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Latinos in the Military; Going Gluten Free; Project Preserve and Honor; Getting Away From It All; Joplin Death Toll Reaches 139; Obama Touts Polish Democracy
Aired May 28, 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: All right. Topping our news right now. Joplin, Missouri, and picking up the pieces and now identifying the bodies while residents clean up after last week's deadly tornado. Today Missouri authorities notify the families of 17 newly identified victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREA SPILLARS, MISSOURI DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: I have personally met with many families over the course of the last two days. I have heard many, many stories about family members seeing their loved ones on the street and I know that they are deceased and they know that they are at the temporary morgue. So we are in the process of identifying those people as quickly as possible so they know that they're not unaccounted for. They know where they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The number of dead reached 139 today. 105 people remain missing. President Obama is set to visit Joplin tomorrow for a memorial service.
The president of Poland hosting the president of the United States today in Warsaw. President Obama said countries in turmoil today can learn from Poland's example.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We discussed the issue of how jointly we can promote democracy. The session that I had this morning with democracy promotion experts including many of the founders of solidarity, who recently traveled to Tunisia to share their advice and assistance is just a symbol of why Poland is so important. It has gone through what many countries want to now go through and has done so successfully. And so -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The president is flying back to the United States right now. He spent six days overseas on this trip with stops in the Ireland, the U.K., France and Poland.
One of the top NATO officers in Afghanistan was wounded today in an attack being claimed by the Taliban. Major General Marcus Kanite commands all NATO troops in northern Afghanistan. He was reportedly meeting with a regional governor and police commander when a suicide bomber detonated himself nearby. Seven people were killed. The general is among nine others wounded.
An emotional day of testimony in the case of Casey Anthony murder case. Court convened for half a day today in Orlando. Anthony's mother, Cindy, cried throughout her testimony this morning as she talked about the two-year-old granddaughter that her own daughter, Casey Anthony, is accused of killing. At one point Cindy Anthony asked for her granddaughter's picture to be removed from the courtroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY'S MOTHER: Can I ask you for a favor? Can you turn -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only the judge can give favors?
ANTHONY: Sir, can I have her take the screen down. I can't look at my granddaughter without getting upset. I'm trying very hard not to cry. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Caylee Anthony was last seen alive June 16th, 2008, but was not reported missing for a month.
A small bit of relief for the millions of Americans traveling this holiday weekend. Gas prices are actually dropping. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is just under $3.80. That's almost a penny less than yesterday but still almost a dollar more than last year.
Back to Joplin, Missouri, now. A city devastated by a monster tornado just six days ago. Let's bring in Casey Wian. Casey, in all the midst of the devastation there, apparently you found a man who is already rebuilding in a very big way.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Fredricka. You know, with all of this devastation with the death toll that has now reached 139 people with 105 people still missing, it can be very difficult to find signs of hope but we did find one man who started rebuilding his wife's business four days after the tornado struck.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARREN COLLINS, CONTRACTOR: This is america. We're going to rebuild it.
WIAN (voice-over): Four days after a historic tornado demolished much of Joplin, Missouri -
COLLINS: Why don't you cut them and put them underneath.
WIAN: Contractor Daryn Collins started construction on the first new building to emerge from the rubble.
COLLINS: At some point we're going to have to stop scratching our heads and standing staring at the rubble and roll up our sleeves and get things back to some sort of normalcy.
WIAN: He's rebuilding his wife's beauty salon which he built once before 17 years ago. On Tuesday, Collins discussed the idea which shocked city officials. Wednesday, they gave them the OK to start and Thursday, construction began.
COLLINS: We've had just an enormous outpouring of generosity and help to get prepared to get back to this point. The city has been great. The city of Joplin allowed us a permit in record time.
WIAN: There's still no electricity in this part of Joplin. The substation across the street remains in ruins so a generator powers the tools.
COLLINS: Time to roll up our sleeves and do what we can do to move on with our lives.
WIAN: Passersby continually stop to offer encouragement and support.
COLLINS: We just had two police officers stop by and say "Man, we want to shake your hand. The first glimmer of hope that we've really seen towards the town rebuilding."
WIAN: Four nearby homes that Collins built in the past year are in ruins. Already, he has already six projects waiting to be rebuilt.
COLLINS: My heart and prayers go out to everyone that did lose loved ones. I hate for it to come to something like this to bring business to the area. But I believe everyone around here will surprise everyone in the country with the rate that we can come back.
