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CNN Saturday Morning News
Devastation Across the South; Investigating Sony's Massive Security Hack; Is Sleeping on the Job Good?; Riding out the Storm; A Tradition of Hats; NFL Lockout Back On
Aired April 30, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, SATURDAY MORNING: Good morning everybody, from the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING,8:00 here on the East Coast, 7:00 in the Midwest, wherever you may be. Pleasure right here with us.
I'm T.J. Holmes and now that you are awake, I can tell you that you need to take a nap on the job. A new study says that sleeping on the job should get you a raise because it actually improves your performance. Call your boss, give them a head's up, tell them to tune in, you're going to want your boss to see this.
Plus, personal, private information for 70 million people stolen. A massive security breach that Congress now wants answers to.
Also, the NFL this morning once again, closed for business. The player lockout was lifted this week, but last night, a Federal court made a different decision and once again, the doors are closed.
But, right now, we do need to start with that trail of devastation across the south. They are still searching this morning for people buried in the rubble alive or dead. Take a look now at the toll from these storms. We got some updates just overnight and this morning that at least 342 people have been killed across six states.
That makes this outbreak the second deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history. By far, the worst hit state was Alabama. At least 254 people killed there. Still we have hundreds of people unaccounted for.
But part of that could be because people are scattered after the storm, they're in shelters, power is down, people maybe haven't been able to reconnect and communicate. So just how historic are these storms we were talking about? Try this. 211 tornadoes associated with this one outbreak. That number makes this the largest outbreak in U.S. history.
We have heard it all before when it comes to a tornado, you're supposed to get into the basement. If you don't have one, get into an interior room, maybe get into a tub. Try to cover up. Well, some people apparently took that advice during these tornadoes.
Our Reynolds Wolf is on the scene this morning for us in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Reynolds, I know you have this story for us, but it's never a bad time to remind people exactly what are you supposed to do when you hear that there is a tornado warning?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the first thing you're supposed to do obviously is seek shelter as you mentioned. The safest place to be would really be underground. If you have a cellar, if you have a basement that is certainly the spot to be, away from any of the possible debris or the strongest winds of these immense tornadoes. The amazing thing is, though, T.J. As you mentioned, over the last couple days, we've been talking about the death and the destruction, but at the same time, out of all the wreckage we're getting these amazing stories of survival, stories of survival that come from some of the most unlikely spots in this particular situation, from this bathtub.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WOZNIAK, TORNADO SURVIVOR: When I went outside and looked this way, you know, the tornado was just filled the horizon. There was a spot of daylight on either side and just the rest of it was just a wall of tornado. You couldn't see anything. It was literally coming directly at me and that's when, you know, I ran back into the house and attached the dogs to me, grabbed the motorcycle on me and put it on and I got in the tub.
The ground was rumbling and then the house started to shake violently. And I knew at that point I was going to get just directly hit. And, you know, it was a real thing. I couldn't believe it, it's like I am not in a tornado. You know, it just doesn't seem like that should happen, you know?
And -- but, you know, being inside the bathroom, which had no windows, you know, I thought I'm going to get trapped in this little room. And, you know, I didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but I thought, you know, maybe if I open the door, I'll have some kind of an escape hatch. So, when I opened the door, the front of the house flew away and then that Krispy Kreme truck sailed through upside down, right through the living room, and then the roof blew off and I ducked down and pushed the dogs down as best as I could inside the tub.
At that point, you know, the back of the house also blew out and the dogs got sucked out. They were like kite on a string, you know, but they were tethered to me on their leashes and I was able to just hang on to them and push them down, you know? And then the rest of the house just fell on us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: OK. So T.J., Chris came out of this bathtub, he had the motorcycle helmet that he had the wherewithal to put on when he first saw the tornado. He got out and he had his two Jack Russell terriers with him. He said the moment that he got away from this tub and was walking out, there was a loud crash, a boom. That crash and boom came from this truck. This truck actually fell out of the sky.
The tornado had already passed. It crossed McFarland boulevard, was moving farther off towards the east and over the top of the tornado came these trucks. This giant truck just landed with a loud crash, unbelievable.
So he had the one vehicle that he mentioned went through his living room, from the Krispy Kreme doughnuts, this one came after the tornado had passed and obviously it's just perplexing that the guy survived.
How do you really come to terms with a thing like that? It's just amazing. We've had over 200 people in Alabama that have passed away, over 300 around the region and every now and again you're going to find a story of an amazing, compelling story of survival just like Chris Wozniak's and it's really hard it to believe -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds Wolf with one of those good stories. But again, so many people and certainly Alabama hardest hit here. Reynolds, we appreciate you. We'll be continuing to check in with you throughout this morning.
