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CNN Saturday Morning News

Deadly Tornadoes Hit Missouri & Arkansas; Rising Cost of Gas; Financial Shape Up in the New Year; New Year's Day College Bowl Preview

Aired January 01, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Happy New Year, everybody. It's January 1, 2011.

Millions of people celebrate the New Year with parties, fireworks, the Times Square ball drop, and all kinds of other objects dropping from the sky. A cross country New Year's Eve round up is just ahead.

But it's a sad story this morning in the middle of the country. Deadly tornadoes ripped through several states. Homes are demolished. Residents in shock. We'll have a live report from one of the hardest hit communities.

From CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Joe Johns.

More now on that holiday tragedy. Six people died in a severe weather outbreak that raked across much of the Midwest yesterday. In Missouri, three people were killed as 160-mile-an-hour winds blew through Dent and Phelps County. The National Weather Service now confirming it was a powerful tornado.

Meteorologist Jennifer Delgado from CNN International is live in Sunset Hills, Missouri this morning. Good morning, Jennifer.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Joe.

You're right. I'm in Sunset Hills. And it's dark out right now. But if you look behind me, you can see some the crews back there. They're still trying to secure the situation.

We're still dealing with a bit of clean-up out here. Let's go over to some new video that we just shot just moments ago. And it's going to show some of the damages left behind to the buildings here.

You can see some of the cinder blocks are torn apart. You could even see some of that steel rebar. All of that damaged by a series of storms that pushed through. They dropped down three reportedly tornadoes, starting off in Rolla, Missouri, passing through Fenton and then eventually in Sunset Hills.

Now, the area of Sunset Hills was really hard hit. Reportedly, there are homes that were flattened. And people are still trying to clean up what's left behind. Now, before the storm system did reach actually Sunset Hills, it actually touched down in Rolla. And the sad situation there, reportedly, there were two people who died there.

They were actually inside a mobile home when the tornado touched down. That was actually an EF-1 in comparison to the EF-3 that touched down in Sunset Hills in the late morning of New Year's Eve.

Now, you have to keep in mind, people were at home. Luckily, there was some damage at nearby schools. But people weren't in schools. We're talking the kids. So, luckily, there were no damages or injuries involved with any young kids in schools.

But I want to point out to you -- there were some minor injuries here. Today, we're waiting for the governor, Jay Nixon. He's going to come out here and survey the damage that has been left behind in Sunset Hills. And as I said, it's an EF-3 now.

But the National Weather Service is going to come back out later here today. There is a possibility it could have actually been an EF- 4. Now, with an EF-3, we're talking about winds peeking up to 165 miles per hour -- Joe.

JOHNS: Jennifer, you got to witness some of the conditions firsthand. Talk a little bit about that, will you?

DELGADO: Yes, absolutely. Yesterday morning, it was New Year's Eve. And so, yesterday, morning, it was about 11:45. I hear the sound outside and I mentioned to you earlier, it sounds like a jet liner, a freight train.

Well, I was actually in Ballwin, and that's where my family lives. And there was actually, reportedly, a tornado came through and my neighborhood and some of the neighborhoods around Ballwin, there were roofs ripped off. Of course, trees -- we are talking trees roughly with roots roughly about 30 feet. We're talking enormous trees.

You could stand in front of it, and you can put two people and stack them up and it still wouldn't actually meet how big that tree was across the region. Chimneys collapsed, lot of damage. It was certainly Sunset Hills is the hardest hit. And it's going to take a little while to clean things up and actually get the homes back together.

Roads are closed down here. We're on Watson Road, and this is -- it's a pretty big city in the suburbs of St. Louis -- Joe.

JOHNS: Still keeping our eye on the situation all across the country -- thanks so much for that, Jennifer Delgado.

DELGADO: Absolutely.

JOHNS: Now to northwest Arkansas where three people died when a tornado struck the small town of Cincinnati near the Oklahoma border. Several people caught under debris. At least a dozen hospitalized. Some homes, buildings and a fire station damaged.

Last hour, I spoke with Michael Spencer of the Arkansas Red Cross who says the pre-dawn twister caught a lot of people off guard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SPENCER, SPOKESMAN, AMERICAN RED CROSS (via telephone): (INAUDIBLE) they've been warning they heard was the sound of the storm itself. And when you hear that, it's too late. So, a lot of people did not -- I heard a lot of people saying, you know, I wish I had weather radio. So, we really encourage people, year round, you know, think about having an emergency weather radio that will sound a siren anytime for you.

