what's happening. that's ahead. we will have the latest on this developing story in a few minutes from now. president obama is back at the white house of a spending several hours in joplin, missouri. it was exactly a week ago that an f-5 tornado ripped through the city killing people in minutes. 5:41 central time there was a moment of silence marked by the precise instant that tornado hit. our dan traveled with the president to joplin and dan, a tough job for the president to try to lift spirits of a being amongest the people but seeing this disaster first-hand. >> this is a president who has had to do this quite a bit lately. other natural disasters as well. the president as you know last week was overseas among other things building relationships with european partners. throughout that time, white house aid said the president was getting updates on the situation here in joplin. today the president got to see the devastation up close. >> before touching down, air force 1 flew over joplin, missouri, giving the president an aerial view of the devastation. what took months and years to build was destroyed in a few moments. homes, businesses, and anything else in the tornado's path. on the ground, it was a somber president surveying breathtaking damage up close. meeting with officials, survivors and promising not to abandon this city. >> what i've been telling every family that i've met here is, we're going to be here long of a the cameras leave. we are not going to stop until joplin is fully back on its feet. >> there is plenty of pain here but also plenty of hope. roadways were lined with thousands of people, some waving flags or holding signes with messages like, god bless joplin. at a memorial service on the campus of missouri southern state university, that escaped the tornado's wrath -- >> we will be with you every step of the way. we're not going anywhere. >> -- president obama thanked the people of joplin for their courage. >> you've banded together. you have come to each other's aid. you demonstrated a simple truth. that amid heart break, and tragedy, no one is a stranger. everybody is a brother. everybody is a sister. >> recovering from one of the worst natural disasters in u.s. history, will not happen overnight. but missouri governor jane nixon is optimistic about the future. >> joplin will look different. and more different still in two years. and three. and five. and as the years pass, the moral of our story will be the same. love thy neighbor. god bless. >> president obama's message was not just focused on the people of missouri but also on all of the people across the country. he urged them to get involve bid supporting the organizations that are providing food and shelter for the hundreds of people who have been displaced by the killer tornado. drew? >> dan lothian live with the president in joplin, missouri. thanks, dan. a moment of silence for the victims of last week's tornado, our casey is there. what is the scene? >> there are hundreds of people behind me here and they are leaving the site where they observed a moment of silence here and at several other areas around the city for the victims of the joplin tornado. congressman shaw saying we need each other, we need to pull together then the moment of silence happened and city manager mark rohr saying we will rebuild joplin, make no mistake about it. that process already starting to just begin to get under way. fema says it has new approved $6.2 million to be distributed to 5600 households in job lin who have applied fores aance. that's about an average of $1100 per household. not a lot bb but a start. the city lifted its water boil order. for the last week, you haven't been able to drink water from the city's supply. you had to use bottled water. now they determined the water is once again safe to drink. just one more example of the efforts that this city is trying to make to get back to normal. at the same time the gruesome task of recovering bodies from the wreckage is continuing. officials say they have found 146 sets of human remains. it is a little gruesome here. but what we can say is that, that doesn't mean there is 146 deceased because there may be duplicate and par sh remains. there are 43 people still unaccounted for. that number also a little bit soft because four of those folks, their family members say they are in fact deceased. we are expecting that number of unaccounted for to go down and a number of perished because of this tornado to go up over the next several days. >> casey wian on the seen in joplin. thanks, casey. besides all of the reporting they have done this week, they took many still photographs. some you are seeing now. just take a moment to look at them and the story that each one of these photos tells. a child of joplin, missouri. first a word from our troops overseas. >> hi, i want to wish my son, my brother and my mom a happy memorial day weekend. wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. should i bundle all my policies with nationwide insurance ? watch this. on one hand, you have your home insurance with one company. and on another hand, you have your auto with another. and on another hand, you have your life with another. huh... but when you bundle them all together with nationwide insurance... ... they all work together perfectly-- and you could save 25%. wow... it's all in the wrists. ♪ nationwide is on your side >> if anybody wants to know what the weather will be like tomorrow for memorial day, the picnicking is going on but we still have severe weather going on in the midwest, hey, jackie. >> we have been tracking wind in the northwest primarily causing hail damage and wind damage. this is moving out of michigan now and we are focusing in on northern parts of ohio. there are thunderstorms west of cleveland and they could be producing winds in excess of 60 miles an hour as well as golf ball sized hail. this isn't in the cleveland proper yet. you aren't under the warning just yet but be alert that this is minutes away from you folks. these will push east ward throughout the day. we also have problems if you are trying to travel at the airports. we the thunderstorms earlier