And again, Reynolds giving us the view from Alabama there. But again, there were five other states that were hit hard by these storms.
Take a look at some of these pictures and we also want you to hear from some of these survivors, people who went through this. This is coming to us from northwestern Georgia.
This is near Ringgold. More than a dozen people killed by the storms in Georgia, homes, businesses blown apart by these tornadoes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't compare to nothing I've ever seen in my lifetime. My dad is 41. He said he couldn't compare it to nothing in his lifetime. It was bad. It was terrifying
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At that point you really don't know what to do. Do you run for cover? What do you do? You don't know how far it is, how close it is, because it's all new to us. We don't see stuff like that around here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad was in the house with my son and they were both flown and scattered through this debris and they were found down in the creek.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a miracle. There's no way we should have made it through that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Also, pictures to give you here from Camp Creek, Tennessee. This is east of Knoxville, near the Virginia border. The storm claimed at least 34 lives in Tennessee. The lucky folks, if you can call them the lucky ones who escaped with their lives, now they're left to sift through the rubble of their homes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TREASA FILLERS, HOME DESTROYED BY STORM: Here it came and it just, everything was hitting the building and the building even lifted up and back down. I've got some of our clothes and stuff, but some of them as you can see are back through the trees and I found -- I have a lock box, a fire safe box that I keep their birth certificates and everything in, so I have that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Also, Smithville, Mississippi, this is a Piggly Wiggly (ph), a grocery store, what's left of it. The owner of the store trying to help his neighbors. He's giving away what's left to the community. He spoke to our Martin Savidge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The store has been pulverized.
BRIAN MCGONAGILL, OWNER: Totally devastated. Total loss.
SAVIDGE: What do you think as a businessman?
MCGONAGILL: It's scary, you know, anything to come back to in this town. I'm sure all of the businesses that are, you know, having that same thought too.
SAVIDGE: This stuff here, this is all being given away?
MCGONAGILL: Yes.
SAVIDGE: Why?
MCGONAGILL: That's what you do in a small town community, help people out. These are real good people in this small town and they all want to help each other. I know a lot of people that's passed, so it hurts. But we'll move home. That's what we got to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A lot of these communities that were devastated were those small communities where everybody knows everybody. We will continue to bring you their stories and update you as we continue here we are several days after this outbreak, still starting to get a good handle on just how historic and devastating it, in fact, was.
Of course, yesterday, a lot of people keeping an eye on the royal wedding. Dozens of people were arrested yesterday following that wedding. Sixty seconds I'll have details on the charges.
Plus, a message to business owners. If you see an employee sleeping on the job, reward them. That's because a new study says taking a nap at work can improve a worker's performance. Call your boss, send them an e-mail -- maybe, it's a little early -- no matter what you do, tell them to get up and watch this story. Also, PlayStation's breach of privacy. Personal information exposed for millions of customers, could you be one of the 70 plus million?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're 10 minutes past the hour right now.
Japan has taken a major step forward in the recovery from the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit last month. One of their main bullet train lines is back up and running to some of the hardest hit areas. The tracks and bridges, fixed just in time for the spring holiday there. It cost the company more than a billion dollars in repairs and lost revenue.
Meanwhile, that tsunami and earthquake, we are still seeing pictures. New pictures still coming in to us. Take a look and listen to one of the latest we are seeing.
Now the video you're seeing here is actually in a town, 250 miles north of Tokyo. This is a traditional fishing village that's pretty much gone now. Some of the video you're about to see here in just a moment, you see that, that's an airplane that is floating by in this water. You see cars and all of this debris. This is one of Japan's biggest fishing ports. It was at least before the tsunami. Fishing industry around these parts nearly extinct I should say at this point.
Want to turn now, other international news, in Libya, the port city of Misrata coming under heavy shelling from forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. NATO claims soldiers tried to put mines in the city's harbor. NATO claims the soldiers, again, other countries are also saying, that they used the harbor to get humanitarian aid into the city and to get wounded people out.
This video here reportedly shows the destruction of Misrata. CNN not able to independently confirm its authenticity.
Also today in Libya, Moammar Gadhafi appeared on Libyan TV and he is urging NATO to stop it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): Welcome cease-fire and we agreed on it number of times and we are already at this moment to agree to cease fire from our side again. But cannot be achieved from one side. We challenge you to guarantee that the extremist group who belongs to al Qaeda will commit to this cease fire. Why don't you bombard them like what you're doing to us using your planes?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Gadhafi claims the coalition is killing civilians, scaring kids and destroying infrastructure so it can take over the country's oil. Pope John Paul II set to move one step closer to sainthood. Tomorrow he will be declared and then therefore called the blessed John Paul. It's part of a special ceremony at the Vatican that's expected to draw hundreds of thousands to St. Peter's Square.