JOHNS: And there may be other supplies that you might need in that area. Are you getting the kinds of supplies you need beyond the issue of weather radios or what-have-you?

SPENCER: Yes, we are getting tons of supplies moved in from throughout across the state of Arkansas and (INAUDIBLE) where needed. And the community is pulling together. So, we are making sure that everyone out here has a hot meal and warm place to stay and we'll be setting up today actually, a meeting with the families, one-on-one to talk to them and sit down and help them to begin to plan their steps for recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: We have tornado watches posted for parts of the South this morning.

Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf has the latest information with the storms here at CNN severe weather center. So, we still kind of have a live situation going, huh?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We really do, very unstable conditions in parts of the Southeast. And one of the things that we got to stress to our friends across America is that when you're dealing with these kinds of systems, tornado, the safest place to be is underground. If you have a storm cellar, maybe a basement, it's the perfect situation for you.

Unfortunately, for people in Arkansas and some in Missouri, that wasn't even an option. They didn't have any kind of a real shelter to really warrant protection from these storms. The thing is to recall, too, these storms struck around 6:00 local time in parts of Arkansas. So, their time was -- actually the moment they had to prepare was really minimal. So, they didn't have a lot of time, really, to take cover.

Well, that should not hopefully be the situation in parts of Alabama. We have a tornado watch that remains in effect at this time. Many of these places are places that are not uncommon to have tornadoes in parts of central Alabama. That's certainly the situation over towards Tuscaloosa and back over to Selma. A few locations we are taking a peek at, especially down towards Chilton County, in Jemison, Alabama, not far from Montevallo, even at the road in Calera, we've got just a few cells that are coming through.

But if you look out to the west, one mean-looking line, the storms coming through -- very intense wind, rain and, of course, you have the possibility of these tornadoes. Something to mention, too, in this part of the world, you have a lot of hills, a lot of pine trees which really hard to get that clear field of vision like you would say in parts of Texas and maybe even Oklahoma. So, you're not going to have a great deal of warning. Plus, many of these tornadoes, should they form, might be rain wrapped and almost impossible to see.

Further to the north, the story happens to be something entirely different. It is not storms in terms of tornadoes, but rather, the winds, that cold air that contains the (INAUDIBLE). It's just going to be brutal for people in Grand Forks. Currently, it feels like 2 degrees right now. Sixteen below right in parts of the Montana and into the Dakota border, even that couple with parts of Canada. It feels like two in Rapid City and it's going to remain very chilly, very cold as we have the blizzard warning in effect through midday today.

We have a quick look at your national perspective. In Minneapolis, 10 degrees will be the high. Back in Seattle, 39 the expected high temperature for you; 63 in San Diego; ringing in the New Year in Denver with 26 by the afternoon; 45 in New York with a chance of showers later in the day; San Antonio up by the river walk with 67.

You lucky devils in Miami, take a look at that -- 70 degrees, mostly sunny skies. Ah, that's a way to ring in the New Year.

All right. Guys, back to you. Let's send it back to you, Joe.

JOHNS: That's what I'm talking about.

WOLF: I know, man. Love is beautiful.

JOHNS: But they are not enjoying it. We hear they don't drink much in Miami. At least according to the study --

WOLF: Mind numbing. Go figure.

JOHNS: Yes. Why drink if you got the sun.

WOLF: There you go.

JOHNS: All right. More people are choosing to travel by road this holiday season, which means shelling out big bucks for gas. And the prices are going up.

CNN's Samantha Hayes is standing by live at the I-95, just north of Baltimore.

And it could get really expensive for drivers, couldn't it, Samantha? I have been seeing these prices ticking up and up.

SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Joe. You know, in certain parts of the country, in some states, the price of gas still remains relatively low, generally speaking. But, you know, in a lot of parts of the country, this is what we're dealing with here north of Baltimore, over $3 a gallon.

And you've probably heard some analysts expect it to go to $4 or maybe even $5 by the spring. So, we see a lot of people traveling by car over the holidays this past year, maybe people will change their plans when it comes to Memorial Day and other three-day weekends coming up this year if the price of gas continues to go up.