WIAN: After so much tragedy and so much devastation, Collins takes solace in the cross that remains standing in the rubble of St. Mary's Church across the street and in the support he's received from his community.
COLLINS: I thank god to live in such a place.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Collins told us he thought he could have his wife's business ready to reopen in 45 days. He may be exceeding his own expectations. The pictures we just showed you were shot Thursday afternoon. And at that time Mr. Collins told us he thought he would have the roof on the structure tomorrow. Look at some pictures that we just shot this afternoon. And you can see that the roof is already up.
He and his co-workers are really moving quickly, just one example of the spirit of this community. Lots of people we have spoken to here, Fredricka, say they want to rebuild.
WHITFIELD: And Casey, when the president of the United States comes to Joplin tomorrow, is that something he's going to see?
WIAN: Absolutely. You can't miss it. You can see over here some of the folks who are trying to pick through some of the rubble of one of the homes here that was destroyed. There's volunteers, thousands and thousands of volunteers throughout the community of Joplin that have come from states all over the country to lend their hand. There's church groups. There's search and rescue personnel. There's law enforcement officials. There are people who are handing out food and water. Anything that people need. It's really amazing at a time like this to see how people from this community and people from communities all over the country come together to help these folks out. It's very clear that this rebuilding effort is already under way.
WHITFIELD: Casey Wian, thanks so much, in Joplin, Missouri. And here's how you can help the people of Joplin. Just logon to cnn.com/impact and check out our special page. It has all of the tools that you need to help make a difference.
And it was just six days ago when that tornado wiped through Joplin, Missouri, and now eyes are on the map because there's other potential tornadic activity. Bonnie Schneider in the weather center now. We're talking about Minnesota?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Minnesota and many other states as we go through the afternoon and evening. A lot of sporadic severe weather popping up all over the country. But let's go to the first up right now which is central Minnesota. You can see I highlighted the tornado warning. It looks like another one just popped up moments ago. And what you are looking at is Carver County, Scott County (INAUDIBLE) County in central Minnesota there were (INAUDIBLE) weather spotters that reported a tornado near Gaylord, about six miles east of (INAUDIBLE) and the storm moving east at 35 miles per hour. So it's a moderately fast moving storm.
Another one popped up just south of Duluth and that's over to the north, in northern Minnesota. You can see there are severe thunderstorm warnings highlighted in orange boxes there as well. So even if you don't have a tornado, you certainly can see some damaging winds and strong hail as we have been seeing across the country. More of the severe weather working its way through. Chicago getting some strong thunderstorms right now, sweeping across Lake Michigan. So that's going to be a problem.
And look at all these severe thunderstorm warnings that are popping up in southern Illinois on into areas of Indiana as well. I'm now taking you to the east of upstate New York where we have areas we're watching for severe weather and this part of the country northern New York and even further north towards Vermont does not need any more rain. There's some serious flooding happening here. A lot of damaging areas of thunderstorms. And you can see the storms also from Richmond to Raleigh. They are isolated in nature but they are strong.
So if you are at the beach and you see a thunderstorm, maybe you're at the park having a picnic, take cover in a sturdy building. I can't emphasize this enough. If you're under a tree, it's not safe place to be if there's a severe thunderstorm. Have your NOAA weather radio on and be ready to take cover in just a few minutes' notice because this is going to be a volatile weekend in terms of severe weather. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Here we go again. All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie. Appreciate that advice.
All right. And this to you coffee lovers out there. Do you love to pay more? Probably not. Well, what do you think about going gluten free as well? We're going to ask you a little bit more about that when we talk about healthier living.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The president of Yemen and the tribal groups fighting against him, well, they failed to reach a peace agreement today. And to underline that failure with street clashes broke out again in the capital. The government and the opposition has set a deadline of this evening to reach some sort of cease-fire deal. Egypt opened its border with Gaza today for the first time in more than four years. About 600 Palestinians entered Egypt at the Rafa crossing. Egyptian officials say they did it for humanitarian reasons.
And the man who kept that border closed tight is about to be out of millions of dollars. A court ordered former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to pay millions in fines for his role in the revolution that forced him from power this year.
So you probably noticed by now but your coffee is more expensive these days by the bag or by the cup. The price of coffee is rising all over the world and don't expect prices to ease any time soon. Here's CNN's Stephanie Elam.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This might give you a jolt, coffee lovers. The cost of that cup of Joe is about to go up some more.
