>> on this holiday morning. >> and we've got a lot of news. we begin with the weather. first a new wave of spring storms is pounding the midwest. in fact, some of the worst damage is in battle creek, michigan. a storm packing 80-mile-an-hour winds snapped trees, brought down a lot of power lines. in fact, across the state some 100,000 homes and businesses lost power. >> a violent storm hit the chicago area. ferocious winds uprooting trees and sending them on the tops of houses and cars. >> the trees just doubled. it was the strongest wind i've seen in a long time. >> that's the important part. nobody got hurt. houses can be rebuilt, people takes a long time for them to get rebuilt. >> the severe weather grounded 450 flights at o'hare airport sunday. could be more of the same today. we'll let you know whether there could be more of this. >> that's not exactly the news you want if you're coming back from your holiday vacation. we want to know what's in store for you today. rob marciano in the extreme weather center with a look at that. so rob, what's it looking like this morning? >> well, good morning, guys. folks who live in the south, south of the mason dixon, you should be okay, but north of that, we have trouble. over 170 reports mostly of wind, damaging winds yesterday, across the stationary boundary and the bigger cities including chicago and detroit, got hit pretty hard. guess what? the bigger cities now off to the east will get hit hard too. a piece of that energy is rolling across the allegheny and the appalachians down through across delaware into the new york city area. severe line of thunderstorms stretching from the 684 interchange and 84 all the way down through trenton and this is moving rapidly off to the east at about 60 miles an hour. so the big apple about to get pounded with heavy rain, a lot of lightning and gusty winds with this. these are deemed severe. just be careful over the next 30 to 40 minutes, if you can, take cover, do so. we're also going to reinvigorate this line of storms that developed across parts of the midwest. moderate chance of seeing severe weather in this area across northern parts of the midwest. just south of fargo, back through sioux falls. as far as daytime highs today, searing heat, the other big story, guys. it's going to feel more like the middle of july or the fourth of july than memorial day today. high temperatures easily in the 90s across many states. back to you. >> and we thank you for the beautiful weather in the new york area, rob. thank you. >> we've been cursing him for months. we'll thank you today. >> we'll take it. president obama getting a firsthand look at the devastated landscape of joplin, missouri. the president toured the city yesterday. he spoke at a memorial service telling residents of joplin what happened to their community is a national tragedy. >> the question that weighs on us at a time like this is why. why our town, why our home, why my son, or husband or wife or sister or friend? why? we do not have the capacity to answer. how we respond when the storm strikes is up to us. how we live in the aftermath of tragedy and heartache, that's within our control. there's no doubt in my mind that joplin will rebuild. and as president, i can promise you your country will be there with you every single step of the way. [ applause ] we will be with you every step of the way. >> in joplin sunday they observed a moment of silence at 5:41 p.m., the moment the tornado hit a week earlier. >> cnn's ed henry has more on the president's message for joplin and also there will be a major announcement today. ed is live for us at the white house. ed, there was some criticism in some circles that the president didn't go to joplin sooner. how did he do? >> you're right, alina. that was the elephant in the room, when you say it struck last sunday, in the evening, that was when the president was about to go to europe and so he really had to get there and show the people of missouri how much this hurt him and how much the federal government was going to stand with the city, with the state. bottom line is that one of the reporters who was flying in on air force one with the president, basically said, that what the president saw as air force one was coming in for a landing over joplin, was almost as if a giant had come in to the city with a lawn mower and just shredded it to absolute pieces. the president himself noted he had just been in alabama a couple weeks ago to see devastation. this was even worse. the bottom line, this is a president who knew that, you know, this is an area of missouri he did not win to john mccain in 2008, he had the added baggage of having been in europe when this happened. he wanted to make this up to them, number one. number two, think back to tucson when there was a tragedy at the beginning of this year. he tends to rise to occasion at these kinds of moments and memorial services and it appeared there were a lot of people thankful for him being there, no doubt. >> also a big announcement for the president concerning the nation's military. that's what we're expecting on memorial day for him to make this big announcement. what can you tell