as 300 miles per hour and pushed back in the neighborhood and one of them actually went through a living room of a house.
Almost missing a fellow who actually got hit his house but, obviously, missed him, but it's causing all kind of damage. Even more, they had another trailer that was found blocks and blocks away. Just a testament to the power of the storm and, of course, how destructive it has been.
HOLMES: That is just unreal to see these pictures. Reynolds for us in Tuscaloosa. Buddy, we appreciate you, as always. We'll see you again soon.
We want to turn now to Rainsville, Alabama, the heart wrenching pictures of devastation there. There's little left, still no power, but can you believe they are already starting to rebuild?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KAREN OWENS, TEACHER, PLAINVIEW SCHOOL: I went to school here and graduated from here. So, you know, kind of emotional, but I think we're just going to do the best we can and we can overcome it.
So, it's just a shock, just a shock to see just what devastation it's done to the school campus and not only that, but the communities around us.
DANNY JOHNSON, SCHOOL CUSTODIAN: I've never seen anything like this in my life, never. I don't know what to expect one day to the next. No power for weeks they said. No gas. Everywhere. Big mess.
DANIEL JOHNSON, STUDENT: You wake up and it's just gone. Everything's just completely vanished. Everything you knew your whole life.
OWENS: We're a real close community where everybody is good to each other. We try to help out as much as we can and as far as I know, when we get done, you know, with some of our own stuff, we're going to help others. So, we're getting it all done as much as we can.
RONALD BELL, PRINCIPAL, PLAINVIEW SCHOOL: It brings a lot of people together. It's something that's -- it's just a disaster now any way you look at it.
A lot of communities have gone through this all through the United States and you got a lot of help coming in from all over the south. So, we're going to make it. We're going to do fine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, going to do fine. That's something else. Already just days after the storm people are starting to rebuild.
Still to come on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING, can you imagine someone actually saying getting laid off was a dream come true? You'll find out how, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: About a quarter at the top of the hour now. A Virginia man started his own dream business without any pre-planning or knowledge of how to do it. Tom Foreman has his story as part of our "Building Up America" series.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When John Ryland was laid off after almost a dozen years at the same advertising company, he went straight home and right to work.
He had been developing a budding interest in custom motorcycle design and he thought just maybe this was the right time to take it to the next level.
(on camera): Did you really know how to go about starting a business?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I had no idea.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But he did know that even from Richmond, his advertising skills could help him reach the world. Quickly set up a web site featuring his designs, sleek, sharp images of junk yard castoffs that were remaking into cool road warriors.
(on camera): Almost a quarter million views on this page. How about that?
JOHN RYLAND, CLASSIFIED MOTO: If I don't get 600 visits from 30 countries a day, then I'm bummed. I'm thinking what am I doing wrong?
FOREMAN (voice-over): Along with his wife, Betsy, he's posting regular updates on his work, handles a steady stream of calls from fans and stays flexible. For example, one day on a whim he made a lamp from motorcycle parts.
(on camera): You put the first lamp on the site and it sold like that.
RYLAND: Yes, instantaneously.
FOREMAN (voice-over): They sold more than 100 since and now it's a major part of their business. John still freelances in advertising, but his future is here.
RYLAND: People probably think, yes, right, getting laid off is a blessing, but for me, it really is. I knew this is going to work and it's picking up steam.
FOREMAN: Just like he came home from work and hasn't stopped working yet. Tom Foreman, CNN, Richmond, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: OK, Fredricka, what are we talking about? One of the two of us needs to know.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Just kidding.
HOLMES: Just kidding, of course, you know what we're talking about.
WHITFIELD: How are you?
HOLMES: Better.
WHITFIELD: Good.
HOLMES: Better.
WHITFIELD: Fantastic.
HOLMES: Yes. We will go with that.
WHITFIELD: OK. You are going to feel great when you watch the noon eastern hour because our legal guys will be with us as they are every weekend. Yes. I got a question for you, so when you see a dog, is there an instinct in you, which says let me start barking?
HOLMES: Not usually. Other things trigger the barking in me, but not that.
WHITFIELD: I'm so glad to hear that. There is an Ohio man who decided to bark up the wrong tree, so to speak, decided to bark right at a police dog. Now this is a legal case.
Because he was charged with taunting a police dog and he says it is my first amendment right to be able to make noises if I want to. So we are going to find out if this will be a "ruff" case. Get it?
HOLMES: Was the dog barking at him or he just decided to bark at the dog?
WHITFIELD: The dog was looking at him.
HOLMES: He looked at him wrong.
WHITFIELD: He says, you know what, I just felt like doing this because the dog was intimidating me. So I responded. Isn't that interesting?
HOLMES: Is the dog traumatized or something? Is he in therapy?
WHITFIELD: I have a feeling the dog is being conditioned to respond to all things, polite and not so polite.
All right, then at 2:00 Eastern Time, you know, a lot of couples talk about finances or they should talk about finances before they tie the knot.
Say yes to open-book on my finances before I say "I do." The Dolans will be along to tell us why that's so important to do. What kind of questions you need to be asking one another. And then -- I know you are a married man.
HOLMES: Yes.
WHITFIELD: The conversation has to continue --
HOLMES: About finances.
WHITFIELD: They, of course, will talk about the things a married couple, once you said "I do," these are the don'ts.
HOLMES: This is why I love your show. Between your legal guys or other segments, you give my wife and I something to fight about every Saturday. WHITFIELD: This will bring harmony because money can bring fighting. Stop.