JOSE SETTE, INTERNATIONAL COFFEE ORGANIZATION: Prices have been rising steadily over the last four or five years but these price rises have accelerated since May of last year.
ELAM: And roasters are passing some of the cost onto you. Last fall Starbucks said it was raising the price of large and labor intensive drinks to offset the cost of coffee beans. While the price of packaged Dunkin Donuts and Folgers coffee products sold at retail outlets rose by 10 percent this month. And with coffee prices hitting a 14-year high and rising more than 100 percent in the last 12 months, more hikes could be on the horizon. So what's behind the boost?
SETTE: Coffee prices are high primarily because we have had three disappointing harvests in Colombia in a row and Colombia is the biggest producer of fine quality coffee.
ELAM: But while prices are high, this isn't the worse we've seen. SETTE: If we talk about adjusting for inflation then prices are not as high as we have seen in the past but in nominal terms, we are at the highest level since 1977.
ELAM: it's hard to pinpoint when prices will go up at the store but consumers should get ready.
HECTOR GALVAN, SENIOR TRADING ADVISOR, RJO FUTURES: The sticker shock they may think is bad now will be nothing compared to what they'll have in the next six to eight months.
ELAM: So will the price hikes stop folks from hitting up their local barista?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it gets that high, I won't get coffee every day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll stomp my feet and stop buying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at all. Coffee is important.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't.
ELAM: Stephanie Elam, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And sequels to two big movies opening this weekend. The "Hangover Part 2" and "Kung Fu Panda 2." What do you think? Is it going to live up to the originals? We'll ask a film critic right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. There's a little something for everyone at the box office this weekend. Film critic Matt Atchity joins me now from Las Vegas with today's reviews. And Matt, I understand you are in Vegas and you're there for your own bachelor party. So how fitting that we would be reviewing "Hangover 2." I don't see any pulled teeth, any weird sunburns or any tattoos on you. So it must be all clean so far.
MATT ATCHITY, ROTTENTOMATOES.COM: So far, yes. So far. It's been pretty mellow.
WHITFIELD: OK. So "Hangover 1" huge hit. It as just side splitting funny. Let's take a quick peek at part two.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you, guys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. We woke up in some city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been looking for him all morning. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe this is happening again. (INAUDIBLE) little brother is lost. We're not going back without Teddy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I wanted was a bachelor brunch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) We had a sick night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check your pockets. There might be clues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Monastery. I don't remember any of this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is this? A P.F. Chang's?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where the hell are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in Bangkok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on!
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my word. What is going on?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK. This was as crazy as the first one. So, OK, whose bachelor party is it this one? This time?
ATCHITY: Well, it's bachelor party for Ed Helms. He's about to get married. It's not even supposed to be a bachelor party. But this movie, you know, it ends up being pretty much exactly the same movie as the first one. They wake up in a hotel room. They don't know what's happened. Minor differences. Instead of losing the tooth this time Ed Helms has a tattoo. Instead of a tiger now there's a monkey.
WHITFIELD: OK.
ATCHITY: You know, Mr. Chow (ph) shows up. But you know what this movie was funny. I liked it. Some people have had problems with it. They say you know it's too much like the first one.
WHITFIELD: You make me nervous for a second. Yes. I thought you're about to tell me that it wasn't good because there were so many similarities but you were OK with that.
ATCHITY: I was OK with it. You know, the chemistry between Bradley Cooper, and Galifianakis and Ed Helms is so good that it works in this movie. It's very funny. I give it a C. It's not great. But I'm going to give it a solid C. It was a pretty good movie.
WHITFIELD: OK. That's average. C. So then since we're on sequels these days, this weekend "Kung Fu Panda 2." Jack Black, we're talking about Jackie Chan, Angelina Jolie, lots of interesting voices including Dustin Hoffman. So let's take a quick peek at this one too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see that? I was just, like - yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have received a message.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the universe?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From a messenger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Of course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our greatest matters are disappearing. I fear this is the work of Lord Chen who has unleashed a new kind of threat on our world. This could be the end of kung fu.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I just got kung fu.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now you must save it.
WHITFIELD: OK. So are the kids going to dig this or is this more of an adult animated flick, Matt?
ATCHITY: No. I think the kids are absolutely going to dig this as will adults. I really, really liked this movie. It's the continuing adventures of Po as voiced by Jack Black. He is the dragon warrior and now he has got new foes that he must face down. One of them is Lord Chen who has gunpowder. He's got cannons which kung fu doesn't necessarily work against and there's also a plot about Jack Black's character, Po, being adopted but this is a really sweet movie. It's beautiful to look at. I think that kids and adults will like it. The best praise I can give this movie is this is the type of animated movie that the people at Pixar would have been proud to release. I strongly recommend this.
