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American Morning

Palin Aide's New Tell-All; Execute Condition Gray at St. John's Medical Center; Tornadoes Hit Oklahoma, Five Dead; Joplin Terrorized Again; John Edwards to Face Criminal Charges; Mubarak's Murder Trial

Aired May 25, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: America's heartland getting battered. Mother's latest target is Oklahoma. Five tornadoes touched down in the state yesterday. Five people are dead and entire neighborhoods are destroyed on this AMERICAN MORNING.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Witnessing the raw, sheer power of Mother Nature all of it caught on tape. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING for this Wednesday, May 25th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. Ali Velshi is in Joplin, Missouri, where last night the tornado sirens were blaring again where you are and in Oklahoma city, in Oklahoma, five more fatalities there. Still searching for a 3-year-old boy who's missing, Ali?

VELSHI: And it's got people wondering, what is going on. It's been weeks that we've been reporting on this very unusual, very violent weather. This was the deadliest tornado on record on Sunday that pulverized this city, Joplin, Missouri. The people of Joplin had to suffer through another night of terror last night. I'll get to that in a moment. But first, as you said, Mother Nature's latest victims Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. The national weather service says at least five tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely killer tornado that's now crossing -- it's going to be crossing I-40 here shortly. If you know anybody that's on I-40, going into or coming out of Oklahoma city, tell them not to -- not get near I-40. It's got about a bunch of vortices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: These are trained professional storm spotters getting that information. He said it was deadly, he was right. Five people killed, dozens more injured. Parts of Canadian County west of Oklahoma City, were flattened. More heartache in the heartland. Two people are dead in Stafford County in Kansas. They were driving when a possible tornado uprooted a tree that slammed into their van.

Emergency officials say two people died in Arkansas last night. Heavy damage to trees and homes reported in denning and Johnson county, that's in the northern part of the state. You know the weather is extreme when the staff at the local storm prediction center is forced to evacuate and that is exactly what happened in Norman, Oklahoma, last night.

A tornado was coming right at them. It missed. But others nearby weren't so lucky. Five people were killed in the state and the national weather service says at least five tornadoes touched down there. Let's bring in Ed Lavandera, live in piedmont, Oklahoma, this morning. Ed, what's the story?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, this is the area where those five deaths you talked about happened last night, and the sheriff in this area says that death toll could continue to go up. There is a three-year-old boy that is still missing. And now that daybreak is upon us here, we understand that search and rescue teams will go out and resume the search for that young boy. That's one of the story lines that people in this community will be following closely.

Watch the destruction here that happened late yesterday afternoon. This home was a two-story home. This tornado that ripped through here in piedmont, Oklahoma, which is just northwest of Oklahoma city, just ripped off the second story of this home, has blown debris down the street from where we are.

As you look here, it's a rather rural area, a small area of about 4,000 people, and we drove in this morning from this direction and we've seen a great deal of destruction, power lines down, and a number of homes that have been destroyed and beaten down by this tornado.

But this is one of the first areas that was hit by this wave of tornados that cut across Oklahoma late yesterday afternoon and it was cause for a long, treacherous, and sleepless night for thousands of people in Oklahoma who have been battling these tornadoes and the recovery process from what these storms cut through this state yesterday and all of the despair it has caused here in the last 24 hours. Ali?

VELSHI: Ed, that same system that spawned those tornadoes moved northeast last night and got us again in Joplin. Sirens, tornado warnings went out, we were right here in this spot when that started. So we decided we would get out of here and go to where we had seen -- we had last seen a gathering of people which was right off of I-44, a waffle house. As soon as we got there, there were no people. They had all of a sudden been pushed by the workers into the back of the restaurant. Here's what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: The last place we saw where there was a gathering of people was this waffle house right here near Interstate 44. This is what they call sort of the hotel district in Joplin, a lot of new hotels and restaurants around here. We figured let's get a lay of the land and find out what's going on here.