Preparation though for this momentous event, the pope's coffin was exhumed from the crypt below St. Peter's Basilica. It will sit inside the basilica in front of the main altar for the actual ceremony. Thousands of pilgrims are expected to file past to pay their respects.
Also back to London now, the after party, must have been a good one following that big wedding. The new duchess of Cambridge was still wearing white as you see her there. The couple expected to leave this weekend for a two-week honeymoon. We do not know however where they are going. London's metropolitan police meanwhile, arrested 55 people during the wedding event. Some charges include disturbing the peace and assault.
An employee sleeping on the job should get a promotion, not punishment. It's a story your boss needs to see in 90 seconds.
But also, this morning, a lot of work out there, a lot of jobs are stressful. A recent study found that 70 percent of people say work is their main cause of stress. With a slow economic recovery, not surprising to a lot of folks.
The people at CareerCast.com put together a list of the most stressful jobs out there, might want to avoid these.
The job that comes in at number five, newscaster. This is why I feel like this?
Number four, photo journalist. A lot of those running around, too. We are a stressed out bunch here at CNN.
The third most stressful job according to CareerCast.com is senior corporate executive. But that is nothing compared to the top two that I'll give you in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Sixteen minutes past the hour now.
You think your job is stressful? Try being a news anchor. Careercast.com put together a list of the most stressful jobs in the U.S. We did not make that up, folks.
Newscaster came in at number five. Photo journalist, got a lot of those running around too there at number four, corporate executive came in as well at number three.
But according to their list, public relations officer or spokesperson, that is number two most stressful job. So Jay Carney at the White House always looks like that. Just kidding, Jay. We love you. Also at number one, though, commercial airline pilot. I would assume that's a bit stressful.
Meanwhile the FAA shuffling some key managers to new positions as it deals with its sleeping problem. At least three air traffic controllers have been fired in the last couple of weeks for snoozing on the job. The FAA is giving controllers an extra hour off between shifts to try to make sure there are no repeats of some of these incidents.
Some people say letting them take short power naps during their shifts would make them more awake and alert when they're on duty. The head of the FAA not so sold on that idea. But, napping during the work day is an idea that is catching on. Sandra Endo woke up long enough to file this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's nap time for Yelena Shmulenson. This sleep spa in mid-town Manhattan is her oasis during a business busy work day.
YELENA SHMULENSON, POWER NAPPER: There's a lot of pressure and it's just a way to unwind a little. We all lead busy lives. It really does the trick.
ENDO: Once a week Shmulenson uses her lunch break to duck away for some shut eye at $17 for 20 minutes. Napping on the job is usually prohibited by most employers, but more and more are slowly embracing the practice to enhance employee performance. Sleep experts say taking naps is a good strategy.
THOMAS BALKIN, NATIONAL SLEEP FOUNDATION: It will increase productivity, problem solving ability and it will have effects for as long as you remain awake. That is, you'll always be that much better for having take than nap.
ENDO: New employee benefit figures from the Society for Human Resource Management shows companies with on-site nap rooms have increased from last year from 5 to 6 percent. Yelo Spa which offers nap rooms is also seeing a growth in business.
NICOLAS RONCO, YELO SPA: It's taking the same amount of time as going to Starbucks, but the effect will be way more positive.
ENDO: So why all the tired workers? Longer work days, perhaps, longer commutes and shorter turnaround times.
BALKIN: If you're really serious about giving your workers enough time to get eight hours of sleep and -- which is about ideal for an adult, then you should give them 12 hours off between shifts. This would give them enough time to commute, to eat, to bathe, to socialize with their friends and family, to unwind, watch TV, relax, read the paper, do all those things that they want to do. If you don't give them enough time to do those things and sleep, it's going to cut into their sleep time. ENDO: For sleep deprived Shmulenson who works two jobs, she says she'll continue to make the investment for a quick nap.
SHMULENSON: At the end of the year when I do my taxes I look at it and I sort of think to myself, I really spent money on napping but at -- on the other hand, it works.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENDO (on-camera): It's probably wishful thinking to having sleeping pods and soothing music here in the break room at CNN. No napping on the job here. I'll stick to having my cup of coffee -- T.J., back to you.
HOLMES: Yes. Wishful thinking my dear, Sandra Endo. Thank you though for that.