WHITFIELD: Nice. So your grade on this?
ATCHITY: My grade on this is an A. I think it's absolutely a great movie.
WHITFIELD: That's big. That's big. OK. So maybe you don't want to go out to the movies this weekend. You want to stay in for the holiday weekend. There are a few DVDs that you can get your hands on. "Gnomeo and Juliet" and "I am Number Four." So quickly between the two, which one are you going to recommend to me?
ATCHITY: You know, I would go with "Gnomeo and Juliet." It's OK. It's not one of the best Disney movie but it's OK. It's kind of amusing. WHITFIELD: That wasn't a hard sell.
ATCHITY: Well, I'll put it this way.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: You didn't sell me on that.
ATCHITY: Compared to that and "I am Number Four," what you want to do is watch that instead of "I am Number Four." "I am Number Four" was not good.
WHITFIELD: And "I am Number Four" is about an alien teen on the run on earth pursued by another race of aliens -
ATCHITY: Yes.
WHITFIELD: - determined to kill him. You know.
ATCHITY: Yes. It's kind of a teen story. Very much trying to get into the "Twilight" area. It's not good. I would avoid that one.
WHITFIELD: OK. I'll go with happy stuff kind, "Gnomeo and Juliet." It better be happy with "Gnomeo and Juliet." "Gnomeo and Juliet," right?
ATCHITY: Right.
WHITFIELD: Maybe not the same ending though.
ATCHITY: It doesn't have - not to give away the ending but it's not the abject tragedy that the Shakespeare play is.
WHITFIELD: All right. Just checking. All right. Matt Atchity, thanks so much. Always good to see you. Have a great weekend. And you know, be careful there in Vegas.
ATCHITY: OK.
WHITFIELD: That whole saying what you know happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Don't buy it. It's going to get out. So watch it.
ATCHITY: You know, I was going to mention my brother's dancing but I probably shouldn't.
WHITFIELD: Maybe not. All the best. Good luck on that. Good to see you.
All right. So from movie tips to travel tips now. CNN's reporters, anchors and producers always have a bag packed and they have the inside scoop as well on some of best restaurants, hotels and travel spots around the globe which you didn't know. Well, this week, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers takes us inside his favorite science museum.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST (on camera): I'm Chad Myers. I have a six year old. And he's little. Little people like big things. I come here to the science museum in Georgia, not that far from Atlanta to find big things. Big dinosaurs, big trucks, big airplanes and we'll show you what you're going to see.
And by car literally a 45-minute ride from downtown Atlanta will take you millions of years away.
It might even scare you a little bit too. You have no idea what you're going to get around any corner. From the giant American mastodon to the mouth of a shark that ate whales the size of a bus.
And OK some things here are just for fun but think about that shark taking a bite out of this tire. OK. So maybe that truck doesn't get very good gas mileage like maybe one mile per gallon but here it tells us they do make their own power and in fact, of course, it would have to be big.
OK. So I admit not everything has to be big to be cool, like the inside of a cockpit of an airplane or for this, an entire helicopter sitting right here that you can even look at the engine and something that I thought was really big when I was a kid, Sputnik, that satellite, it's actually not much bigger than a beach ball.
Chad Myers, CNN, Cartersville, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Latinos, leadership and war. Hispanic Americans observe Memorial Day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at top stories right now. Ratko Mladic is in shape, good enough shape to travel. That's what a medical team says. The former Bosnian Serb general is set to be extradited to the Netherlands to face the war crimes tribunal. Mladic was arrested Thursday after 16 years of evading authorities on genocide charges. His supporters are planning to stage a protest tomorrow in Belgrade.
The criminal case against Jared Lee Loughner is on hold. A federal judge declares him mentally unfit to stand trial, at least for the time being. Loughner is accused of killing six people and injuring 13 others including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in January. He has been moved to a hospital in Springfield, Missouri.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIL SCOTT-HERON: You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out. You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip out for bid during commercials because the revolution will not be televised.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: That is the late Gil Scott-Heron and the "Revolution will not be televised." Scott-Heron was known to many as the godfather of rap. He died yesterday at the age of 62. The cause of his death has not been released but three years ago Scott-Heron revealed he was HIV positive. His music has been sampled by many including Kanye West and the rapper, Common.