HOLMES: I love it. We will get in front of the TV for this one, too.
WHITFIELD: And of course, there is more. Not for this weekend, but I wanted to give you a heads-up, mark your calendar, for next week because Venus Williams, tennis giant on the courts. Of course, she is out right now on injury, but you know, in her case she started playing tennis at the age of 4.
HOLMES: She's around a long time.
WHITFIELD: She's been playing at professional level for 17 years now. I had an opportunity to sit down face-to-face with her. So next weekend, face-to-face with Venus Williams.
She's going to talk about what it was like growing up as a tennis prodigy and what kind of advice she might have for parents out there who want to introduce their kid to the racket at age 4.
She says every child is different. Every parent is different. A little bit of what she had to say about what her life has been like. Her lessons learned as a kid, child prodigy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VENUS WILLIAMS, TENNIS PLAYER: What works with one kid won't work with another. So -- I was a tough kid, very oblivious almost. I could deal with a lot.
WHITFIELD: What do you mean you were a tough kid?
WILLIAMS: Nothing bothered me. You know. The my dad was making us hit shots over and over and over again, you know, interest wouldn't faze me. It wouldn't upset me. It didn't show.
WHITFIELD: You didn't say enough already?
WILLIAMS: Never yelled. I got over it. Two days later, it was behind me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So that's what she means by being a tough kid. Not every kid is equipped and wired that way. She talks about that. She talks about her relationship with Serena on the court and of the court.
She talks about her recovery whether we are going to see her maybe at the French or favorite usually Wimbledon. Will it happen? She has to nurse that injury back to life.
HOLMES: All right. WHITFIELD: So Venus Williams next weekend. Start with this weekend, investing the time with us this weekend. Few minutes away. Seven minutes away, give or take.
HOLMES: Good to see you, Fredricka in those seven minutes. Good to see you as always. Love chatting with you.
Millions of people out there -- Sony PlayStations. What some of them don't have, peace of mind following a major security breach, but it is not just the gamers folks. You heard about this, but not just those gamers who need to be worried about their private information.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: You may have heard Sony shutting down its PlayStation network after a major security breach. Names, e-mail addresses, passwords, and even some credit card information may have been stolen by hackers.
We are talking about one of the largest corporate security breakdowns ever, 77 million people subscribe to the PlayStation network. Earlier, I talked with our digitalized expert Mario Armstrong. He says it is not just gamers who need to worry here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIO ARMSTRONG, CNN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: We are talking about people that also use Sony internet connected televisions. I have one in my house and enjoy it. But right now I can't enjoy the network.
Meaning I can't get to Netflix. I can't get to Hulu. I can't download movies, TV shows and online music and other entertainment that I'm used to having because that Sony PlayStation network is down. So it affects more than just games.
HOLMES: Yes, I was worried that people hear it and they hear PlayStation and that's just those gamers. That's certainly not the case. What do we know about the possibility and how many possible credit card numbers were actually stolen?
ARMSTRONG: So Sony has been on record saying -- I give them credit for kind of at least coming forward and saying we did get breached and don't know if credit card data was stolen, but we want you to be aware of it so you can take precaution of that.
HOLMES: Yes, but a lot of people said they were late.
ARMSTRONG: Well, they have said that they were late in terms of making that known. I also think, look, when you are doing forensics in terms of what did get hacked and what was accessed, sometimes you need a little bit of time.
I can't say that they take longer than they should have. It appears to be that way in public opinion. Certainly suggest so when you look at the timeline of events. I will tell you this. They did say that that credit card data was encrypted. That does not mean it cannot be hacked. Online chatter right now, can I not verify this, button line chatter in hacker forums says that about 2.1 million credit cards were obtained. But again, I have not - there's no evidence out there that suggested this. That's real information.
HOLMES: Mario, who did this? I mean, how -- how savvy, how tech savvy would somebody have to be to pull off something of this magnitude?
ARMSTRONG: Well, you know, it all depends how weak the infrastructure of the network. I have to believe that Sony and any other company that has security information would put several layers of security in place.
But it seems like it was done through the PlayStation 3. I cannot verify that yet, but it seems that hackers and other researchers are suggesting that the actual PlayStation console was maybe the weakest link in the security and that is how they got access in.
HOLMES: OK, when is this network going to be back up? Do we have any idea yet? What is Sony telling us?
ARMSTRONG: We don't have any yet. What we did hear lately though is that Sony chairman is actually going to speak formally to Tokyo journalists tomorrow. This will be the first appearance by the Sony chairman to talk about exactly what's happening, give us more details as to the state of when we can expect things to come back up.
Look, the U.S., government, Taipei, the city of Taipei, and Taiwan, they are all sending letters to Sony and have said, look, we want answers by May 6. Tell us something and tell us how this happened and also how are you going to plan to compensate users that have been affected.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Let's pay attention folks, a lot of you could be affected, 77 million folks in all, but now it's time --
WHITFIELD: That's a huge number.
HOLMES: That's a lot of folks. One of the biggest security breaches ever.
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.
HOLMES: So we still don't have a lot of answers to it.
WHITEFIELD: That's incredible.
WHITFIELD: And also incredible and very huge, we're talking about that tornadic activity that took place --
HOLMES: Such a mess. WHITFIELD: -- sweeping through Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama. We're going to begin our hour with a look at that and the picking up after that devastating storm.
HOLMES: Starting already, yes.
WHITEFIELD: Yes.
Have a great day, T.J.
HOLMES: Thank you, Fredricka. You, too.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much.
