shut down camp for this small window? the fact is that judge nelson, who is the trial judge in minnesota, wrote actually two opinions, about 110 pages, brilliantly written. this 2-1 opinion, this emergency procedure, fredricka, is used like if they re going to put somebody to death. it is so perverse, so wrong, that it will be very short-lived and the bottom line is it forces everybody to get to the bargaining table, bargaining table, they ve got to get this thing resolved. all right. do you want to catch our legal guys every saturday? noon eastern time right here in the cnn newsroom. on this first sunday after that deadly string of tornadoes, comfort and prayer services among the rubble. the death toll now at 339 across six southern states. right now residents living in smithville, mississippi, are sayisay ing farewell to some of those killed. of course, we re going to have
tweets. tweets. have a great weekend. captions by vitac www.vitac.com welcome to the cnn newsroom. i m fredricka whitfield at the cnn headquarters in atlanta. on this first sunday after that deadly string of tornadoes comfort and prayer services among the rubble. the death toll now at 339 across six states. survivors are praising both volunteers and the federal government for responding so quickly with aid, supply and support. cnn s martin savidge is near the alabama border in the devastated town of smithville, mississippi. marty, how are many there marking this day? reporter: well, fredricka, we were just watching here. a lot of people are marking the day by trying to get what they can. this is mel s diner. melanie is the owner here.
smithville cemetery. and that, by the way, is the only business that is still up and operating in this tiny town of 900 people. she was quite emotional as we spoke. she was preparing for a burial that was going to take place today. here s how she described her town. they ve been hard days for all of us. this school was gone. our church is gone. there s nothing. reporter: so, as you hear, she s very, very emotional as she describes the losses in her town. of course, when you talk to people here, they say they will rebuild. we should point out that there is a caravan of obama cabinet officials that are coming to smithville. they ve actually been over in birmingham, alabama. they ve also been in other heart
she s just off camera here. they re trying to salvage what they can from this place. it s been a business 14 years. they plan and promise they will reopen. they just can t say exactly when that will be. for a lot of other people as you can see there isn t a whole lot that they can reclaim. there s not much at all as they try to sift through the pieces and pick up their lives. it is a day of faith sunday smithville at the baptist church. several hundred people gathered in the parking lot of that church because their house of worship was absolutely flattened as a result of the tornado that came through on wednesday. for many people it was a very emotional time. not just because the exact that they celebrate their faith but the fact they got to see one another again. this town has been dweeply divided and people have been spread all over as a result of the disaster that struck here. so it was a chance to come and, yes, celebrate. celebrate the fact that they were alive. there are some in
hard-hit areas. we understand they re just about here. there s going to be a news conference that will be held so people are finally going to hear what sort of help may be coming their way in the form of state and federal aid which judging by the background behind me here you can say is sorely needed. but their faith in this town is still very, very strong. fred? martin savidge, thanks so much from smithville, mississippi. thousands of people are in shelters today because their homes were simply ruined, wiped off the map. for many of these families their children as well are trying to come to grips with what has just happened. all i can do is cry. because i miss my house. everybody crying and shouting and, i mean, it s just devastation. to find out how you can make a difference to help the tornado victims in the south, visit our impact your world page at cnn.com/impact. let s check in with alexandra steele. while the tornadoes, at least