The last of Bernie Madoff's personal belongings will be on the auction block next week in Miami. Madoff's wine selection, diamond jewelry and art work are among the many valuables up for grabs. The money raised will be used to pay off swindled investors. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for running a ponzi scheme.
And New York Harbor is getting patriotic this Memorial Day weekend. It is Fleet Week. New Yorkers are also getting a firsthand look at the equipment used by our service members. Fleet Week runs through June 1st.
Memorial Day weekend is a time to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who continue to put their lives on the line every day. More of America's men and women in uniform are Latino. Adriana Hauser has one man's story of service and sacrifice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADRIANA HAUSER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Memorial Day is not just a day off for this Manny Gonzales. This father of five, a lieutenant with the New York City Police Department, who spent nearly two decades in the U.S. Army, wants his kids to know the meaning of the solemn holiday.
MANNY GONZALEZ, CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER, U.S. ARMY RESERVE: That's the flag that I flew in Iraq when I was there. And I let them know it's not just, you know, a decoration. It's - you know, there's people, men and women who sacrifice their lives to have that flag proudly waving.
HAUSER: In 1997, Gonzalez had gone back to civilian life after serving eight years as an officer. After 9/11, he decided to join up again this time as an enlisted man.
GONZALEZ: I had seen the devastation in Ground Zero personally. My brother is a New York City firefighter. We were out there together in the Bucket Brigade, you know, digging up dirt and trying to get people out. And, you know, after a while you just - you just felt that need to - to serve.
HAUSER: That service took him to Iraq twice. In 2003 and again in 2008. A highlight, a team he led, recovered Iraqi treasures looted from museums during the fall of Baghdad. Among the recoveries was the Warka Mask, and artifact that dates back to 3100 B.C.
GONZALEZ: It was a very happy time. I know the children really appreciated it because they would come on a regular basis to those museums. It's like you're giving back - the history back to the Iraqis. HAUSER: Born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican parents, Gonzalez, now a Chief Warrant Officer, is among a growing number of Latinos serving in the military. He says his background helped him relate to the Iraqi people.
GONZALEZ: For the most part, Latinos come from a lower economic standard and we identified with that - that type of living and living in - in kind of impoverished areas.
HAUSER: The Department of Defense says Hispanics made up nearly 12 percent of the Armed Forces in 2009. Gonzalez says he sees more Latinos with stars and bars on their shoulders than he did during his first enlistment.
GONZALEZ: Now, the Latinos are now the captains, the colonels and even quite a bit of generals. I get actually proud when I see a Latino in those leadership positions and you know that that commander could identify with how hard it is for you to just be in the military.
HAUSER: Proud of his heritage and of the service he's given his country, especially on Memorial Day.
Adriana Hauser, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
With Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer travel season and that usually doesn't mean packing the skis. But in Aspen, Colorado, it is still winter. Take a look. Oh, my gosh. Spring skiing like you've never seen it before. So much snow there in Aspen that the ski resort said we're reopening this weekend. So, pretty exciting in many parts of the West. I don't know. Who's unhappy about that if you're a skier, Bonnie?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, people that have to get there, because unfortunately -
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes.
SCHNEIDER: -- there are some road closures. So much snow.
WHITFIELD: That's right.
SCHNEIDER: It's been a wild winter. We've seen a lot of snow, a lot of blizzards and if that's not enough, temperatures have been below normal. So with temperatures as cold as they've been, that's why we're seeing unfortunately a lot of the snow sticking and we're going to continue to see that as we go through the next 24 to 48 hours.
And speaking of what's ahead, look at this. Let's zoom in right here and you'll see that we have definitely some snow that's building up across much of the mountain west, a lot of it. It's something to keep close track on as we go through much of the daytime hours.
But we're also tracking some extremely severe weather. A tornado warning has popped up once again into Central Minnesota. Now, this area here is something we're watching because we are going to be seeing more cells popping up and a lot of these are very intense. So be careful out there, because we've seen another tornado warning that popped up in Northern Minnesota. We had some spotters say they've seen some funnel clouds, but nothing confirmed on the ground.
Some strong thunderstorms rolling through the Chicago land area. A lot of that heading into Indiana and Michigan at this hour. Watch boxes are in place in central areas of Indiana and Illinois and also to the east we're monitoring some severe weather across upstate New York and into Northern Vermont. So we're looking for that as well.