This thing was absolutely full about ten minutes ago. When we got here it was all emptied out. People are starting to take shelter. Some went in the back and you can see some people are trying to make decisions as to where they should go. A lot of people have applications and are getting messages as to where the storm is. But there is heavy electrical storms. Not much in the way of rain right now but the storm is headed in this direction. After what has happened here on Sunday night, I guess some people just don't want to take chances. Everybody is looking for shelter right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Moments after that the city became deserted as people went for shelter a quarter mile from where I was, Casey Wian was at the hotel he was based at. Casey is with us this morning. The last thing these already traumatized residents of Joplin need was another tornado scare and that scare became very real late last night.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Ali. Folks were on edge all day long because we knew the tornadoes were approaching the area. At 9:30 local time there was a knock on my hotel room, hotel staff alerting people that tornado warning sirens were going off and advising us to get into the tornado shelter. The tornado shelter at this particular hotel is actually the first floor hallway.

So I headed down there. I was on the third floor headed down to the first floor and I think we can show you some pictures my colleague photographer shot. People that were down there included family member, dogs, people who had been displaced from this tornado who had lost their home, people on ill-timed vacations.

A lot of insurance personnel were here to process the incredible number of claims sure to emerge after this big tornado. We sat in that hallway and in the lobby of the hotel about 60 people, watching the lightning flash, every couple minutes outside, and the wind and the rain coming in. One of the things it brought home was the fact that first of all, I never heard a tornado warning siren until I was down in the lobby of the hotel and you hear people say they experienced the same thing before the big tornado, they didn't hear the warning sirens.

The other thing you also understand is that people have tornado warning fatigue. You go through these things and nothing emerges of significance and you can see why people can have a tendency to maybe ignore these things. But clearly what you see behind me and the result of this tornado is a lesson that those warnings should not be ignored, Ali.

VELSHI: Thanks very much. I'll check in with you later.

My next guest did not have to wait to be rescued from the rubble of her home. Come in, Ella. Ella Smith and her husband were dug out of their home right after it collapsed on top of them on Sunday night. Ella, you live just a few blocks from here. It took you a long time to get here because of all the destruction in between. Tell us what happened on Sunday when you first heard sirens and then what happened?

ELLA SMITH, JOPLIN TORNADO SURVIVOR: Yes. We heard the tornado siren. It went off for a little while. Then we ran down to the basement and we waited there for a while. And then all of a sudden the winds started and my husband got up and went to the basement door and looked out at the sky and he said, oh, honey, he said that sky looks terrible.

And so he come back in and we put a big old brick in front of the basement door to hold it shut. And the next minute, the wind really started up and it just blew the door open and Jim and I, we were sitting in lawn chairs and all of a sudden I says to Jim, I said that wind is getting really strong.

So then I went and hid behind the furnace, between the furnace in the basement and the hot water tank. And I had my two dogs with me on chains and we crouched down there. And then all of a sudden it was really thundering and thundering really rolling thunder.

And then just all of a sudden, the winds started roaring and it just got really, really bad and it started -- it sounded like a freight train was coming through, and it was coming through both sides of the house.

And then all of a sudden I just got all this -- I put my head down and I got all this dirt and everything else in front of my face and everything and I couldn't see anything. And then a beam fell on the top of my head and then it went on to my shoulders and then hit my little Maltese on the floor. And I thought my Maltese was gone because I reached down there and it wouldn't move and stuff. And then I kept trying and then finally it came to, the dog came to, and stuff.

And then after it was all over, we stayed down there for a while and then all of a sudden we heard somebody say, "Is there anybody down there?" And we -- I kept saying, we're in the basement, we're in the basement. It took them a while to hear us, you know.

VELSHI: What's the condition of your house now?

SMITH: It's flattened. It's gone.

VELSHI: I mean, I'm looking, and it's hard for our viewers to see, everything around us is flattened. I can't imagine there are people underneath that. Your house looked like the same pile of rubble you see over there?

SMITH: Yes. The only way we could get out of the basement, two guys came along and helped us over the foundation and then it was the basement was filling up with water and stuff so they finally got us out and --

VELSHI: Wow. We're hoping that there might be some other people who did what you did and might still be saved, but it is -- you know, when you see this rubble, it's a miracle that you're here and we're glad to have you here, Ella. You're one of the stories of hope in a story of such devastation.