But this wraps up the holiday season of traveling, Joe. And the Auto Club, AAA estimated earlier in December that more people would be traveling, that it would be up about 3 percent overall, about 92 million Americans would be traveling at least 50 miles or more, which I think most of us travel at least 50 miles or more, even if we stay locally in our areas, to see friends and family over the holidays.

But it's up for air travel, too, about 3 percent. Nevertheless, most people get in their car to go to where they are going over Christmas and over the New Year's weekend. And that's what we're seeing this weekend. All though, Joe, you know, all those poor folks who got stuck in airports over the Christmas holiday, you know, may reconsider their air travel plans perhaps for New Years.

But, nevertheless, most people getting in their cars to go to where they're going and we're starting to see traffic pick up here along the I-95 corridor. Maybe some folks coming back from Times Square.

JOHNS: Sure. It's really funny. I had to travel during that period. And that I-95 corridor from Washington up to New York and on to Boston, it was just crazy because you couldn't get to New York City in a plane. You took a train. The traffic was all, you know, jammed up. A really tough time there for people trying to travel during the holidays.

Thanks so much for that and we'll be checking back in with you.

HAYES: Yes.

JOHNS: All right.

HAYES: OK. Sounds good, Joe.

JOHNS: A million people watched live and millions more around the world on TV as New York City welcomed in 2011. This is perhaps the best known New Year's Eve celebration in the world, along with the huge crystal ball, 12 feet in diameter, more than a ton of confetti rained down on the crowd.

That ton of confetti is only the start for the clean-up crews. Partiers left tons more trash behind. And because police removed most of the trash containers as part of their security plan, there was no place to get rid of it but in the street.

Nashville dropped a 10-foot Gibson guitar. Look at that. But then what else would you drop there in the capital of country music? That tradition is only 2 years old, but it looks as if it could become a fixture in the Music City.

Again, like so many other places when the guitar hit bottom, it triggered cheers and fireworks as people said good-bye to 2010 and hello to a New Year.

In Seattle, this was the scene there. Washington state, the stroke of midnight, fireworks blasting off on top of the city's famous space needle. It was a massive show that lasted eight minutes long. Tens of thousands of people gathered around the needle to take it all in. And hundreds of thousands caught the show from surrounding neighborhoods.

Tornadoes tore through the middle of the country yesterday. And our iReporters covered it from their angle. The best of their work coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: More pictures are coming in from the deadly tornados that moved through the Midwest yesterday. Our iReporters are capturing the damage. Josh Levs is here with that. Josh, what are we seeing?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what? It's amazing. I mean, our iReporters jumped right on this. And I'm going to emphasize at the top. People stay safe. Obviously, they don't go out into the middle of the storm, but right afterwards when the damage is out there. We start getting these images.

Let's go to the first ones right here. Photos coming to us from Sunset Hills in Missouri. It's just southwest to St. Louis. It's up in the northeast corner near Illinois of the state -- lots of damage there.

Look, there are cars flung around, roof damage where you could see all sorts of homes destroyed. This is from our iReporter there who was able to get -- May Frederick (ph) was able o get so many pictures just block from her home. And meanwhile, her home is completely fine. She says she saw roof trusses destroyed and just within a mile radius of her area and was able to see all this around her.

Let's go to some video now that's interesting. This one comes to us from Matthew Hallerman in Missouri. He was in his house when the tornado was coming along. Hit his neighborhood.

And he said it wasn't until he heard police sirens and turned on the TV that he realized what it was, what's actually happening. His house itself was untouched when he went out afterwards, you can see there, some trees down, some of the damage in that area absolutely striking. And, again, this is the kind of thing that we hear when you hear about tornadoes and these massive storms, that they will get some areas incredibly intensely and then right around the corner, you'll have homes that are completely fine. And in a way, that's the experience he had.

Now, here's something I have never seen before. One more iReport I'm going to show you here. Listen to this dog responded to the tornado siren.

(VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: That one comes from Chris Freeland in St. Louis who said that this was taken around 11:30 a.m. local time there. The storm had passed -- listen to that -- the storm passed by 12:30 p.m. Fortunately, he did not receive any damage right there at that home. But he did see some damage in other areas nearby. He said his neighborhood seemed to have been spared.