Some of these severe thunderstorm warnings are also popping up into the upstate area and this means that we are going to be seeing winds that will be exceeding areas I would say certainly well above 58 miles per hour. You can see those strong storms working their way across much of the region.
All right. Well, aside the fact that we're also tracking the snowfall through the west, we're also taking a quick look at the Memorial Day beach forecast. So a long area, as you can see, we've got the water temperature that's pretty mild across much of the Gulf Coast, from Galveston to Mobile, down through Destin. But as you head across Florida, the water temperature is still comfortable. The temperature shoots up into the upper 80s. Chance of precipitation on both days and we're actually seeing that today some isolated thunderstorm rolling across Florida.
Let's head up the coast to Georgia. And you'll see temperature is 89 in Savannah. A decent chance of precipitation there as well as in Hilton Head, South Carolina, the water temperature in the 70s.
As we continue our journey for the holiday weekend, it's making me want to travel. Virginia Beach looks good. Water temperatures cold, though. The Jersey Shore, Atlantic City, you're looking at 81 degrees, chance of precipitation. And Cape Cod, Massachusetts, you know, I used to live in Upper New England. It's a slow start to the summer there. So we've got 70 for a high. The water temperatures in the upper 50s. So a little cold out there off the waters of Long Island and Cape Cod but we'll get there. We'll get there. We'll warm up this summer.
WHITFIELD: The water - the water will feel good there by Labor Day.
SCHNEIDER: Just in time, right? Beginning of the summer.
WHITFIELD: But I like that bath water temperature stuff going on in the Gulf Coast.
SCHNEIDER: In Florida, yes.
WHITFIELD: Oh, I like that. All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, you've tried reducing your carbs to lose weight. Well, what about giving up wheat products altogether? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Take a look. Maybe something to consider for your grocery list. Cookie mix, brownies, bread, lasagna noodles, guess what all these things have in common? They're all gluten free.
So in our "Healthy Living" news, we're cooking and looking at the trend of living without wheat. That's what it is to be gluten free. Registered dietician Ann Dunaway Teh joins me right now.
So first, you know, gluten free - to go gluten-free meant that you had some sort of medical condition and that was kind of the prescribed health care for it.
ANN DUNAWAY TEH, REGISTERED DIETICIAN: Absolutely. That is the dietary - or this treatment for gluten intolerance or for Celiac Disease is to live a gluten-free diet.
WHITFIELD: So why does everyone else want to do it now, too?
TEH: Well, there are a variety of reasons. They might have had a friend who has taken gluten out of their diet because they maybe gluten intolerant or has this disease and they feel so much better. So, hey, they want to feel better too. Maybe they have a family member who has had to go gluten free, so they want to do it in support of them. And other people are doing it because they think they might lose weight doing it. And that may or may not be the case.
WHITFIELD: OK. So now we're seeing a lot of products as we have, well, that will say gluten free. So when you buy that product that's gluten free, what can you expect about how it taste and how it digests, all that good stuff?
TEH: Well, you can expect that it's going to taste as much like the regular counterpart as possible. And manufacturers are really doing a great job to try to produce foods that some people don't feel like they're missing out.
However, you do have to watch out for certain of these foods, especially the baked goods. They have usually more fat in them, more sugar and more sodium. And that's because they need the right texture and mouth feel that you get when you take out the flour and other gluten-containing ingredients.
WHITFIELD: So what is the substitute if you're going to take out these wheat-based things, like flour, et cetera, what is in its place?
TEH: A variety of things. Sometimes it's just potato starch, rice flour, it might be tapioca starch. Other times maybe they're using other flour based from whole grains. They're naturally gluten free. So it's a variety of things.
But we do have to watch out for a lot of times they're missing the same nutrients that the gluten containing whole grains do have in them. Sometimes they're added back in but not always. And so you really have to be careful that you are getting fiber and B vitamins in particular that it may or may not be in these foods.
WHITFIELD: So you mentioned a lot of people say they actually feel better by going gluten free. Are they also seeing other benefits to their body? Meaning they're losing weight, you know, as a result or they feel like they're more fit?
TEH: It depends on what they were eating beforehand. If you're eating a lot of highly processed foods beforehand and you take those out, yes, you're going to feel better and you're eating more fruits and vegetables in its place and other whole grains that's gluten free, that you might feel better and you might actually lose some weight.
However, if you're using a lot of the cookies and highly processed gluten free foods, then you might actually gain weight for some other reasons I mentioned earlier, because they do have more calories and fat in them.
WHITFIELD: So might there be some people who need to stay away from this whole gluten-free phenomenon?