SMITH: Thank you.

VELSHI: Good to have you here. Ella Smith and her husband with us this morning and they are safe.

By the way, the tornado that crushed Joplin on Sunday night is now being called an EF-5, the highest designation, highest rating possible, winds topped 200 miles per hour. That's why you heard that freight train sound that you heard. Rob Marciano is with Christine and Kiran, he can tell us a little more about this. Hey guys.

ROMANS: Thanks, Ali. Rob, there were near misses yesterday as well.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It goes to show you just how lucky we are sometimes and how unlucky this year with Joplin and Tuscaloosa and Birmingham taking the direct hits. Last flight we had several large tornadoes scoot around and dissipate around Oklahoma city and Dallas saw some tornadoes as well.

I want to show you this one graphic that's kind of interesting, out of El Reno to the west of Oklahoma city. This is a graphic of the wind speed and there's time at the bottom. Notice the wind speeds go from about 20 miles per hour to 150-mile-an-hour wind gusts, pressure at about 950 millibars. You think that tornado was passing over that site, you better believe it.

Let's talk about what's going to be happening later today and now. We have some thunderstorm warnings in effect around the St. Louis area, but as of now, no tornado warnings are in effect. I haven't been able to say that in a couple days, it seems.

Tornado watch extended to the east of St. Louis. Notice the pin- wheeling of the storm. It's slowly pushing to the east. This orange or red box there, from Indianapolis to little rock and Memphis, moderate risk of seeing severe weather through tonight. A good chance as the atmosphere gets cooking we start to see more thunderstorms that could produce tornadoes throughout the day today. As this thing pushes to the east we're not done with it yet.

CHETRY: It's unfortunate. I mean we want to hear things are going to at least clear out. You look at the devastation and wonder how long is it going to take these areas to rebuild.

MARCIANO: I want to make one point. The world is not coming to an end here. We've been unlucky. In retrospect you realize how lucky we've been in the past years with the tornadoes as they move through this part of the world. It's unique that we have everything together for tornadoes certainly in April and May. So try to be hopeful.

ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.

CHETRY: Coming up next, Sarah Palin, a former aide coming out with a new tell-all book, speaking secrets, weighing in on her presidential ambitions, and her camp is responding this morning. It's 13 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Sixteen minutes past the hour. We talk a lot about the special relationship between the United States and Britain, sort of together as leaders on the world stage. Well, now that certainly on display after a big toast yesterday by the queen at Buckingham Palace last night. President Obama is now getting back to business this morning. He meets with the prime minister of Britain, David Cameron, and the two leaders are going to be holding a joint press conference. This is coming up in about 20 minutes. We're going to, of course, bring it to you live. Set to start at 7:35 Eastern Time this morning.

Later, the president makes his way to parliament. He's going to address both Houses. Also, a historic event to have a sitting president of the United States address the House and the parliament.

ROMANS: Get him to talk about Libya, Afghanistan, the global economic situation. Of course, he heads on to a G-8 meeting in France after this, so an awful lot on their plate.

Meanwhile, here, a big win for Democrats. Kathleen Hochul won the Upstate New York special election for a congressional seat. She appealed to voters who are upset with the GOP's plan to revamp Medicare. Yesterday's election was to replace former Republican Congressman Chris Lee. You might recall Lee resigned back in February after a shirtless photo he e-mailed to a woman who was not his wife appeared on the Internet.

CHETRY: A former aide to Sarah Palin now speaking about his time working with the former Alaska governor. Frank Bailey has written what some call a tell-all book. In it he says that Palin, quote, "loved to play the victim." He also gave an interview to our Brooke Baldwin where he talked about what it was like when Palin became Senator John McCain's running mate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK BAILEY, FORMER AIDE TO SARAH PALIN: Her style of leadership was absolutely chaotic. Brooke, you've got to understand that, you know, because I vested so much when she got tapped for V.P., I had -- I was absolutely overjoyed on one sense and in another sense, just absolutely terrified. What if this person did actually become vice president and president? She is not a -- she's not an organized leader, I will say, to put it politely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, an adviser to Sarah Palin's political action committee released a statement saying, quote, "Mr. Bailey has an axe to grind and abandoned truth in his book."