Listen to that.

(VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: That's amazing. It's amazing.

Before we go, let's do this, can we kind of push in on the screen here, I want to show everyone that there's more pictures that we have up for you at CNN.com. And some of these photos are just absolutely striking. You know, having covered so many of these storms, I'm used to seeing these kinds of images. But every time, it is a reminder of just how incredibly powerful these storms can strike when they are strike.

So, keep those photos, stories, videos coming to us at iReport.com.

And, Joe, I'll tell you, that dog, that's a first for me.

JOHNS: Yes. You know, I've actually heard dogs howl like that when those sirens go off. And I've often wondered whether it either hurt their ears --

LEVS: Right.

JOHNS: -- or if they were sort of must mimicking the noise.

LEVS: Yes. I mean, it could be either one or they're just responding to what they're sensing in the weather as well.

JOHNS: Yes.

LEVS: It's all of the above. And it's interesting. First, you got the sirens and you got the dogs warning.

JOHNS: Yes, and that's true. You really do hear reports of animals, particularly dogs, sort of being aware that something is happening in the weather before everybody else is.

LEVS: Harbingers, yes. I heard about that, yes.

JOHNS: You bet. Thanks so much for that really interesting stuff, Josh Levs.

LEVS: Yes, you got it.

JOHNS: Not every New Year's resolution has to be about padlocking the refrigerator or hightailing to the gym. Ahead, tips for shaping up and your spending habits in 2011.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: A New Year's disaster in the nation's midsection. Tornadoes ripped through Arkansas and Missouri yesterday, killing six people. Several others suffered serious injuries. Dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed.

The governor of Missouri has declared a state of emergency and is expected to tour hard-hit areas today. The twisters were part of a fierce storm system that also hit Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Illinois.

Another frightening New Year's scenario at a prison in southern England. Around midnight, about 40 inmates went on a rampage, smashing windows, setting fires. The situation became so dangerous, the prison staff had to retreat. Special teams of prison officers were called in to get things under control. No one was injured.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is spending New Year's Day in Afghanistan. She's scheduled to meet with U.S. and Afghan officials. Napolitano spent New Year's Eve with American troops and visited a key point along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan to review security operations. Her week-long trip overseas includes stops in Qatar, Israel and Belgium.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Well, it's the New Year and time for the New Year's resolutions. So, in addition to any weight loss goals you may have, this is the perfect opportunity to try to get in a little better financial shape.

Joining us for some help with that, certified financial planner, Karen Lee. She's the author of "It's Just Money, So Why Does It Cause So Many Problems?"

And I guess, everybody sets some financial goals at the beginning --

KAREN LEE, FINANCIAL PLANNER: A lot of people try to.

JOHNS: Why is it that we don't actually achieve them by the end of the year? What happens to us?

LEE: Well, I think it is similar to weight loss goals. I think we tend to set goal that are unachievable in the first place. And I don't think they -- we make a game plan. And you got to have a game plan. How are you going to pull it off?

JOHNS: Right. OK. First, the issue of unachievable, unattainable goals. What is a realistic goal?

LEE: Well, everybody's situation is different, that's actually point number two, which we'll get to. Before we go there, the first thing I like to ask people is: could you ask yourself how and why you get in this situation in the first place?

JOHNS: Right.

LEE: Similar to if you were trying to lose weight, why do you overeat? Because you're going to have to change some survivors. So, that's the first thing: ask yourself how and why.

The second one is: set an achievable goal.

JOHNS: Got it.

LEE: So, did you -- do you want to get out of debt? Do you have $20,000 of credit card debt? What's the realistic number you can do every month?

JOHNS: All right. Now, any suggestions on how to deal with financial setbacks? Because sometimes you're going to set your goals.

LEE: Yes.

JOHNS: And you're not going to achieve them and then you're going to be depressed.

LEE: Well, if you think about -- my fourth point is to enlist the help of someone. So, I think if you got a -- it could be a financial adviser, could just be a trusted friend. But we'd like to see you have some accountability.

And if every month, you could sort of go over how you're doing, then when you have a setback, again, like a diet, you have one day where you just you blow it at the buffet, the next day, wake up and get back on the horse. So, check in with that person and don't give up.

JOHNS: OK. Now, the other thing that I've heard a lot of people say is when you're a couple --

LEE: Yes?