us? >> yeah. he's going to name general martin dempsey as the joint chiefs chairman replacing admiral mullen, the army chief of staff, in the front lines of overseeing the wars in iraq and afghanistan and the bottom line of why he picked general dempsey, it's in the context of other moves being made. in june defense secretary robert gates will be stepping down and leon panetta is in line to replace him, already a member of the national security team, and so this boils down tocontinuity. even as iraq still winding down, few troops there, some troops there, about 100,000 troops in afghanistan, he needs countntiny to finish these wars, no doubt about it. >> ed, in addition to all of his credentials apparently general dempsey can sing as well. we'll talk about that, talking with the outgoing chairman of the joint chiefs admiral mike mullen at 7:25 eastern today. stay tuned. on this memorial day the president and first lady will be hosting a breakfast at the white house for families who have lost loved ones in combat. they'll visit arlington national cemetery where the president will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. the situation is deterior e deteriorating quickly in yemen. take a look at these incredible pictures. troops open fire on protesters, government forces are also using water cannons and tear gas to try to break up the crowds there. medical officials say at least five people were killed, more than 90 wounded. the vie lengtolence in that cou that flared since the deal calling for the president's departure fell apart. violence between serbian police and demonstrators protesting last week's arrest of war crime suspect ratko mladic. some people in the crowd threw rocks at police who responded by beating and kicking them. nearly 20 people were injured, more than 100 people were arrested. mladic is accused of ordering the massacre of bosnian muslims in the 1990s civil war, most famously srebrenica where 8,000 men and boys were pulled out of the crowds and massacred in the woods. >> i think a lot of people were wondering if there was ever going to be justice, but finally came more than a decade later. meanwhile, imagine this happening to you on your holiday weekend. a scary end to a flight that landed in atlanta over the weekend. look at that. the dell sta airline flight from pittsburgh caught fire on the runway. all 49 people on board were evacuated from the plane. thankfully everyone is okay. there's some differing views on what happened. an faa official tells us the plane blew a tire while landing and that is what sparked the fire. but a delta spokeswoman says no, no. the plane's brakes overheated. either way, not a great situation. >> that's right. >> a helicopter on the way to the scene of a car wreck has a crash of its own. the florida highway patrol chopper went down on an i-95 ramp in south florida yesterday. the pilot is still in the hospital, being checked for possible spinal injuries. after 11 days, 17 hours, 41 minutes exactly the space shuttle "endeavour" has undocked from the international space station. that separation took place just before midnight while all of us were sleeping. the shuttle crew is taking pictures of the space station and will do some tests on its sensors. "endeavour" is wrapping up its final mission and returns to earth at 2:35 a.m. wednesday morning. we want to show you this breathtaking photo of earth courtesy of nasa. it apparently was taken from the international space station as "endeavour" circled high above the middle east. >> that's an awesome picture. called the greatest spectacle in racing and yesterday's indy 500 didn't disappoint. j.r. hildebrand cruising to victory when you can't believe it, he crashed on the final turn in the very last lap and that allowed dan weldon to win the race. >> hildebrand's car is sponsored by the national guard and the heartbreak could be felt in iraq where they were watching the race. oh. the accidental indy winner -- he is the indy winner, dan weldon, our guest at 7:35 eastern. >> they thought maybe hildebrand might pull it off and be one of the first people to win on three wheels coming in in the stretch. >> that's why every single lap counts. >> that's right. ahead on "american morning," sarah palin kicks off her one nation bus tour, arriving at a biker rally in d.c. on a harley. now she got a lot of attention for that, but is she running or is she just another donald trump? we caught up with her exclusively. hear what she had to say ahead. >> germany says it's switching off its nuclear plants. where will all that power come from now? it's ten minutes after the hour. 