ROMANS: All right. Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, the price of your favorite coffee could be going up. Why the best part of waking up is going to cost you a little bit more. That's right after the break.

It's 18 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. "Minding Your Business" now. Concerns about Europe's debt problems and a slowing U.S. economy pushed stocks lower for a third day in a row. The Dow slipped 25 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were also down.

Five oil speculators have been charged with manipulating the price of crude oil back in 2008. According to federal regulators, these speculators made more than $50 million after buying enormous amounts of crude in Oklahoma, creating a perceived shortage there and then betting against it.

And the best part of waking up will cost you more. The maker of Folgers announcing it's raising the price of its coffee products by 11 percent. J.M. Smucker says the price hike is needed to offset higher coffee costs.

And Ford wants to keep you healthy behind the wheel. The automaker says its engineers are working on a seat that can monitor your heart rate. If the seats become available, they could provide an early warning of a heart attack.

AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Execute condition gray. When that announcement was made Sunday night at the St. John's Regional Medical Center, everyone sensed things would never quite be the same in Joplin, Missouri. The hospital is still standing amid all the rubble but barely.

Joining me now is Gary Pulsipher. He's the CEO of St. John's Regional Medical Center. And Dr. Sean Smith, he's an emergency physician at St. John's.

Gentlemen, thank you for being here. As we just saw our audience get the sense of it, as we are standing here, we are facing the medical center.

Gary, what's the state of that building?

GARY PULSIPHER, CEO, ST. JOHN'S REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: The building is severely damaged and it looks like it might be a challenge for us to ever use that building again.

VELSHI: It is probably one of the sturdiest buildings in the area, so if somebody wants to get a sense of how serious this tornado was, that will give you a sense of it.

Sean, tell me what happened on Sunday night?

DR. SEAN SMITH, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, ST. JOHN'S REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: Initially when the storm came through, we had about a 25- minute warning that the storm was expected to produce tornadic winds.

VELSHI: And that's the execute condition gray.

SMITH: That is condition gray. That means high winds, potential for a tornado. At that time, the staff moved all the patients and staff away from the exterior walls to interior walls, away from glassed-in areas and hunkered down in the secured areas to prepare for the worst.

VELSHI: You tried to make your way in here. There was a lot of debris. You did get here. But doctors and staff came in who weren't in the hospital area. Why?

SMITH: Yes. Because any time we have a disaster our staff knows that to come in, to assist, that's what we do. We don't wait to be asked to come in.

I did send out messages from -- text messaging from the cell phone to all my staff, emergency physicians and nurses asking them to come in which they did, and within the first hour to hour and a half, we had the hospital completely evacuated and cleared of all patients and staff members. The patients have been relocated to other facilities and we've already up a mobile hospital and emergency department at Memorial Hall with our emergency department staff and physicians.

VELSHI: Tell me about those, Gary, who weren't so lucky to get out.

PULSIPHER: We actually had five patients, all of them critical patients. We have a large intensive care unit there, 36 beds. A few of them were on ventilators and so it's just tough with such a fragile situation to keep them -- keep them going, keep them alive.

VELSHI: So those who could easily be moved to the interior were able to get there, and I guess there was difficulty with others?

PULSIPHER: There was some difficulty with others. And then just their own personal condition was fragile, anyway.

VELSHI: All right. One of the questions that Senator Claire McCaskill brought up is that, as you decide what you're going to do with this and as you rebuild, this city is missing a major medical facility and there are doctors who are needed. What happens? What's the thinking for doctors and for this facility?

SMITH: This facility, Mercy St. John's, will be here. We're part of the Mercy health system. They are committed. They've already met bit with all of our senior leadership. We will rebuild. We'll be bigger, better than we are now. We will be preparing to build a new facility. In the meantime, we're going to have mobile hospitals put in, basically like MASH units, similar to what is happening in Kansas before when communities have been destroyed. So we will have the capability of taking care of emergency patients, surgical patients. In fact, I'm having equipment set up at Memorial Hall today. We'll actually have full x-ray and CAT scan and MRI capabilities today. We will be functioning as a hospital. Obviously not on a 370-bed capability like we were before, but Mercy and St. John's will be here. We're here to take care of the patients and we will rebuild.