A hacker has crippled the Sony PlayStation network. That is now compromising the personal information of millions of subscribers. We are talking more than 70 million folks here. Now even if you're not a gamer, do you have something to worry about? We're getting into that in three minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For college classmates David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi, inspiration came from a simple object.
JEEVAN KALANITHI, SITEO: Dave and I were sitting around in the kitchen of the media lab at MIT where we were both graduate students
DAVID MERRILL, SITEO: And we think what if alphabet blocks had been invented in the 21st century.
CARTER: They gave them a high-tech twist and created Siteos, electronic cubes that interact with one another and make computer games a little more personable.
MERRILL: We used to think of them when we talked about social games, checkers, board games where you sat around the table with other people face to face and played games with pieces on the table. And that's what we think of when we think of how Siteo cubes are social.
KALANITHI: And combine what's great about thinking board games with what computers can do in terms of interactivity.
CARTER: Programs sent to the cubes wirelessly, giving them almost endless gaming abilities.
KALANITHI: We think that we have a vision or idea that is pretty inexhaustible.
MERRILL: We think of play as a pretty broad umbrella and Siteo cubes are a system that we think is going to be useful both for the entertainment side of play and for the learning side of play.
CARTER: For Merrill and Kalanithi, making technology with the future in mind is both a business and personal goal.
MERRILL: I want to design the kind of technology that's going to be in the world my child lives in.
CARTER: Games that are adopting to our new style of play.
Joe Carter, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 24 minutes past the hour now.
A lot of people upset and worried this morning after a major security breach that has forced Sony to shut down its PlayStation network. Now the government has stepped in and is questioning Sony about the security leak. It's one of the largest breaches of confidential user info ever.
Look at that, folks. We talk about names, e-mail addresses, passwords, even credit card information stolen by hackers. As many as 70 million people subscribe to the PlayStation network.
Our digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong here with me this morning.
Mario, good to see you here and help people put this in perspective. Are we just talking about gamers or would they be the only ones that have their information on this network?
MARIO ARMSTRONG, CNN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: No. I'm so glad that you actually realized this and pulled this out. So many people, I think, are thinking it's just a gamer issue man and it's not.
We're talking about people that also use Sony Internet connected televisions. I have one in my house and enjoy it, but right now I can't enjoy the network, meaning I can't get to Netflix, I can't get to Hulu, I can't download movies, TV shows and online music and other entertainment that I'm used to having because that Sony PlayStation network is down.
So it affects more than just gamers.
HOLMES: Yes, I was worried that people hear it and they hear PlayStation and that's just all those gamers and that's certainly not the case. What do we know about the possibility and how many possible credit card numbers were actually stolen?
ARMSTRONG: So, Sony's been on record saying and I do give them credit for kind of at least coming forward and saying look, we did get breached. We don't know if credit card data was stolen but we want you to be aware of it so you can take some precautions. HOLMES: A lot of people said they were late.
ARMSTRONG: They have said that they were late in terms of making that known. But I also think, look, when you're doing forensics in terms of what did get hacked and what was accessed, sometimes you need a little bit of time.
I can't say did they take longer than they should have. It appears to be that way and public opinion certainly suggests so when you look at the timeline of events.
But I will tell you this, they did say that that credit card data was encrypted. That does not mean it cannot be hacked. Online clatter right now, I cannot verify this, but online chatter in hacker forums says that about 2.1 million credit cards were obtained.
Again, I have not -- there's no evidence out there that suggests that this is real information yet.
HOLMES: Mario, who did this? How savvy, how tech savvy, would somebody have to be to pull off something of this magnitude?
ARMSTRONG: You know, it all depends on weak is the infrastructure of the network. Now I have to believe that Sony and any other company that has security information would put several layers of security in place, but it seems like it was done through the PlayStation 3. I cannot verify that yet.
It seems that hackers and other researchers are suggesting that the actual PlayStation console was maybe the weakest link in the security and that's how they got access.
HOLMES: When is this network going to be back up? Do we have any idea yet? What's Sony telling us?
ARMSTRONG: We don't have any idea yet. What we did hear lately though is that Sony Chairman Kaz Hirari is actually going to speak formally to Tokyo journalists tomorrow. This will be the first appearance by the Sony chairman to talk about exactly what's happened and give us more details as to the state of when we can expect things to come back up.
Look, the U.S. government, Taipei, the city of Taipei and Taiwan, they all sent letters to Sony and have said look, we want answers by May 6th. Tell us something and tell us how this happened and how are you going to plan to compensate users that have been affected.
