speaking at the national peace officers memorial service. we are looking at live pictures right now. president obama is speaking. can we take that live for a second? >> the survivors of fallen law enforcement officers. our hearts go out to you for your loss. the husbands and wives, mothers and fathers you loved, they protected us all, and all americans are grateful for the lives that they gave in the line of duty. to the active duty law enforcement officers who traveled from all over the country to be here, let me simply say thank you. thank you for the service you are rendering to our nation and thank you for the sacrifices you are making on behalf of our people. every day in america families go about their lives. they wake up, sit down for breakfast, send their kids off to school. then they head into the office or onto the factory floor and after putting in an honest day's work, they return home ready to do it all over again in the morning. we often take it for granted, this cycle of life. we know, of course, that chance can change everything overnight, but we also rely on a certain order in our lives, a certain sense of security that lets us sleep safely in our beds and walk around our neighborhoods free from fear and go about our daily lives without being the victims of crime. that sense of security doesn't come on its own. what makes it possible, what makes freedom possible, are the law enforcement officers that we honor today. it's men and women like so many of you. it's anyone who has ever put on a uniform or worn a badge in the name of law, in the name of order, in the name of protecting and defending the united states of america. what led you to live such a life? what leads a person to put on that uniform, to wear that badge, to enter the law enforcement profession? part of it, of course, is what leads any of us to pursue a profession, a responsibility to provide for her wives and our husbands, to give our children and grandchildren a better life. for some there's also a family legacy to honor, a proud inheritance an officer may aspire to uphold. but there's also another reason, a higher calling that led the men and women we honor today, like so many of you, to become peace officers. a calling to serve our neighbors, a calling to serve our neighborhoods, a calling to live a life in service of others. it's a calling that carries immense risk. you don't know what dangers you will confront each time you put on that uniform or step outside in plain clothes. whether you're a beat patrolman or a road deputy, you don't know what the next dispatch will bring. all you know is your duty, to keep us safe, to keep our communities safe, to keep america safe. it is a duty you fulfill every single day. today we honor americans who lost their lives in pursuit of that duty, in pursuit of that calling. we honor traffic sergeant mark duncan, a 17-year veteran of oakland's police department. a big teddy bear his friends called him who loved his buckeyes and steelers. the kind of guy you could always count on to get you to do the right thing. mark was killed on march 21st, 2009, during a traffic stop at 74th avenue and mcarthur boulevard and he believes behind his wife angela and three children. we honor deputy burt lopez, a six-year veteran of the county sheriff's office in florida. big-hearted, burt once delayed serving a minor a warrant until a sunday so the defendant, a father of six, could earn up with more day's pay for his family. on april 25th, 2009, burt and deputy skip york were killed attempted to arrest a domestic abuse suspect they had tracked down. he's survived by his wife, michelle, and five children. we honor trooper joshua miller, a veteran of both the pennsylvania state police and the united states marine corps. josh it has been said was a trooper's trooper. the only thing he loved more than stopping drunk drivers and hunting was spending time with his wife angela and his three daughters. his face lit up when you mentioned them. he was killed on june 7th, 2009, during an operation that ultimately rescued a 9-year-old who had been kidnapped by his father. we honor these americans and each of the law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty last year. each loved, each is missed, each is among america's finest. these men and women join nearly 19,000 americans who have made such a sacrifice since deputy isaac smith was shot investigating a disturbance at an tavern in 1792. such a sacrifice, such an honor roll is what makes it possible for us to go on about our lives, to pursue our dreams, to enjoy america's freedoms. it is an honor roll engraved in stone not far from here at the national law enforcement officers memorial. guarding over the park and the memories of americans memorialized there are four bronze lions. beneath one is a verse from the book of proverbs. the wicked flee with no one pursueeth but the righteous are as bold as a lion. may god's face shine upon the lions that we have lost. may he watch over the ones that guard us still. and may he bless now and forever the united states of america. [ applause ] >> there you see the president there wrapping up his remarks at the national peace officers memorial service there on capitol hill in washington, d.c. it's an annual event to honor fallen police officers. >> and part of national police week which was this past week. but also, jim, what a fitting time to be honoring police officers when you think that it was an nypd officer that was the first to respond to the attempted bombing in times square. you just really understand how important these people are in our daily lives and that's what president obama was talking about. >> they put their lives on the line for us every day. it means something to these families to have the president honor them and you can see that event continuing there live right here on cnn, and we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back with more news. stick with us. [ music playing, indistinct conversations ] the charcoal went out already? [ sighs ] forget it. [ male announcer ] there's more barbeque time in every bag of kingsford charcoal. kingsford. slow down and grill. in every bag of kingsford charcoal. it doesn't look risky. i mean, phil, does this look risky to you? nancy? fred? no. well it is. in a high-risk area, there's a 1-in-4 chance homes like us will flood. i'm glad i got flood insurance. fred, you should look into it. i'm a risk-taker. [ female announcer ] only flood insurance covers floods. visit floodsmart.gov/risk to learn your risk. crews in the gulf of mexico are trying