TEH: Well, yes. There is - if you don't have a problem tolerating gluten, if you don't have any of the symptoms and your physician has not told you that you need to be on a gluten-free diet, it may or may not be something that you need to do. You can tolerate it just fine and digest gluten just fine. It's not necessarily the bad guy being made out to be unless, of course, you do have a problem with it.
WHITFIELD: And if I want to do this, is it going to cost me more?
TEH: Yes. Gluten-free products tend to cost a significant amount more.
WHITFIELD: Why?
TEH: Well, I think -
WHITFIELD: You are taking something out.
TEH: You're taking something out, but you're using a lot of specialty ingredients to go back into it. So it is more expensive. But as, you know, these products are becoming more mainstream and the gluten-free food segment is growing by leaps and bounce, the prices might start to come down and certainly there's more variety available for those who need to be gluten free, which is great.
WHITFIELD: So do you see this as a trendy kind of thing or is it really here to stay? I mean, especially - of course it is if you have a medical condition. But for everybody else who's kind of on the bandwagon right now, is this kind of a trendy thing or, you know -
TEH: There's certainly a trend to it. I think there are a lot more people. It's in the media. There's a lot more marketing behind it. So there's somewhat of a trend to it.
However, we do know that there's a large percentage of the population that is undiagnosed with Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance. So the best thing you can do is if you're having symptoms is go see your doctor first before you go on a gluten-free diet, because you will not get an accurate diagnosis if you take gluten out of your diet before you can see the doctor.
WHITFIELD: Are you gluten free?
TEH: I'm not. I don't have a problem with it and I eat it in form of whole grains as well as part of a healthy diet.
WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. Thanks so much, Ann Dunaway Teh.
TEH: Welcome.
WHITFIELD: This is an interesting, fascinating stuff.
TEH: Yes.
WHITFIELD: I never quite understood the whole gluten free thing, but now I do.
TEH: Well, thank you. It's very interesting.
WHITFIELD: I get it now.
TEH: All right. Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Appreciate that.
TEH: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right.
Well, she's not running for president so far. We're not talking about Ann here. I'm talking about Sarah Palin kicking off a huge event this weekend. Her holiday plan next.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Time for "CNN Equals Politics" update. We're keeping an eye on all the latest headlines at the CNNPolitics.com desk.
And here's what's crossing right now. Sarah Palin is launching a multi-city bus tour. This weekend, she is in Washington. From there, she'll work her way north to New Hampshire. The tour is creating plenty of buzz about Palin's possible presidential aspirations.
Republican Mitt Romney is working to gain supporters in two early voting states, Iowa and New Hampshire. In Des Moines, the former Massachusetts governor promised to support ethanol subsidies, a big issue in that corn-producing state. And next week, Romney will be in New Hampshire to officially announce his presidential bid on Thursday.
Texas Governor Rick Perry makes no bones about not liking Washington. But yesterday, Perry told reporters that he's going to think about running for president in 2012. Perry hasn't made anything official. He is just saying that he is thinking about it.
And for latest political news, you know exactly where to go - CNNPolitics.com.
All right. Some of the stories that our affiliates are covering today. Police in St. Louis, Missouri, are investigating what's believed to be a domestic dispute that turned violent. A husband and wife and two of their children were found dead in their home. No signs of forced entry.
And a 21-year-old woman in Brecksville, Ohio is under arrest after allegedly attacking three kids with pepper spray. Police say the attack happened at a children's playground. One of the kids is 4 years old and so far no known motive for the attack.
In Central and Northeastern Vermont, some of the worst flash flooding in decades. Heavy rains from Thursday's storm washed away roads and forced some folks to flee their homes for emergency shelters.
Americans are pausing to honor their war dead this Memorial Day weekend. For one computer wizard, that means putting his skills to use in a very special way. He's creating an online database of the grave stones at Arlington National Cemetery.
Here's Sandra Endo.
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SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One by one, 17-year-old Ricky Gilleland keeps the spirit behind these headstones at Arlington National Cemetery alive online.
ENDO (on camera): You come here thinking, what?
RICKY GILLELAND, FOUNDER, PRESERVEANDHONOR.COM: Well, it's sad, because I come here and I look at the - the birth dates and death dates and I think, you know, these are kids that aren't much older than me.
ENDO (voice-over): The computer whiz started documenting the 858 soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and are buried at Arlington after he heard about the recordkeeping problems at the cemetery. He posted the information and pictures on his website called PreserveandHonor.com. It's received more than a million hits since it launched in October.