VELSHI: All right. Sean, thank you for that.

And, Gary, tell me about what that process is. One of the things -- you know -- in the next few days, this will start to get cleared up. People will move on with their lives. What decisions now are you making about how to rebuild and go on?

GARY PULSIPHER, CEO, ST. JOHNS'S REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: It's like Sean says, we have an immediate plan, bring this mobile hospital in, 60 beds, Sunday it will be set up.

And then we have some short-term plans and then long term, we're working already with Mercy, have a board meeting tomorrow, for example, to discuss those plans and to further that.

So the work of the next few months and next couple years will be to rebuild. We'll figure out how to keep most of our critical staff involved in other hospitals locally. So it will be quite a process. Totally different than what we usually do, but it will come back together.

VELSHI: But in a big, heavily populated busy place like this, a major health care center is so central to the decision people make to live here and to stay here and to work here.

So the growth and the return of this medical center is going to be important to this community. Gentlemen, thank you for being with us. Sean, thanks for the great work you and your team did and Gary, thank you very much for everything that you guys are doing.

All right. It is time for us to take a quick break. Let me bring you up to speed with the top stories. Actually, let me send it to Christine to do that. Christine --

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Ali. That's right, top stories here. Five people dead in Oklahoma. Five tornadoes touched down in that state yesterday.

Very heavy damage reported west of Oklahoma City in Canadian County. You're seeing pictures of that twister there, flying debris. Just one of the twisters that caused so much devastation there.

CHETRY: I know. Another one of the shots you literally see a pick-up truck just torn apart. I mean, all of this caught on tape. Just amazing pictures of the sheer force of that tornado.

And also another night of terror in Joplin, Missouri where a tornado warning sent everyone scrambling again for cover. It was a near miss just 48 hours after the deadliest tornado on record killed 125 people.

ROMANS: And President Obama is wrapping up his stay in the U.K. He arrived at 10 Downing Street early this morning for talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron. The two are scheduled to hold a news joint conference momentarily.

We're going to go there live when it happens. We're expecting them to talk about Afghanistan, Libya, taking questions from the press.

So this will be two very important world leaders talking about the global financial situation and a lot of other things as well. We'll have that for you live. CHETRY: That's right. I'm sure the Middle East is going to factor in big there as well. This is coming up in just about three minutes. So again, as Christine said, we'll have it live for you.

Also new this morning the case against former North Carolina Senator John Edwards now is moving forward. A federal judge reportedly is allowing prosecutors to indict the two-time presidential candidate and former senator.

Edwards is accused of violating campaign finance laws by illegally using more than $1 million in donations to cover up an extramarital affair in 2008. Edwards can now accept a plea deal or face trial.

ROMANS: Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will stand trial for murder charges. He's accused of ordering his forces to kill protesters during a demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Also, Mubarak and his two sons allegedly used public funds for their own gain. If convicted, Mubarak could face the death penalty. He stepped down as the country's leader after the 18-day uprising in February.

CHETRY: To Florida where murder trial opens with a series of bombshells from the defense. The attorney for Casey Anthony, who was accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, told the jury that the toddler accidentally drowned in the family's swimming pool and that Casey's father helped cover it up.

The defense attorney for Casey also went on to claim that her father had been sexually abusing her since she was a young girl.

Meantime the family of Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was beaten in the Dodgers Stadium parking lot is now suing the team as well as the team's owner, Frank McCourt.

The suit alleging it was a lack of security and inadequate lighting that contributed to that attack. Stow remains hospitalized and a suspect has been arrested.

The U.S. helicopter damaged in the raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound returns home. Pakistan turning over the wreckage. It arrived this weekend. A malfunction during the attack caused the chopper to make a hard landing. U.S. Special Forces then deliberately blew it up to keep sensitive technology out of the wrong hands.