new tactics to try to minimize the impact of that gushing oil spill. let's go live to reynolds wolf in biloxi, mississippi. you have been there for days now in the gulf coast. what is the latest on the containment efforts? it seems to change really by the hour. >> reporter: absolutely. well, there's a couple things they're think being doing. one thing they're doing is they're use a chemical dispersant 5,000 feet below the surface. what they're doing is as the oil has been coming out of the leak, they have been spraying it with an oil dispersant. it was used early on. then the epa canceled the use and now they're allowing bp to use it once again. what it will do is weigh down some of the oil and keep it on the ocean floor. that's one thing they're doing. second thing they're doing is they're thinking about using again this pipe. it's about six inches in diameter. they're bringing it down all the way to the leak and the plan is to use three rov under water robots. the plan is to siphon it up to the surface where you have an oil tanker ship. then the tanker ship would bring the oil back to land. the other idea is to use what we've been referring to as a top hat which is basically a structure that looks very similar to a top hat, sort of self-explanatory, and place that over the leak with the same purpose, to siphon the oil up to the surface. another idea they were talking about a couple days ago, something they refer to as just -- basically they would be blasting a great deal of rubber made from tires, even golf balls, to try to seal the leak. then they would use a compress of mud and concrete to seal things off. they're certainly hoping one of these will work. right now the one they're really pushing for is, of course, just that six-inch pipe and trying to bring it to the surface. >> and these chemical dispersants, the chemicals they're talking about using, a lot of environmentalists are really raising red flags saying wait a second, these aren't testing, they mighting da dangerous. >> is there any discussion about whether they are dangerous? >> reporter: the last thing they want to do is make a bad situation even worse. that's the key plan for this. there are a lot of people that think by spraying this down, you're going to leave all kinds of things that will be detrimental to marine life, to the environment at the very bot testimony. that that's the last thing they want to do. many people think it's better to do it at the top of the water because then you can skim it off altogether rather than leave it on the floor of the gulf of mexico. >> real quick, reynolds, you're there in biloxi. how is the water in mississippi right now? >> reporter: well, again, the phrase we've been saying for much of the morning which still rings true is jump in the water, the water is fine. they've been taking water samples, but they have also been testing some of the vege tration alo along the barrier islands, even taking issue samples from crabs. so far there have been no traces of oil. back to you. >> right now good news. reynolds, thank you so much. our man in biloxi, mississippi. thank you so much. we'll talk to you soon. so the coast guard and officials from bp, they will be holding a briefing on the containment efforts today. that's scheduled for 2:30 this afternoon. that's eastern time. we'll bring that to you live, of course. stay with us. we'll have more coming up. and that more is right now. >> yeah, exactly. and they're not just having problems down in the gulf. we know they're still recovering from that historic flooding of two weeks ago in the nashville area. more weather worries in that part of the country and in the southern plains as well. bonnie schneider has the low down on your weekend weather forecast. bonnie, you got a lot on your plate this weekend, don't you? >> absolutely, jim and kate. i want to start in the gulf where reynolds was just reporting from. so far the weather has been cooperating to some degree because we've seen the winds kind of come in all different directions for different periods of time. that's kept this spill a little more condititained than it coul have been if it was a steady prolonged effect of one wind going in one direction. this weekend we're seeing more of a consistent southeasterly flow. we're starting to see a little more movement closer to the shore. winds will shift oagain over th next couple days. we're anticipating more of a southwesterly flow that will steer the spill toward alabama and florida. the other concerns certainly for the region weatherwise, thunderstorms hating the gulf coa coast. you can see them working in houston, corpus christi, and down into the new orleans area. these are hail-producing thunderstorms. speaking of hail, you have to see this picture from tennessee, a state hit with flooding and now giant baseball-sized hailstones clobbering tennessee. look at the damage this does to a windshield or to the shingles of your home. the pelting of that hail can really cause a lot of troubles. first, the floodwaters, now the hail. tennessee is seeing some rough weather, as is texas right now. the heavy rain is hitting houston hard. for those of you looking to get out on a saturday, unfortunately, it will be a wet go of it on i-10 into louisiana. here is louisiana rti. new orleans seeing strong storms. note these storms do continue frequent lightning strikes as well. the bigger picture shows it's nice across the northeast. preakness today, nascar. it is still very balmy out there in the southeast. oppressive humidity continues to make it feel like summertime in cities like right here in atlanta where we're looking at high temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. it's going to be hotter than that even in tampa. high temperature 92 degrees in tampa. the cooler air is coming slowly, but in the meantime i'd say just enjoy this warm weather. it's going to stick around at least through the rest of the day today. back to you. >> thank you so much, bonnie. a little silver lining. >> bring it on. we like it hot. you'll want to stay tuned to are this story. six colonels in the army giving new meaning to sisterhood and service. their inspirational story straight ahead. why is that? - uh, cause we're bears? - [ panda chuckles ] well, you know snapple's made with healthy green tea, tasty black tea and real sugar. - are you familiar with tea? - uh, yeah, snapple man. we're from china. we're familiar with tea. it's just that i know you're trying to be healthy so-- healthy? hello! we're pandas. it's called extinction. look it up. [ announcer ] healthy