ENDO (on camera): What do you hope for when people log on to your website?
GILLELAND: I hope that they can go on and feel a little bit of comfort in knowing that, you know, they're not just a number of casualties or anything like that. They're actual people.
ENDO: An investigation by the Army Inspector General found 211 graves were mislabeled here, and Arlington Cemetery has been under fire for keeping an antiquated record system of the roughly 300,000 men and women laid to rest here.
JENNIFER LYNCH, ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY: We actually are in the process of modernizing our recordkeeping. It will make actually people who are doing sites like Ricky's a lot easier because it's all going to be available on our website.
ENDO (voice-over): For Gilleland, his project took on a deeper meaning as he learned more about one fallen soldier.
GILLELAND: What's special about this headstone in particular is that it's the only one around it that has gold lettering, which - that means that it's a - he was a Medal of Honor winner.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And keep us ever grateful for the life of Ross Andrew McGinnis.
GILLELAND: He was fighting. Someone threw a grenade inside the humvee. He jumped in, put his body over the grenade and absorbed most of the blast, so he saved everyone else.
ENDO: We reached out to the McGinnis family, who had no idea about Gilleland's project and became emotional after seeing the site. In an e-mail, Mr. McGinnis thanked Gilleland for his work, describing it as a way to showcase the sacrifices of our nation's heroes.
But there are still new sacrifices Gilleland will continue to capture.
Sandra Endo, CNN, Arlington National Cemetery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And how much vacation time does your company give you? If it's not much, you should check out CNNMoney's list of companies with the best vacation perks. Google makes the list by offering 15 to 25 vacation days depending on how long employees have worked there. They also get 12 paid holidays and all of the sick time they need.
Software maker Intuit offers flexibility and a healthy amount of time off. Employees get up to five weeks off and they can also save up to two years' worth of vacation days and take it all in one big chunk if they wanted to. And did I mention the 32 hours of paid volunteer time?
Not all of the best perks come from computer companies, however. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has the most altruistic vacation policy. Employees not only get 15 to 20 paid days off, but the company has a vacation time bank. Staffers can deposit unused personal time and sick leave and then make those days available to the employees in need.
So you think these companies are generous? But what if your company didn't even count the number of vacation days that you took. I'll tell you about that deal right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. So before the break, I told you about some companies with great vacation perks. What about the ultimate perk of all? Unlimited vacation time.
About a year ago, the software company HubSpot stopped tracking its employees vacation and sick days completely. Company officials say the change has reduced administrative cost and employees take the time that they need. It's also a great recruiting tool. Other companies with a similar policy of not tracking vacation time include Morningstar, IBM, Best Buy and Netflix.
All right. And this breaking news now we're following for you. We're told a plane in Atlanta landing in Atlanta from Pittsburgh Delta Flight 2284 actually blew a tire during landing at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. Passengers have been evacuated. It does not appear that anyone was injured, but we are checking on the passengers and the status of all the activity there. You see the plane there blowing a tire, Flight 2284 from Pittsburgh to Atlanta. More information as we get it.
Unlimited vacation time is of course the exception to the rule and now we're back to that story again. All right. Well, compared to the rest of the world, U.S. workers not only get fewer days off, they don't take all of the days that they are actually entitled to. In fact, only 38 percent of U.S. workers say they take all of their vacation days. And according to an Expedia.com survey, this goes on and on, doesn't it? The average employed worker in the U.S. got 18 vacation days last year, but used only 14 of them.
And then there's France where workers got 37 days of vacation and used 35 of them. Yes. There's more. Great Britain workers received 28 vacation days and used 25. That's funny stuff.
All right. So, earlier in the NEWSROOM, I told you about the new census bureau data showing that married couples now account for only 48 percent of all U.S. households. I asked for your tweets. Give me an explanation. What's going on? Here are your responses.
MirzaG - I think I got that right this time. She writes that "People focusing more on careers and less on marriage - coming off of the heels of a recession: not surprising at all" to her.
And HaniBABA writes, "Not surprised marriage has been on the decline and the benefits then are no longer the same today!" And there's an exclamation point on that.
And this is from 18GolfHoles, "Marriage gets in the way of my game." No kidding. He says, "When first marriage fails people race into second and divorce rate is even higher."
Thanks so much for your tweets out there on what happened and what's happening to marriage.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Up next, Drew Griffin is in for Don Lemon. More of the NEWSROOM after this.
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