HOLMES: All right. We'll see what happens here. But man, when you hear 70 million folks could be affected by this, that just leaves you scratching your head.
ARMSTRONG: Check your credit card statements folks, cancel that credit card.
HOLMES: Make more complicated we put some of the tips up. We'll try to get those back out. We'll send them out, some of the simple common sense stuff we still don't do sometimes. Mario, good to see you as always. You enjoy the rest of your weekend.
ARMSTRONG: Take care.
HOLMES: We're getting close to the bottom of the hour here. We're hearing more and more of those survivor stories coming to us out of Alabama. The hardest hit state in that outbreak this week, it was now the second worst tornado outbreak since the weather service began keeping records, the second deadliest on record. One man will be joining me to tell me how he made it out alive.
Also, it's a tradition, of hats in England. And yes, we saw that tradition on display at the royal wedding. But the wife of one of the most powerful men in England decided she didn't want to play along and now she is hearing it from the British people.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're at the bottom of the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. And give you a look at some of the stories making headlines.
The Obama administration is set to resume funding embryonic stem cell research. An appellate court decision yesterday lifted an injunction imposed last year by a federal judge.
The NRA is welcoming potential presidential candidate Mike Huckabee as the key note speaker at its convention this weekend. More than 60,000 people expected to turn out for that event in Pittsburgh.
Also in the south, the new death toll from this week's tornado outbreak, now at 342; 254 of them died in Alabama alone. This was the second deadliest single-day tornado outbreak in U.S. history.
Well, it doesn't take long, folks, some say just a matter of seconds, that's how long it takes for a tornado to completely -- to just destroy a house. That was the story for so many people across the south. They lost so much. We have seen the pictures. Now we are hearing the stories.
And Randy Guyton is on line with me now. Now, he made it through the storm in Concord, Alabama, joins me on the phone. Randy, sir, good morning; we appreciate you being here and being willing to share your story. Just how bad off and how bad is the damage to your home? Is there much left?
RANDY GUYTON, TORNADO SURVIVOR (via telephone): No, sir. It's destroyed. It's not just my home alone, it's -- we didn't take the exact a direct hit but I think the outer band winds is just, we were on the -- we were on north side and the west side, it was where all the -- it was the deadly area. My father-in-law is across the street, he had a brick home wiped out. And this horror was -- his pick-up was taken over to the neighbor's yard and destroyed and we were really concerned about him, getting to him. We couldn't actually get to him for several hours because of the search and rescue team efforts trying to clear the debris out. They wouldn't let us move at all.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: And --
GUYTON: But yesterday at 4:30, we went in because the team efforts were trying to locate the injured, you know, and the deceased with dogs.
HOLMES: Yes.
GUYTON: But we didn't have much time to go through there and pick out anything to try to salvage anything or give anybody any kind of idea what all we've lost or had. It's just still just total devastation for us. The trauma of it is unbelievable.
HOLMES: And Randy, we're -- Randy we're looking at your pictures that you sent to us as we're talking to you here. Your home didn't make it through it, but your family did. How were you all able it to do that?
GUYTON: Well, NOAA -- the NOAA alarm weather alert system helped us and it went off and we knew that, they said tornado was dashing for us in the area, take cover, we -- we went downstairs and at that time, we were prepared to get in our place of, you know, shelter, opened up the middle door, which the double door garage we have, has, you know, locked the door. I looked out and I saw the brief (ph) line from out of nowhere just hitting homes, big chunks of wood, I knew it was close, but I didn't realize how close.
HOLMES: Randy, you told me, I was talking to you during the commercial break, you said you're from the south, you're from this area. I'm from Arkansas. I have been through my whole life tornado warnings, watches, and know what to do, know where to go, and all of this. But when did you know during this storm that something was different from other warnings and other bad storms and even other tornadoes that have come through?
GUYTON: Well, the wind and the, you know, the atmosphere has changed so different that it was muggy and could not -- you could not hear nothing and, you know, it's hard to explain. The wind was blowing in several different directions and then it would stop and then it would -- it would be sunny one second and then, you know, cloudy again.
And what got me was the debris falling -- the debris falling from the air or the skies everywhere around you. And then we turned and looked and saw nothing but black, a black wall west of us, it was -- it was a mile-wide tornado, at least.
The center of it looked sort of kind of colored white and all I could do is hear the rumble and the sound of the storm. It was 180- mile track is what the -- I heard from the news last night, the local news.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Yes.
GUYTON: One hundred and eighty miles.
HOLMES: Well --
GUYTON: That's a long distance from one corner of Alabama to the other.
