[Feyerick:] So we asked before the break, do you know how many gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico because of the BP oil disaster: 180 million, 195 million, 205 million, or 215 million? Well, the answer, 205 million gallons. We'll take you to the Louisiana coast in just a moment, but first, let's get you caught up on some of our top stories here. Well, devastating scenes across North Carolina as powerful storms pounded that state. At least 23 deaths are reported.
[Unidentified Male:] I just told everybody to get down, cover up, get into your cubbyholes, get into a tight space, and make sure to get away from the windows. That's the best thing to do.
[Feyerick:] Those storms were part of a system that formed Thursday in Oklahoma. More than 40 people have been killed across six states. And 10-man crews are working around the clock to save a trapped miner in northeast Idaho. The miner has not been heard from since part of the roof of the mine called Lucky Friday outside Mullan, Idaho, collapsed Friday. Another miner escaped. Special digging equipment has been brought in. Crews are trying to cut through 25 feet of debris. They've stopped to reinforce the roof. A national church held a special service today for a missing nursing student. Twenty-year-old Holly Bobo disappeared from her home last week. Police say her brother last saw her being led into the woods by a man dressed in camouflage. The pastor today said attendance was down because a lot of parishioners are helping with the search for the young lady. This is a long, long overdue military honor for a U.S. Army officer who went missing during World War II. The remains of 2nd Lieutenant Martin Murray were buried yesterday in Massachusetts, 68 years after his B-24 crew crashed on a Pacific island. The Pentagon positively put his name to some human remains found there in 2007. Pope Benedict XVI ushered in Holy Week today with a Palm Sunday blessing at the Palms and a procession in a jam-packed St. Peter's Square. Later, the pontiff presided over an outdoor mass. And all Toyota plants in Japan will be back on line starting tomorrow, but the automaker only plans to operate them at half capacity until early June. It's still having a lot of trouble getting parts to build new cars. A lot of Toyota plants shut down after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. [Begin Video Clip, "rio"]
[Unidentified Male:] Your macaw is a very special bird. Lou is the last male of his kind.
[Unidentified Male:] I have a kind? [End Video Clip, "rio"]
[Feyerick:] The new 3-D animated movie "Rio" flew off with the box office this weekend. The film about birds on a Brazilian adventure took in an estimated $40 million. It's the biggest opening weekend for any film in the U.S. this year. The sequel "Scream IV" came in second, with just over $19 million, and "Hop" took third with just over $11 million. Nearly a year after the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf, much of the oil is gone. Heavy machinery and workers have cleaned beaches for months, so how did they do? Well, CNN's Rob Marciano gives us a progress report from the Gulf.
[Rob Marciano, Ams Meteorologist:] It was a year ago this week when the deepwater horizon rig exploded about 15 miles southeast of the Louisiana coastline, spewing over 200,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It's been a long 12 months working on that spill, cleaning it up. That job is not done. [voice-over]: The U.S. Coast Guard leads a reduced, but still formidable clean-up force.
[Commander Dan Lauer, Deputy Incident Commander, Uscg:] The height in July, we were approaching somewhere around 48,000 responders. Today we are just probably under about 2,000 responders.
[Marciano:] Now, after a long year, progress is visible in the water and on the shore.
[Unidentified Male:] This auger picks up the sand from the beach at a prescribed depth.
[Marciano:] In Alabama and Florida, these land sharks have been deep- cleaning the sand all winter long. [on camera]: It's amazing how clean that is.
[Tom Mahan, Florida Director Of Operations, Bp:] It's beautiful. Florida beaches are spectacular.
[Marciano:] The goal is to get the beaches back to their pre-oil spill beauty. But layers of oil still exist deep in the sand, and these machines are only allowed to dig down six inches in this wildlife-protected area. [on camera]: So there's a lot more going on in the sand.
[Mahan:] It is. It's very alive. It's a very active substrate. It's very diverse. What we can see is a lot of other critters, literally, that are below us that will dry this whole system.
[Marciano:] These shores are also nesting grounds for some protected shore birds and endangered turtles. I got to handle a few sea turtles rescued from the oil spill last year. They are truly remarkable creatures. [on camera]: Turtles that are born on this beach, do they come back and nest on this beach?
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, it's pretty amazing. They imprints in this area by virtue of when they hatch.
[Marciano:] So they don't really have a choice. This is their nesting ground oil or not, they're going to come back here?
[Unidentified Male:] This is their habitat and home absolutely.
[Marciano:] The beach is also shared by tourists who will see less of everything this summer.
[Mahan:] The visitors who come to the beach will see beach and won't see people in vest and equipment and shovels coming along and cleaning. We will do enough inspection to make sure the beaches are clean, but that's all they'll see.
[Marciano:] The heavy equipment will be pulled, too. Environmentalists are somewhat encouraged.
[Jason Case, Florida Environmental Coordinator:] I do feel good about the partnership and the progress that we've made. I don't think the job is done, though, by any means.
[Marciano:] Nowhere is that more evident than in Louisiana's marshes at the heart of this fragile ecosystem. Here thick oil still remains and the cleanup will go on for months, if not years. [on camera]: These beaches looked phenomenal compared to a year ago, but the story on wildlife, the impact from the oil spill, that continues. Just this January 1st, there had been a huge number of dead dolphins and turtles that have washed up on these beaches possibly linked to the oil spill. What's going to happen to wildlife in the next 12 months, the next decade? We still don't know. Rob Marciano, CNN, Gulf Shores, Alabama.
[Feyerick:] And as the nation prepares to mark the first anniversary since the disaster, CNN is going to bring you an in-depth look at the Gulf oil spill. Look for CNN's special reports throughout all of our programming this week. Well, have you ever been waiting for flying cars and space tourism to enter the high-tech decade? Get ready. The future is now.