green tea, tasty black tea, real sugar. we're still getting paid, right? the best stuff on earth... just got better. all right. top stories for you now. both british and german aviation authorities are warning iceland's volcano could cause new trouble next week in the travel department. they're closely watching weather pat he weres this weekend. they say a concentrated ash cloud could ground flights starting monday. amateur video shows one seattle police officer kicking a suspect in the head while another is stomping on him. a racial slur is also heard. it turns out the latino man had nothing to do with the crime the police were investigating. we're hearing this, a news director at a seattle tv station has resigned in light of this video. critics claim the station delayed broadcasting the video for almost three weeks to avoid alienating the police department. and bp is trying to plug the gulf oil leak today with a mile-long tube with a rubber stopper at the end. deep sea robots will try to insert the tube into the pipe that's gushing crude. if it works, the smaller tube will carry the oil to a tanker. ken sal zpazar along with bp officials and the coast guard will update us on progress at 2: 2:30 p.m. eastern. tuition costs at public universities, they have risen at an annual rate of about 5% a year over the last decade. that's on top of inflation. a big consideration for students and parents these days, education value. so here is cnn's tom foreman on the road for our series "building up america." >> reporter: anyone who has driven a child to college recently knows just how daunting the cost can be. take a look at some of the most expensive schools in this country. each one has a total price tag well over $50,000 annually. that means you could be pushing a quarter million dollars for a four-year degree once you add in the incidentals. but that's not the way it has to be. and right now i'm driving to a school where it's very different. the university of virginia consistently appears near the top of those lists of the best values in college education. confirming time and again what portia henry learned several years ago. you can spend a whole lot more for an education. >> exactly. >> reporter: but do you think you'd get a much better education? >> no, no. i feel like the university of virginia is a wonderful intersection, so -- >> reporter: an intersection of what? >> between cost and value. i get the best of both worlds. >> reporter: and directing traffic at that intersection is chief operating officer leonard kandrid sandridge. >> we budget very careful. we know we can't be everything to everyone. >> reporter: they can demand accountability from everyone. each office here from those providing food services to student entertainment is held strictly responsible for its spending. if they run over, they must make up the difference on their own, no passing the buck to students. all new construction is kept within campus limits to contain the cost of spreading utilities, computer connections, and security services far and wide. free or reduced tuition for the children of staff members, not here. a year at uva still costs a lot, $21,000 for in-state students, about double that for out of state, and this is a state school so it's wrestling with rising tuition like most others. but knowing that he could have spent tens of thousands more elsewhere for a comparable education josh mitchell is satisfied. >> i think that the saying you get the most bang for your buck is applicable here. accountability and attention to detail can make education affordable. >> i think it can make a difference. >> reporter: that is why this school is at or near the top of all those value lists. helping students build up their future on terms they can afford. tom foreman, cnn, charlottesville, virginia. >> that's a good piece. "building up america" a cnn special presentation today hosted by tom foreman. join him at 3:00 eastern/noon pacific, "building up america" only in the cnn "newsroom." six african-american women all members of the military and in the same sorority. we'll tell you what else they have in common. this is a great story you don't want to miss. stay with us. i thought i was invincible. i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. talk to your doctor, and take care of what you have to take care of. and $1,500 in tax credits on select lennox home comfort systems. lennox. innovation never felt so good. welcome back. today is armed forces day, a day to honor all members of the military for their service, and did you know this? before 1849 various branches of military were honored on separate days? under the truman administration a single day of celebration was created. >> cnn's fredricka whitfield joins us. i have to tell you, i love this story. >> i'm glad you do. hopefully you will enjoy it the second time around as well. >> always. >> the same kind of camaraderie, the same kind of fellowship that many people discover in college, a group of exceptional women are cementing while serving in the u.s. military. it's a special bond these colonels share whether in the u.s. or abroad. >> i pledged at mississippi state university the fall of '81. >> i pledged fall of 1982. >> in spring of 1986. >> in fall of '80. >> the summer of 1975. >> reporter: six african-american women, all colonels at ft. macpherson army base in georgia. they share a bond of sisterhood as members of dea sorority. >> when i went to college and found delta was the most active sorority on the campus, involved in different community events, social action, i chose delta. >> reporter: their reasons for choosing the sorority and the military are the same, the desire to serve. >> when you look at the army, the army is about service, and it's not so much public service as serving your country. >> reporter: colonel lee says her experiences as a delta helps her to be the soldier she is today. >> mental toughness, and also physical toughness, but i can reflect back to me pledging on the yard back as an undergrad and it was, okay, you can't touch me. you know, you just have that attitude and you have that -- there's nothing you can do to me because i have been broken down, so, you know, i'm mentally tough and i'm ready for this, and it really does help you be prepared for any and everything that comes your way. >> reporter: each woman is active within her community, and they sometimes participate in sorority activities together. >> i always wanted to be part of an organization that was giving back, and even today after, you know, almost 27 years of service,