shift inside the obama cabinet. and one day to go, the final rehearsal got under way this morning, as prince william and kate middleton prepare for tomorrow's big event, while london reaches a fever pitch in anticipation of the wedding of the year. "early" this thursday morning, the year. "early" this thursday morning, april 28th, 2011. captioning funded by cbs welcome to "the early show" here on a thursday morning. destruction on a massive scale. you will not see more vivid tornado pictures. mother nature unleashing her fury all across the south, like we mentioned from texas to virginia, towns, homes, completely obliterated. these pictures from tuscaloosa, alabama, yesterday, and last night. just incredible images. the death toll continues to rise. we will have extensive reports from that entire region coming up in just a couple of moments. good morning, everyone, i'm chris wragge. he'll get you the very latest on that breaking news in the south in just a moment. as we said, erica hill is in london, continuing to cover the royal wedding. if the news has not made its way across the pond yet to the news outlets in london, it will shortly. this is just massive destruction here in the states. >> and those pictures, chriss are devastating. and it has, in fact, made its way here. coming up later in the show, those pictures, that destruction, definitely generating attention here. of course the other big story is that royal wedding with less than 24 hours to go. you mentioned that kate was at westminster abbey for a final rehearsal this morning. final preparations are under way. i know we do want to get folks caught up on everything that's happened overnight with the tram of destruction across the south. >> thank you. the scale of the damage there texas to virginia just unbelievable, as you've seen in these pictures the last few moments. at least 173 people are reportedly killed in five states now. no one knows how many tornadoes there were. some neighborhoods were just completely destroyed. alabama, hardest hit by far, reporting at least 128 deaths, as of now. a team of reporters in alabama for us this morning. let's begin with cbs news correspondent mark strassmann in tuscaloosa, alabama. very hard-hit area there. mark, good morning. what is the latest? >> good morning, chris. the latest, you see behind me. this is the edge of the destruction here in tuscaloosa. and now that it is first light, a search and rescue sweep in earnest will begin, block by block, house by house. and so many people here say the same thing. they looked at the sky yesterday, and this is what they saw. this black, massive mass coming at them. ominous, twisting, a mile wide. it was a killer tornado, just bearing down on tuscaloosa. a and so many other communities, as well. it was part of a savage storm system that moved across the south from mississippi to georgia, texas to virginia, people scrambled for whatever cover they could, even inside a bathtub. today people in so many communities have their own horror stories. here in tuscaloosa, the home of the university of alabama, the twister ripped through neighborhoods, flipped cars, flattened homes and businesses, and killed at least 15 people. so this is a community in grief, along with a community in ruins. tornadoes spawned by this storm system also killed people in five different states and across the south, chris, the day after is going to be a shocker. >> day after obviously never good, especially after seeing those pictures and all that destruction. let me ask you this, with all the drama and devastation there, who's the most shocking part of this to you? >> probably just the number of people killed, chris. 128 people just in alabama. at least 165 people in five states. that is the single largest death total from tornado activity since 1947. i mean, 128 people just in alabama. largely rural state. that is an eye-popping number. but people are going to be in for even more of a jolt when they get into these neighborhoods and see just the ruin. they're going to see devastation, chris, that in their lifetime is on an unprecedented scale. >> all right, cbs' mark strassmann for us in tuscaloosa, alabama. now let's bring in cbs' terrell brown in pratt city, just outside of birmingham. terrell, good morning to you. how about your situation there? give us an update? >> chris, good morning to you. we are at a church in a suburb of birmingham. and when that storm came through it ripped off the front of this building. the roof here collapsed, and everything that was on the inside of the building really spilled out. so the front door of this building, sitting right here right now. cinderblock, brick, pieces of wood now, litter the ground. the only thing untouched, amazingly, in the front of the church, is the sign itself. relatively speaking, it is a miracle that this building is still standing right now. there are homes in this neighborhood that you can just now see as we're getting first light, that are decimated. homes, apartments, that once stood, that no longer stand anymore. they're not even in any type of existence. we were talking to some of the folks here that live in this neighborhood. and one man said knows some of the phones that live here that five people that he knows of were killed in this neighborhood alone. of course, as crews come back out today and begin to work, utility crews and power crews, they're going to be discovering later on today, some of the things that they were missing overnight that they couldn't see. certainly those downed power lines that we had to be so