JOHNS: -- and you are working on your financial situation, a lot of time, there's a person who takes the lead and there's a person that follows.

LEE: Absolutely. Right.

JOHNS: But the mistake couples make is that only one person has all the financial information.

LEE: Right, and spending is typically a group effort.

JOHNS: Right.

LEE: So, everybody needs to be involved. I'd to recommend maybe a monthly sit-down, even with the person who's in charge, just explaining this is how we're doing, this is what we are trying to accomplish and get that other person engaged in the process.

JOHNS: And that -- what if that other person doesn't want to be engaged? It's tough.

LEE: That's part of the problem. And I think that's where you have to ask them, you know, it's hard to share the burden of the finances all on your own. So, I could use just an ear, just an ear to listen to.

JOHNS: Right. For sure.

LEE: Yes.

JOHNS: Well, these are all great financial tips. A lot of people don't always think of that stuff.

LEE: No, they don't.

JOHNS: And just thank for coming in here and sharing with us, Karen.

LEE: No problem. I got three quick resolutions --

JOHNS: Go ahead.

LEE: -- that everybody should do.

The first is that if you got a 401(k) or simply IRA at work, please contribute at a minimum, up to the employer match. It's free money.

Second thing is if you're already contributing, kind of boost up 1 percent, even 2 percent more a year. It's going to make a huge difference over the long term.

And the third thing for those who are blessed enough, hit that government maximum. They let you put $16,500 away every year free of tax. And if you're 50, anytime during the year, $22,000.

JOHNS: Thanks for that.

LEE: Good.

JOHNS: You bet.

Well, we'll be right back. It's a wonderful day of the year for college football fans. We're talking about all the big games. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: New Year's Day equals college football and a lot of schools are duking it out at their various college bowls.

Ray is here from CNN Sports joining me now.

Let's start with the granddaddy of them all.

RAY D'ALESSIO, CNN SPORTS: The Rose Bowl.

JOHNS: Yes. We're very pump about this. TCU and Wisconsin -- what are you thinking?

D'ALESSIO: Very interesting match-up. And TCU, Joe, is a prime example of why I'm such a huge advocate for a playoff in major college football. I mean, here's a team who has not lost a regular season game in two years. They won 25 straight regular season games -- longest winning streak in the country. Yet, in each of the past two season, they have been shut out of the BCS National Championship.

JOHNS: Well, and it's ridiculous.

D'ALESSIO: And it's ridiculous. They're good. They are exciting. They scared teams. I'm sure Wisconsin is on their --

JOHNS: Right.

D'ALESSIO: They're scared.

JOHNS: I mean, if they beat Wisconsin, that's saying something.

D'ALESSIO: And the other thing, Joe, they're really considered, in the state of Texas, they're considered the red-headed stepchild because you got teams like --

JOHNS: Right.

D'ALESSIO: -- Texas Tech, even nearby Oklahoma, they're not on national TV every weekend. Some might call them the underdogs, but they're not the underdogs for this game. They're actually favored a little bit.

JOHNS: Right.

D'ALESSIO: The Vegas odds, but we wouldn't talk about Vegas odds, though. But again, they are the prime reason why we need a playoff in major college football.

JOHNS: And we got the Outback Bowl.

D'ALESSIO: We go the Outback Bowl. The big story there, the two coaches, Joe Paterno, Urban Meyer --Joe Paterno 84 years old.

JOHNS: Still not retiring? D'ALESSIO: There's been reports this year that he may retire and step down after the season. Some people say he's got health concerns. They might force him out.

However, Paterno said yesterday, I'm not going anywhere. Today, his 37th bowl game. He's been with the Nittany Lions head coach since 1966. And then Urban Meyer on the right of Florida, of course, he's already announced that he is retiring.

JOHNS: But hasn't he announced he's retiring?

D'ALESSIO: He did. Yes, he did last year. He changed his mind because of health reform. But this year, he says, hey, I want to spend more time with my family. I want to pursue other interests between the two. They've got four national championships. This is going to be a good game, too.

JOHNS: Thanks. I'm looking forward to it.

D'ALESSIO: Yes. Don't call me during the games. I won't call you.

JOHNS: No way. You got it.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNS: Great.

More top stories at the top of the hour when CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues. But, first, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." begins now.