ROMANS: NASA unveiling its new space shuttle. It's a multipurpose crew vehicle based on the Orion capsule. The spacecraft originally designed to take astronauts back to the moon. Now this new spacecraft will be designed by Lockheed Martin.

CHETRY: And right now "Endeavour" astronauts are making the third of four spacewalks, it's their final mission. They're laying power cables and adding a robot arm attachment outside of the International Space Station. "Endeavour" will return to earth next week.

ROMANS: All right, mother nature doing more damage in the heartland of America. Oklahoma getting the worst of it last night. Five tornadoes yesterday, five dead. A 3-year-old boy still missing.

You're looking at powerful pictures here of just one of those twisters. We're going to have a live report on the new spade of tornadoes last flight, that's coming up right after the break.

CHETRY: And also we want to show you live pictures right now are just coming in. You see the motorcade carrying President Obama as he gets set for this joint news conference taking place with British Prime Minister David Cameron. All of this is going to be happening within a moment. We're going to take a quick break and bring you that news conference live. It's 35 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We're awaiting a live press conference between the British Prime Minister David Cameron and the American president, Barack Obama. That should start any moment now. Historic press conference for where it is. It's in Westminster Hall.

CHETRY: Address to parliament.

ROMANS: Later after this press conference. We're expecting that to run maybe even an hour.

CHETRY: Yes. And, you know, they're going to be taking questions, so there are many topics, obviously, a huge issues globally that are going on from the situation in Libya to NATO to Afghanistan to Middle East peace.

Of course the whole G8, all of those types of questions. Brianna Keilar is here with a little bit of a preview for us. She's traveling with the president, with more on what they expect to discuss.

I mean, what is their headline today? I know you guys are going to be asking a myriad of questions as well.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We're going to be asking as many questions as we can, certainly. We'll probably get maybe a few in there.

But the headline here is really for the U.S. and Britain to renew its relationship in a way, and to really stress how important their alliance is. Of course Britain is the closest ally for the U.S. and I think right now, the context in which this is being done, has to do specifically with the Arab spring uprising.

You heard President Obama put forward some proposals last week, talking about ways that the U.S. can help trying to get democracy to take hold in the region. Specifically he talked about Egypt and Tunisia. These are things that he's looking for support from European allies for, and that he's certainly looking for support from Britain for.

You're going to hear them talk a lot about the importance of democratic values and these are topics we're going to hear in this press conference and we'll also hear President Obama talking about this later during really this anchor speech that he's going to be giving before parliament here in a few hours.

But he'll just be talking about at a time of sort of uncertainty and change in the Middle East, that this is really quite the opportunity and that it's really up to the U.S. and the U.K. to take the lead with some European allies and really make sure that democracy takes hold in the region and really do the best they can in moving that forward, guys.

CHETRY: And also, Brianna, we talked about this is history making because the president will be addressing both houses of parliament today. Historic because of the location where that's taking place and it's going to be in Westminster Hall.

This is a place where the queen, where Pope Benedict, Nelson Mandela and others have spoken, as well. What is the significance of the location?

KEILAR: The significance of the location is that a U.S. president has never actually given a speech there. So this is really going to be a first where he is addressing both houses of parliament. We're going to be hearing him talk about how the U.S./U.K. relationship is the corner stone of global security, really touching more on that.

And saying that it's very much up to these two countries to shoulder a lot of the burden in making sure that certainly their own security is safe, but for an even larger -- even larger reason, I guess you could say, for global security.

This -- Britain, of course, is the closest ally of the U.S. we're going to be hearing President Obama talking about Libya, of course. He's going to be talking as well about Afghanistan and the commitment that the U.S. and Britain have had there.

Britain has a large number of troops serving in Afghanistan. Number two only to the U.S. and the prime minister has actually announced a timetable for withdrawing those troops, something that we're awaiting President Obama to do, announcing a timetable for withdraw beginning in July.

But when you're listening to this speech, what you're going to be hearing is a lot of forward thinking. There was an op-ed in "The Times of London" yesterday penned by both Cameron and Obama, and it was talking about how they sort of came of age both of them during the cold war, and that really has sort of informed their perceptions of the world.