careful of when we were out here working overnight. >> cbs' terrell brown for us. thank you very much. and farther north beth jett of our huntsville affiliate whnt is in harvest, alabama, with the latest on the situation there. beth, good morning. >> good morning to you, chris. and the first light is revealing some shocking images of the devastation out here in harvest, alabama. in madison county. now, the severe weather moving in yesterday in waves. and we can confirm this morning, six people, at least six people are dead. that includes a young girl, her father was critically injured. they were hunkering down inside their home, trying to wait out the storm, when their home was just knocked off of its foundation, much like many other homes in this area. the powerful storm spawned tornadoes, brought heavy thunderstorms, and near-hurricane-force winds. there are -- there is widespread destruction, as homes were flattened and cars were overturned. here in harvest, hailstorms left and right. again, the storms coming in waves all throughout the day. take a look behind me. this san example of what was left behind in its path. this is a bp gas station or what was left of it. and obviously you can see extensively damaged. and the manager was inside it, actually, when this tornado came through. he said he locked the door and hunkered down. he was not injured. lucky, as dozens of people were injured, and we're getting more specific statistics of how many victims we have as a press conference is being held as we speak. that's the latest in harvest. >> beth, a quick question for you. as far as early warning systems around the state. what are you hearing? were people given enough time in different parts of the state of alabama? >> yeah, chris, they were. sirens went off all throughout north alabama, very easy to hear. of course, weather coverage on the radio, as well as tv, as well as the internet, was predicting this back since sunday, people had plenty of warning to know that these storms were about to become very dangerous, and destructive, as they did yesterday. and of course we're seeing the full extent of the damage today, as first rise here, sunrooiz. >> beth jett in harvest, alabama, for us this morning. thank you very much. joining us now from montgomery, the state capital, is alabama governor robert bentley. governor, good morning to you. >> good morning, chris. >> thank you so much for taking a few moments for us. we know this has been a devastating morning for you. but you've been in contact with people across your state. just how bad is it there right now? >> well, i think this is the worst natural disaster in many, many years in alabama. right now we have 128 confirmed dead. we have had long track tornadoes that have gone all across the state. and we've had massive devastation all over the northern part of the state. >> as far as your top priorities right now, what exactly are they for the hardest hit pardons of alabama? >> well, of course, the most important is to search and rescue and find the people that are still hurt. there are some out there at the present time that we have not found, and so that's the most important thing that we're doing right now. and then, of course, we have people out there trying to restore power. we have all of our first responders across the state. last night i activated 2,000 national guardsmen. most of those are in the field at the present time. and we will activate more than that if we need it, to do the search and rescue. >> governor, i know you spoke with president obama last night. he declared a state of emergency for the state of alabama. are you confident that you are going to get the immediate aid necessary to help the people of your great state? >> i am. i spoke with the president last night, and he assured me that help would be coming this morning. in fact, probably some last night. but he assured me that the federal government would help, but we have some tremendous first responders in the state. and they're doing an outstanding job, and i'm very proud of all of those people that are out today. and last night they were out, all of our first responders are doing a very good job. >> governor, again, thank you for taking a few moments for us this morning. we know you are extremely busy. our thoughts go out to you and the people of alabama. >> thank you very much. >> governor robert bentley, thank you. now here's jeff glor at the news desk with a check of today's other headlines for us this morning. good morning. >> chris, good morning to you. good morning to everyone at home. you mentioned the president declared that state of emergency in alabama. also after taking the unprecedented step yesterday of producing his long-form birth certificate to counter the so-called birther controversy, president obama spent last night in new york city. he was at three different fund-raisers. mr. obama said the argument, the birther argument, was silly and the distracted from serious problems. but he also made light of the matter. >> no one checked my i.d. on the way in. but just in case -- >> that was last night here in new york city. cbs news senior white house correspondent bill plante has more this morning. bill, good morning to you. we know the controversy has obviously been out there for a couple years now. any more clarification from the white house this morning on why they came out and did this now? >> well, good morning, jeff. the president did say that he thought this issue was behind him. that it was pretty well settled except, of course, for those people out there on the