GUYTON: It is -- it is, Randy and you all were right smack dab in the middle of it. This was a storm that some believe could have been on the ground for some 200 miles in a straight line and you all got hit there.
But Mr. Guyton I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. I know, you're staying with your sister right now, but these stories are important to get out for the rest of the country to understand what you all are going through here in the south and just how historic this thing was.
So I appreciate your time. And sir, good luck to you and your family. I know you all are going to rebuild and get back on your feet, but I know it's tough right now. So thank you for your time.
GUYTON: We'll do. You bet. Thank you.
HOLMES: All right.
I want to turn to Bonnie Schneider here now. And Bonnie I don't know if you heard, but the part that just warms your heart there, and you all preach it all the time, he said, we had our NOAA Weather Radio and it went off, that alerted us, we got to safety.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's true. And I've actually interviewed some survivors that say that they actually heard a difference in the intensity of the message that was being delivered by the meteorologist that the voice was so --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Wow.
SCHNEIDER: -- serious and strong that you take cover now. This is a large tornado.
HOLMES: Yes.
SCHNEIDER: So think that that message coming across having the batteries in place and your NOAA Weather Radio on overnight always is important during severe weather season.
Another severe weather threat we're tracking this morning here on CNN is the threat for flooding. Arkansas saw some very damaging storms and it brought a lot of water on the roads and unfortunately people were trying to cross the roads when we're looking at a lot of wet weather.
So the threat for flooding continues across areas into Arkansas as well as further to the north. You can see all these flood watches and advisories posted through the Midwest because the rivers are swelling, particularly into the Missouri and Indiana area. And we're expecting more rain as the stationary front will linger over the weekend and that will only make matters worse. So watch out for wet conditions there.
And if that's not enough, wait until you see what's happening into North Dakota. We have some heavy thunderstorms to the east in Minnesota, but where the air is cold enough, it is all snow. And I'm not just talking about snow falling from the sky, but snow blowing sideways, meaning a blizzard warning is in place for parts of North Dakota and even into Montana. Up to nine inches of snow, wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour. It's going to be very blustery and very difficult to see. Whiteout conditions are expected.
And you know, I know the northern plains particularly into North Dakota do see winter lingering into the spring season with snowfall expected but this has been an unusually snowy winter for places like Bismarck.
We've seen about 83 inches of snow so far this season, making it the snowiest one so far. And another perspective just to show you quickly; 22,000 miles above the earth we are tracking pictures from NASA showing us the tornado outbreak as the satellite takes the temperature of the high cloud top, that's why it's so bright white here. You can see that sharp contrast of air. There are the tornadoes right there, ripping across Alabama, Mississippi and into Tennessee.
So a different perspective from space, but it really does show you how intense these storms were -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Bonnie Schneider keeping an eye on things; it's good to have you with us as always this weekend, Bonnie.
And for many of you out there if you want to help out in the south, to help those tornado victims, maybe like the one you just heard; Randy Guyton telling me his story. You can visit our Impact Your World page, that's at CNN.com/impact.
Well, the NFL season is on the line. And the lockout now back in effect. We'll take a look at how they got there again.
Also, hats on parade at the royal wedding. We'll show you who is responsible for some of the best and most outrageous designs and the woman who dared not to wear one.
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HOLMES: Well, about a quarter at the top of the hour here on the CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Everybody is still talking about the number one accessory at the royal wedding. I'm not talking about the dress. Once we got past the dress, we turned to the hats. What exactly was that on top of some of their heads?
Take a look at what we're talking about here. They were flashy in some instances, they were -- some that were elegant, some were strange, some are confusing, some didn't even look like hats.
Nadia Bilchik, here to walk me through this. And understand that it's a tradition.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Absolutely. Now, if you think hats started off as purely functional --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: -- then they became a -- some status symbol, then a uniform, the pill box hat was a uniform and then it became an art form. And what we're seeing here are hats elevated to the form of art. Where various milliners -- and by the way, a milliner is a person who makes hat for women.
HOLMES: Ok.
BILCHIK: And hatmaker makes hats for men.
HOLMES: Now, I learn something every morning here with you.
BILCHIK: But milliners are really elevating this. Look at the colors, look at the structure. It's both vertical lines and horizontal lines. You get the traditional hat that has a brim and then you get the brimless hat.
Now what you're looking over there is a hat with a brim. And many of the women did wear traditional brimmed hats.
And some people like Victoria Beckham --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: -- Posh Spice, wore a version of the pill box hat or the brimless hat. But if you look at the structure of that hat, it was extraordinary.
