BLITZER: An important new development today in the escalating Syria crackdown. Lisa Sylvester is monitoring that and some of the other top stories in THE SITUATION ROOM right now. What's going on?</s>LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. Well, President Obama is issuing an executive order declaring sanctions against Syrian officials and others for human rights abuses. This, as one witness says, 19 people were killed and dozens wounded in new military clashes with anti-government protesters. CNN has been denied access to report from inside Syria and cannot independently confirm these accounts. A federal judge has ruled the army corps of engineers may intentionally burst a levee to ease pressure on already flood-engorged Mississippi River. The move is an effort to prevent flooding in the Illinois town of Cairo downstream. Missouri attorney generally says the plan will flood 130,000 evacuated areas. Most of it farmland in the southeastern portion of the state. And CNN has just obtained dramatic, never before seen footage of the Japanese tsunami as it hit the Sendai. Take a look here. You can see everything from helicopters to cars, trucks, boats, literally being swept away. At least 14,000 were killed in the March disaster. 11,000 people are still missing, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: I assume those 11,000 are dead, too, but they haven't officially made that determination. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks very much. Dramatic pictures. When tornadoes ripped through the southeast, this check never made it into the mail, but wait until you hear where it did go. And a tornado survivor tells us how she and her one-year-old granddaughter survived and what they're going through right now.
U.S. Issues Sanctions Against Syria; Judge Clears Missouri Levee Breach