fringes. but, in fact, our polling shows that 25% of all voters, and 45% of republican voters, believe, or have some doubt, anyway, that he was born in the usa. and so the president, when this began to occupy lots of news coverage, after donald trump began to bring it up, decided that he ought to put an end to this once and for all. and besides that, as he told oprah winfrey in an interview which will air next monday, there are other things that he'd much rather be talking about. >> we can't be distracted by side shows and as i said in my press conference, carnival barkers, who are going around trying to get attention. >> and, you know, this was something that was clearly the president's own idea. all of his staff people that i've talked to say that it was the president who decided, after the news coverage began to occupy a lot of space when trump began to bring it up, although they never mentioned trump's name, that he had to do something about this. chris? >> yeah. bill, it's still jeff. so he didn't mention trump specifically yesterday, but he did this because of trump. is there concern that -- from the white house, that they were giving in here? >> absolutely not. what they really think is, although they won't say this at all, is that they have a political advantage here. that the president occupies the high ground, that he is the one being seen now as wanting to get down to business, while there's a lunatic fringe out there, they'll never use that term either, that persists in believing this. but they think it works to their advantage. >> all right, bill plante at the white house this morning. bill, thank you very much. it is 7:13 right now. and we head back to london, where erica hill is standing by. good morning. >> jeff, good morning. good to see you this morning. this is, of course, the day before the big day. less than 24 hours from now, we will be in full swing at westminster abbey. cbs news correspondent mark phillips is outside the abbey this morning, where anticipation is really hitting a fever pitch, especially because, mark, as i understand it, there were a few rather important people in terms of the wedding at the abbey today. >> there are, indeed. let me just mention the phone that i've got stuck in my ear here as we're ironing out our communications difficulties. i'm not talking to somebody else, i am talking to you. but yes, there are, i don't know, 300, 400, maybe more people already camped out here. to use a sports metaphor, they've staked out positions at home plate for this event tomorrow, and it's just across the street from westminster abbey, maybe 20 or 30 yards away from here, that these people have come in anticipation, of course, of tomorrow's event. but they've gotten several sneak previews, as well, because of the rehearsals that have been going on. the wedding party has been here already twice. today kate was here with prince harry, who will be acting, of course, as best man, to go through the paces of what happens tomorrow. yesterday, the entire wedding party, including prince william, was here, as well. though the people who have come out here a couple of days now in advance, some of them have been here for that long, they, in fact, have managed to see something that the rest of the world, at this point, has not. erica? >> for the folks who can't be there, there are some new details they can download online. the official program has been released. and one of the most important questions answered in terms of the vows and what kate will say. >> yes. this was, you know, the big unanswered question. and now it has been answered. she will not, as the ancient tradition goes, promise to obey william in the old church of england marriage vows. william's mother diana didn't, either. the queen, when she got married here, she was the last major royal to have done that. what kate will say is that she will love, comfort, honor and keep. that's the phrasing that is now in the order of service that has just been released here, it's available online for people who want to see it. it's a very attractive book. and in it is a brand-new picture of the happy couple taken by mario testino, the official photographer, has been for william and kate. a very informal picture in which she is actually a little closer to the camera than he is in keeping with this modern couple look that they're cultivating. >> hey, really quickly, mark, we only have about 15 seconds but a very controversial invitation to the ambassador of syria as i understand it has just been revoked this morning. is that correct? >> yes. the last thing anybody wants is for politics to raise its ugly head in this. but of course it has. the syrian ambassador, still this morning was on the guest list. there was a big hue and cry in the press as to whether he ought to be in what's going on there. now diplomatically the invitation has been withdrawn and he won't be there. so people won't be talking about him. hopefully they'll be talking about the wedding. >> okay. mark phillips outside westminster abbey. thanks for rolling with the phone, too, mark. thanks. want to head back to new york now where marysol >> thanks so much. that's your latest weather. now back to erica in london. >> mary, thanks. just ahead much more to come live from london. including a visit along the parade route where more than 1 million people are expected to cram in. we'll tell you what it's going to be like. this is the "early" show live from london on cbs. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? 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