HOLMES: There it is.
BILCHIK: And it was designed by a very famous milliner in London known as Philip Treacy.
HOLMES: Nadia, how is it staying in place?
BILCHIK: Rather architecturally brilliantly. It's probably a combination of glue and other materials.
HOLMES: Wow.
BILCHIK: But in the same way that beautiful clothing is stitched and made exquisitely, these hats truly are made with the utmost detail.
HOLMES: She couldn't take that off until she got home at night? She couldn't just probably take that off.
BILCHIK: It probably spent a fair amount of time putting it in the exact place. And when you first see it, it may appear strange but when you understand what Philip Treacy and other designers like Vivien Sheriff are trying to do, which is they're taking a traditional hat and saying let's have a bet.
But some people may have taken it too far. Perhaps Eugenie and Beatrice took it a little far in what they did. But, you know again, as to taste, they've been severely criticized. That was maybe taking architectural design to a new plane.
Let's face it, T.J., everybody knows at an important occasion you should wear a hat.
HOLMES: Ok. And I have to go, but ten seconds here, the one person who didn't wear one yesterday.
BILCHIK: Well, there I showed you, important occasions. Everyone should wear a hat.
HOLMES: Oh, look at that. That's you there. Look at Nadia.
BILCHIK: I said everybody should wear a hat. And of course, Samantha Cameron should have known better. She should have known that this was an occasion to wear a hat.
And although not specified in the actual invitation, it didn't say women should wear a hat, or that men should wear a morning coat, but she had flowers in her hair and a clip, but she broke tradition. She didn't break a law.
You're supposed to have your head covered in the eyes of God in a church but it's not law breaking. It's just tradition-breaking.
HOLMES: You should have let me know. We have that picture and we'll wrap up here, but our Nadia -- and a lot of people may not realize -- has some South African roots. And there she is sitting next to Nelson Mandela.
BILCHIK: Wearing a hat.
HOLMES: Wearing the hat.
BILCHIK: A beautiful hat and really in the company of greatness.
HOLMES: That's a great picture. Nadia Bilchik, we appreciate you as always, great stuff.
It's a quarter of the top of the hour.
Quick break. We're right back on this Saturday morning.
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HOLMES: All right. The NFL lockout is back on. After a federal appeals court reversed an earlier ruling the announcement coming at the same time the league was holding its annual draft. Ray D'Alessio from HLN Sports our buddy here, joining me.
Literally, I was going to bed last night, the lockout was lifted. I woke up this morning, the lockout is back on. What happened last night?
RAY D'ALESSIO, HLN SPORTS: And think about how the teams and the players were feeling at the NFL draft last night when they got the news that the lockout was back on. I mean this really has a dramatic effect on these players that were drafted. I mean you think about it, now they cannot talk to their teams, they can't go to these facilities, they can't negotiate contracts, including, you know, this year's first round pick or top overall pick Cam Newton who was picked up by the Carolina Panthers.
The first round picks who were selected Thursday night, they made out great because they were able to go back, because when they were drafted there was no lockout, they were able to go into the facilities on Friday, be introduced to the media, get their playbooks, meet their coaches.
Now, they can't meet with the coaches but they still get to keep their playbooks unlike the guys that are drafted in the second round and from here on out throughout the weekend.
HOLMES: We're right back to -- so much confusion. It's ridiculous.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: We're going to have more, at least from the legal angle. I have Sunny Hostin coming up in just a second. We're going to break some of that down.
But something else here; Tweeting gets guys in trouble. What they say sometimes can just -- then they have to go back and apologize and sometimes it can actually get you fined. But now it can get you more than that.
D'ALESSIO: Fined and suspended too. We're talking about Chicago White Sox manager Ozzy Guillen, got some video here. On Wednesday he gets into an argument with one of the -- with home plate umpire; gets into an argument, he gets tossed from the game.
After the game, he's in the club house and he tweets, "This is going to cost me a lot of money. This is pathetic." Moments later he says, "Today a tough guy showed up at Yankee Stadium", referring to the umpire. Well, Major League Baseball says no, that is a violation of the social media policy and regulations regarding the use of electronic equipment during the game. So they suspended Guillen for two games, fined him an undisclosed amount of money.
Guillen says you know what -- I'm not going to stop tweeting. I've been tweeting two years; I'm not going to stop tweeting. But I'm not going to do it during a game.
HOLMES: How much of this was him doing it during the game versus actually the content as well?
D'ALESSIO: It was a mixture of both. It was a mixture of both and again, you know, whether it's Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NFL, they don't like when you blast the officials.