You're going to be hearing sort of some likening of what's going on now in the Middle east to this being kind of a change, but it's going to be very much looking forward. Where he's going to be talking ability the future relationship of the U.K. and sort of the turning point, expecting to touch on Osama Bin Laden and how that's a turning point, trying to defeat al Qaeda and really sort of looking towards casting a positive tone and looking towards the future. ROMANS: Brianna, we're going to check back in with you in a minute. You know, the president is going to move on from here to France for a G8 meeting, you know, big economic towers. Tunisia and Egypt invited there. Symbolic of this Arab spring and looking forward as she was pointing out of a new balance of power in the Middle East.

CHETRY: They'll be talking about some anti-terrorism issues, which I think will be interesting. This is the first G8 since the killing of Osama Bin Laden. So they'll have a lot to talk about, nuclear non- proliferation as well.

But meanwhile, we're checking on other huge story today and that is the severe weather that has rocked the country's mid-section. Rob Marciano is here with us now. Hi, Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROMANS: All right. It appears Americans are all work and no play. According to a survey by expedia.com, the average U.S. worker gets 18 vacation days but uses only 14 of them. One reason? Well, an expert says some folks want to eliminate those vacation days so they don't spend money when they're not at work.

CHETRY: Right. Hey, if you're always working you're not spending your money, right? A staycation. You can do that and save money, as well.

ROMANS: That's right.

CHETRY: Chill out.

Well, we're going to be speaking with -- we're going to be continuing to follow the latest of the president. He is, as we said, in London, joint press conference. It's running about 10 minutes late so we're going to check in with that, continue to follow that live. There's a look.

Also ahead, Brian David Mitchell, he's being sentenced today. He's been convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting Elizabeth Smart. She also is speaking out, as well, and we're going to hear from her.

ROMANS: And we'll let you know whether a lawsuit over a very notable famous tattoo will stop the release of a widely anticipated movie "Hangover 2."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Forty-eight minutes past the hour right now. Here's a quick check of your headlines this morning.

Extreme weather in Oklahoma. Five people killed yesterday after five tornadoes touched down in the state. Most of the severe damage was reported in the western suburbs of Oklahoma City.

Another night of terror in Joplin, Missouri, where a tornado warning sent everyone scrambling for shelter. The twister never came. The death toll, though, from Sunday's tornado has now climbed to 125. Residents still saying that there are hundreds unaccounted for.

President Obama wrapping up his state visit to Britain. We are awaiting right now -- and there's a live picture -- of a joint news conference set to begin any moment between the president and Prime Minister David Cameron. They'll address -- also later President Obama will address both houses of Parliament. That speech expected to be the corner stone of his European trip. The president began the day at 10 Downing Street for talks with Prime Minister Cameron.

Series of rocket attacks against Libya's capital. NATO war planes launching 18 strikes in Tripoli yesterday, targeting a compound for pro-Gadhafi volunteer forces. Nineteen are dead and more than 150 were wounded.

Officials say the volcano in Iceland is unlikely to blow up again. But the ash still causing problems across parts of Europe. In Germany, hundreds of flights have been canceled and Poland's airports could be affected later today.

And after 25 years and a ton of influence, Oprah's final show airs today. It was taped yesterday. Fans who were at the show say there were no guests on set, no gifts, it was just Oprah talking and thanking her fans.

Well, you're caught up on the day's news. AMERICAN MORNING is back after a quick break.

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ROMANS: More deadly extreme weather in the heartland. Nine people killed in three states, yesterday. Five of those deaths in Oklahoma. The National Weather Service says five tornadoes touched down. The heaviest damage in the western suburbs of Oklahoma City.

In Joplin, Missouri, as well, last night, even more fright after two days from getting hit by the deadliest twister on record, again, sirens and tornado warnings went off sending everyone scrambling for shelter including our own Ali Velshi who's been there on the ground talking to people who have been going through this devastation. He joins us live.

You know, earlier, Ali, you had spoken to that woman Ella, who basically sought shelter in the basement with her small dog. A lot of people are writing in saying what happens to the people that have lost everything? Who helps them now?