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[ male announcer ] introducing icy hot naturals with natural menthol. it's gets icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away fast. new icy hot naturals. the sarah palin one nation bus tour is under way, no sign of a bus yet, but there were plenty of bikes yesterday. there's the former first lady of alaska on a harley. actually the first governor of alaska telling bikers that the reallying thunder motorcycle rally in d.c., this is what she said, i love the smell of emissi emissions. didn't say anything about her plans for 2012. sandra endo caught up with citizen sarah for an exclusive interview. >> secretary of defense robert gates and joint chiefs chairman admiral mike mullen addressed the 24th annual rolling thunder on the national mall. and the group shines a spotlight on the mission to free p.o.w.s and bring back those missing in action. secretary gates says the government will not rest until everyone is accounted for. riding in with this group, this year, former alaska governor sarah palin. she's also a potential presidential candidate and she was not scheduled to address the crowd on stage, but we caught up with her after she arrived. >> i'm an american. i have no title, i have in office, and to be an american citizen with the freedom to come out and assemble and thank our veterans i can't tell you how honored i am to have been invited to participate. >> what about this bus tour? >> the bus tour is to get out there and remind americans about our foundation, our declaration of independence and the historical sites that should be a reminder every day to every american about how important it is to stand strong on our foundation and build upon what made this country. >> reporter: rolling thunder says it's a group that's not political, nonparty san and would welcome any american where they fall on the political spectrum. >> all right. so the big question is, is she going to be running for president or is she just another, as one of my former colleagues said, trump on the stump. it appears that sarah palin doesn't mind keeping us waiting for an answer. even the man who introduced her to america, john mccain, says he doesn't know exactly what she's up to, but guess what? if she does decide to run for president, the arizona senator says he has no doubt she can beat president obama. >> of course she can. she can. now whether she will or not, whether she'll even run or not i don't know. you know, a lot of things happen in campaigns. you remember i was written off a couple times and we were able to come back. she certainly is a major factor and i believe that she can be very competitive. >> be sure to catch john king usa at 7:00. he's aboard the cnn express following the palin bus tour. will we see her on the 2012 ballot. insights at 7:00 p.m. eastern on "john king usa." do you think sarah palin will run for president or is she doing this for publicity? we want to hear your opinion. e-mail us at cnn.com/am, give us a tweet, @cnnam or facebook.com/americanmorni facebook.com/americanmorning. we will read some of your responses later in the hour. you're @at christine romans, i'm @alina cho. hip-hop and reggae singer shaun king ston hospitalized after crashing his jet ski into a bridge in miami beach. police say the 21-year-old had a female passenger on board when he crashed. he is reportedly in stable condition. police investigating this accident. it's become this generation's elvis sight. imagine the shock when a story appeared on the pbs website saying rapper tupac shakur is alive and in new zealand. the fake story was posted by on-line hackers who say they did it in retaliation for the network's program called "wikisecrets." tupac shakur was shot and killed in las vegas in 1996. >> he is not in new zealand. >> he is not. >> germany announcing it will shut down all of its nuclear plants by 2022. they provide a quarter of germany's power. to make up for the loss germany will rely on renewable energy. japan's nuclear crisis prompted the german government to take its nuclear plants offline. >> a bribery scandal is rocking soccer's international governing body. fifa is suspending two senior executives, allegedly offered $40,000 to a group of caribbean dell gates to sway their votes to one who is running to be f a fifa's president. he's withdrawn from the race while the investigation continues. a day of the dragon, more than 20 teams competing in the china open dragon boat race. the annual event is one of china's traditional sports dating back more than 2,000 years. look at those pictures. >> wow. those guys are in shape. >> i would say so. >> 150-year-old sea turtsle that become tangled in a fisherman's net is safely back home. a fisherman says the turtle got tangled in his ropes in the waters off china. pulled it up, took it home, was going to sell it, but thankfully he had a change of heart. look at that little guy. this was identified as a green turtle, a protected species in china. scientists say it's one of the few speesh shears so old they watched dine know sauces evolve. >> interesting. >> look at that guy. he is healthy and back in the wild. >> up next on "american morning," find out why a member of the saudi royal family wants you to pay less for your oil. >> all right. plus -- the ipad about to go where no tablet has gone before. so where? 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"the hangover 2" took in $86 million over the weekend. the best three-day opening for a live action comedy. "american morning" back after the break with a story of volunteers helping out an american hero. [ wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. 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