HOLMES: Yes.
D'ALESSIO: And so something -- obviously, they had to come down and crack down.
HOLMES: Best thing ever happened, for Ozzie Guillen to get on Twitter.
D'ALESSIO: That's why, you know, when people ask me about you, I don't tweet about you. I tell them in person.
HOLMES: Appreciate that. Good to see you as always. We'll talk to you again here soon.
Well, ok. I mentioned we are going to be talking more about the lockout here with our Sunny Hostin in a second. Also another case she's going to be taking up with me, a trip to the New York City library. Got a little more interesting, didn't it?
You can now watch anything you want on the computers there, no matter who's looking. You can even watch hard core pornography. They say it's a matter of your legal rights.
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HOLMES: These are the old ones. You get the new scripts.
All right. Well, parental consent may soon not be enough for teens in California who want a tan; lawmakers considering a bill on Monday that prohibits anyone under the age 18 from getting in a tanning bed. Right now, teens need parental consent to get an indoor tan. Several other states are considering similar bans because of well-publicized skin cancer risks.
Well, I know it's early in the morning but just stay with me here. Hard core porn at the public library; in New York City apparently that's ok. The city's library is having an anything goes policy when it comes to the computers no matter who might be walking by. You can imagine not everybody happy with that idea. Our legal analyst Sunny Hostin from "In Session" on our sister network TruTV joins me live from New York with -- that's a tough topic. Let's get to that one second.
Let's start a little easier, all right. Let's start, Sunny, with this NFL lockout. It was off, and now it's back on. What's next in this process, at least legally?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, on Monday, the court is -- this is just a temporary stay. So, on Monday, the court is going to decide whether or not the stay is going to be in place for six to eight weeks while this appeal by the NFL goes forward. And so we'll know by Monday whether or not this is just a quick stay or really long stay.
I will say the quick stay wasn't unexpected, but (INAUDIBLE) like myself that was watching this knew that that would happen. But whether or not this is going to be a stay for number two months is another question.
HOLMES: Ok. We will stand by on that one. Again, the back and forth continues. It's another story to know whether or not the guys will be able work out because everybody is on standby, not really sure what to do.
Let's go to this other story if we can about what's happening in the libraries in New York. You can -- they have access, you can walk in, get a library card, use the computers but there are no restrictions, Sunny, on what you can look at on the computers and that includes pornography?
HOSTIN: That's right. And it's really horrifying because I'm in New York and I'm a mom and I take my kids to the library all the time and the New York public libraries now have a policy in place that they say we're not going to put these Internet filters in because of First Amendment, Free Speech.
And I just completely disagree with that. I think they got it wrong. The Supreme Court agrees with me, by the way, because the Supreme Court said computer filters are completely appropriate if you have a policy in place where a patron comes in and wants to watch some porn, and then disable the filters; the patron can ask for that.
I think what's so difficult about it is people are hiding this issue behind the First Amendment but not all information is the same. I mean why don't the (INAUDIBLE) that want to watch porn at a library which is kind of -- why don't they sort of have their room as opposed to children having to have their own room.
HOLMES: But Sunny, you say --
(CROSSTALK)
(AUDIO GAP)
HOLMES: Sunny, on that point you make, though, if someone wants to have the filter removed, that doesn't necessarily stop them from or somebody who's walking by from seeing it. Right? So still, it's a matter of you being about to watch it in those public libraries.
HOSTIN: That's true. Some libraries have these little screens on the side but I've spoken to a couple of people that say they've heard the porn on the monitor which is terrible. So it's an issue that the American Library Association has been fighting for quite some time and they are actually in support of allowing porn in libraries.
It's something that I'm going to be watching, T.J., because people just seem to want to watch porn in the library.
HOLMES: Well, one last thing here though. And do this for me in about 20 seconds. If you then restrict porn isn't the question and the issue people wonder, what else can you put restrictions on and that's where the First Amendment and free speech comes into play?
HOSTIN: Sure. But that's just making this issue such a broad issue. We're really talking about porn and there are technologies now in place and you can block out porn. You can block out that hard core porn. That's just not an argument that really cuts the legal muster.
HOLMES: All right. You, New Yorkers; I will stay out of the public libraries up there. I swear.
Sunny Hostin, interesting topic for this morning. Always good to see you. We will catch you again soon. You all enjoy the rest of your weekend.
The FAA right now under fire, they've been under fire lately for a string of incidents which could have compromised the safety of many including the first lady. Now the FAA is training replacements for thousands of air traffic controllers facing mandatory retirement.
We find out what those student controllers are learning at the top of the hour.
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