VELSHI: You know, just yesterday, because yesterday was the first day where it wasn't raining for the day time, again the storms rolled in at night, we saw -- just moments after I got off the air with you yesterday morning, all of the sudden, people were everywhere.

They were going through their homes, boxes, plastic bins and they were trying to get, I guess, their valuables, the things that they knew what to look for. But, I can't describe to you. I mean, you've seen the pictures. These houses, I mean, everything around has just sort of collapsed. So, if you think there's something in there, it's almost impossible to go in and get it. Ella was in her basement and the house collapsed on top of her. There was sort of just a little space that her neighbors were able to get her out of it.

And I want to just show you again, I went up in the helicopter, the Army Black Hawk yesterday to get a shot of this from the sky and it's the same sort of idea. Look at those empty spaces. Those are subdivisions, those are places where houses were. Look at the trees gone, the foliage gone. Stumps of trees left.

You know, at the time, I Tweeted out when I was out there that it looked like sawdust from the sky. Those houses looked like they had been put through a shredder. Once in a while a house would be standing but it was just debris everywhere they go.

City officials tell me they are working very hard. Most of the streets are cleared at this point. The debris has been piled up on the side. But these cars have been balled up like you would take a can and crumble them crumple them. It's hard to understand the force that would have done that. They are separating everything out. I am seeing trucks that are picking up steel. There are bulldozers around here.

But, honestly, there aren't enough contractors around to help people out. They are doing it. I will tell you, a very, very resourceful bunch and having seen what happened here, people here are happy if they have got their families. You've heard all those stories.

So, the real resourcefulness and real spirit here in Joplin, and across the heartland, Christine and Kiran.

ROMANS: Ali, those amazing pictures you're showing from the Black Hawk helicopter yesterday. I mean, those -- pictures like that are exactly why they raised the scale to an EF-5, 200-mile-per-hour winds. I mean, they just looked at all of this damage and said, this has to be the most powerful type of tornado that we have seen just looking at the devastation. I mean, so many structures destroyed and just how wide it was, too. Just amazing stuff, those pictures, Ali. Thanks for bringing those to us.

And we'll check back with you again very, very soon, Ali.

CHETRY: We're also -- they're running a little bit late. I guess 20 minutes now. They were supposed to speak. The president and the prime minister of the United Kingdom set to talk to us in a life press conference taking place. There is a picture. We are going to be continuing to follow this. But again, they were supposed to get set to hold this joint press conference --

ROMANS: My sense is we're getting close.

CHETRY: Yes, we are getting close. We saw the motorcade pull up. We have a lot of people seated and now we have that flurry of official activity there. But again, we'll bring that to you as soon as they come out to speak.

ROMANS: Meantime, Elizabeth Smart is expected to speak at her convicted kidnapper's sentencing today. Homeless preacher Brian David Mitchell will soon learn his fate. He's convicted of abducting and sexually assaulting Smart back in 2002. He held her captive for nine months while her family frantically searched for her. Mitchell faces life in prison.

Chicago Bulls' center Joakim Noah paying the price for an anti-gay slur. The league fining Noah $50,000 for using the term to respond to a fan during Sunday's playoff game against the Miami Heat. Noah said he thought the fine was fair but it's half of what Kobe Bryant got for making an anti-gay remark to a referee.

All of this happening as the NBA trying to crack down on this. In fact, this is a PSA they released last week starring Grant Hill from the Suns talking about why you should think before you speak. That's what they're calling this campaign, trying to crack down on anti-gay bullying.

ROMANS: All right. A judge giving Warner Brothers the go-ahead to release the movie, the "Hangover 2." A tattoo artist tried to stop the release because of the Mike Tyson inspired ink actor Ed Helm's face. But, the studio is not in the total clear just yet. The judge did rule the copyright infringement lawsuit can move forward.

CHETRY: All right. Well, let's take a live picture right now. Let's head back to London, where President Barack Obama and Prime Minister of Britain David Cameron are stepping up to the podiums for their joint conference. We're going to take this live.

Let's listen.

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