at chicago so we are looking at delays, nearly three hours. that's to t.o. get from other airports into chicago o'hare. par sh8 delays at chicago detroit at an. we are expecting to see thunderstorms you know dodging rain drops on the barbie. see from minnesota down into parts of texas and some storms could be severe especially in the northern tier up in this area here. high pressure controlling the east. so it will be gorgeous for you. plenty of shines say from the mid-atlantic from the gulf coast. temperatures will be extreme. we are talking well into the 90s and probably tack on another 3 to 5 degrees because of the humidity. that's the temperature your body feels. we have heat advisories and warnings in effect from philadelphia into washington, d.c. probably sticking with water beverages as opposed to the alternate choice tomorrow to keep it safe pz thank you, jacqui jeras, i will keep that in mind. one this group found this american flag in the debris of a home there. one of them climbed a tree and let the stars and stripes fly from a branch. old school. 81-year-old veteran lived that home before it was flattened. we reportedly survived by hiding inside his refrigerator. well sarah palin on a harley. need we see more? part of rolling thunder. she is riding into washington, d.c. but political watchers think she may be riding into a 2012 race. we'll have the inside scoop, next. ♪ the new blackberry playbook. it runs all this at the same time. ♪ why can't every tablet do that? two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. >> sarah palin's appearance at rolling thunder caused a bit of a sensation today. it is a bike rally in washington that honors veterans. peter, you cover sarah palin a lot. she did show up at rolling thunder and her new bus tour kicked off today too but palin insists there is nothing political going on. listen. >> i have no office. to be an american citizen, the freedom to come out here and assemble and thank our veterans. i can't tell you how i honor -- >> a couple of her daughters and her husband behind her there. pet peter, is this the start of a political campaign? >> oh, wow. over/under, that's tough. i think when she said she holds no office and she is just an american, that's understating it a little bit. i think she does have her eyes on one office. it's into accident that this rally, this visit to the rally, this bus tour that you shock of is happening right at a moment in the political universe. it is around the idea that presidential field was settled. pawlenty, gingrich, these are the people running aep palin says i'm a superstar and i can command all kinds of media attention. i can raise tons of money at the drop of a hat and that's why we can't count her out. whether there is a precursor to a presidential bid or another attempt to stay in the spotlight, it is a difficult question. but it is certain that palin knows the kind of power that she wields and does not want to be left out of political discussion and she will keep doing this, drawing this out. she can probably wait a couple of months even before jumping in the presidential race just because she has that mega watt celebrity within the republican party, drew. >> right. within the republican party she certainly is somewhat of an outsider and certainly an outsider of d.c. we don't see the inside speculation or leaks coming from her inner circle because that inner circle is so tight. >> it really is tight. you make a really smart point about this insider/outsider thing. remember in 1964 no one thought gold water would be the republican nominee. in 1968 no one wanted riksard nixon could be the nominee. they the rockefeller, romneys. they would be the nominee. to the extent, that's why the democratic party and media don't quite understand the republican base. you know, george w. bush managed to con found liberals. they are like how can this guy get elected? guess what, they do have a strong grass roots appeal and that really drives the presidential nominating process on the republican side. so, you know, the palin circle of advisors as you said, they don't really talk to the media that much. they talk it a view reporters. i'm lucky to be one of them but they don't see the need to communicate through the rest of the main stream media, drew. >> yeah, you spent the week in iowa, i understand. what's the buzz up there? are they looking palin or are they looking at romney? bachmann? some of the other people we haven't talked about here because we are so busy talking about this nonrunner on a race, on the back of a motorcycle? >> right. and all this news about palin broke the day that michele bachmann, the tea party favorite, congresswoman from minnesota was scheduled to give a speech out there. i talked it a lot of iowa republican voters. they say the race is still wide open. they like to be -- they like the attention, so they are saying sarah definitely needs to get out here pretty soon or else. but you know what, she can command a lot of attention on very short notice. the field out there is wide open. there is the closely watched aims straw poll in august which is stra digsly a -- traditionally a test of each organization in the caucus state. i believe the palin people believe they can afford to wait and skip that. but you know, mitt romney was out there. he came in second last time. he has a lost built-in support. michele bachmann, if she runs, will have a lot of support. huckabee dominated last time but if palin steps in, she dominates that. again she can wait a month, perhaps another two months. so this waiting game will continue for a little while, drew. >> all right, peter hamby, cnn political reporter. thanks, peter. a toddler tumbles from a hotel window. we will tell you how. building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality. which meant she continued to have the means to live on... even at the ripe old age of 187. life well planned. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. host: could switching to or mnsurance?ou fifteen percent dchuckchk wo man: hey you dang woodchks, quit chucking myood! vo: geic fifinutesould save y fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ♪ well, you know i love it too ♪ ♪ you love money ♪ well, you know i love it too ♪ ♪ i work so hard at my job ♪ and then i bring it home to you ♪ ♪ i love money in my pocket >> tonight's headlines wp the president went to joplin, missouri today. it was his first chance to see the damage done by the f-5 tornado. he spoke at a service for the known 142 victims. the president promising assistance as the city rebuilds. tonight, a special report airing at 8 p.m. eastern. ra violent night erupting across yemen in the south. security forces fired from rooftops on antigovernment protesters. three people, at least, have been killed. dozens hurt. following mass protest in the capitol there have been a string of explosions. we will bring a live report on this chaos to you in about 10 minutes from now. in atlanta, a model plunges to her death. she was play fighting with another woman at a high rise early saturday. the preliminary investigation shows they went through a 10th story window. the other woman is listed in critical condition. a safety concern across the country, california with the largest prison system, is so overcrowded the federal government ordered it to reduce the inmate population by up to 46,000. the supreme court last week upheld that order. california now has two years to comply. perhaps there is another solution, one few people are willing to talk about. flogging. former baltimore police officer and criminologist peter moscas, makes the case in his new book, in defense of flogging. he says offering a gilly person flogging or incarceration, many would rather have the whip. i have to tell you it is a bit bar babe # barrack wp how do you defend this flogging. >> i do think it is barbaric. but if it is so bad, i don't see the harm in the choice. i don't want to sentence a person to flogging. i want to give them the chance to stay out of prison. this th is perhaps the only politically feasible way to reduce the prison situation. something has to be done. >> something has to be done. how do we get the criminals convicted of a crime to not commit another crime. whether that is through a three, five, ten-year sentence. have you seen data this this kind of punishment would work in reducing recidivism? >> absolutely not. but here's the key. if prison doesn't work. prison makes you more likely to commit a crime when you get out. so simply by avoiding prisoning with flogging succeeds. these people need help. that's something we need to give them but we don't give them in prison. that's one of the fallacies that somehow people -- does anyone think people leave prison better than they go? n? of course not. >> so how would flogging work? talk me through this. if you had your magic wand and would make this happen tomorrow, what kind of person gets convicted and is allowed by the judge, hey buddy, you want to serve time or get flogged? >> well if i add magic wand, i wish there was a third path. i'm all ears. here is the basic idea. they are convicted of a crime and the judge says take your choice, five years in the joint or ten lashes. i imagine most people who choose the lashes. ironically, people say, well it is is not harsh enough. it is harsh. we talking about flogging people. i think you should flog someone like in singapore. get it over with. in a few minutes you get it done, keep your family together. keep your job if you had one. all of the harm that comes from prison and horrors that come from prison. and save a lot of money. it is a whole lot cheaper. >> you mention singapore. michael fay sentencing to caning in singapore in 1994. i think the charge was vandalism. that caused a huge uproar in this country. why would flogging be any more acceptable now? >> well you know, it caused a huge uproar. there was a lot of support for that kind of punishment too. i don't think someone should be flogged for what he did sch ch is vandalize street signs. we have 2.3 million prisoners in america. that is more than any other country in the history of the world ever. you know, we have more prisoners than military personnel. we have to do something. and it wasn't always this way. it is related crime. it is not because of crime np in 1907 we add normal level of incarceration. really since then, mostly because of the horrible war on drugs, since then things have gotten out of hand in this country. yes it is a radical pro pro posal but hopefully it will get us talking about something far worse which is this prison industrial complex. >> all right, in defense of flogging, we have the book right here. troops turning water cannons on the people they are meant to protect. is the antigovernment protesters at its tipping point? what's this option? that's new. personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. >> explosions gunfire and battles raging in the streets. it's all happening at flash points across yemen where the embattled president seems to be doing everything he can to hold on to power. cnn is following the fast-moving developments. we are joined from abu dhabi. we have been watching this video of security forces firing down on a crowd in the city of taias. can you tell us what is happening there? >> i will, drew. let's talk about the pictures we are just seeing from youtube that show water cannons and tear gas thrown at protesters, peaceful protesters, in the city. and freedom square in that city, trying to dispurse the crowd. we have heard from witnesses that that is happening, they are attacked, shot at by security forces there. but haerlier today, far more dramatic pictures, also a lot posted on social media, purporting to show security forces in this city, firing on these protesters from rooftops nearby buildings. take a listen to some of the shots as you can can hear on these videos. officials there tell us that rocks were being thrown from rooftops. that gunfire was ringing out from rooftops. 90 people were injured, at least three people killed as a result of that gunfire aimed at those protesters, the members of the peace revolutionary movement in the city. now another worrying development in yemen today happened in the in the province of yaban. we are told it is from re