(NECN) - President Bush tells those affected by deadly tornadoes in the South that the U.S. government will help them and the rest of the country is praying for them.

"Loss of life, loss of property - prayers can help and so can the government," Bush said Wednesday. "I do want the people in those states to know the American people are standing with them."

The president said he called the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee and assured them the administration stood ready to help and to deal with any emergency requests.

(NECN/ABC) - The daylight revealed the magnitude of the damage caused by the overnight tornadoes. These are student dormitories at union university in Jackson, TN... After a powerful twister reduced them to rubble..

David Dockery: Union University president "The campus has suffered major damage.. About 40 percent of residential area is completely destroyed; 40 percent of it badly damaged"

Overnight rescuers had to dig students out from beneath the debris

Student: "It just looked liked this white curtain, this white float just washed all over me..."

LAFAYETTE, Tenn. (AP) - Crews went door-to-door Wednesday searching debris for more victims of deadly tornadoes that ripped the roof off a shopping mall, pummeled mobile homes and blew apart warehouses as they tore across four states. At least 44 people were killed throughout the South.

The victims included 24 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, and seven in Kentucky, emergency officials said. Among those killed were Arkansas parents who died with their 11-year-old in Atkins, about 60 miles northwest of Little Rock. Hundreds more were injured.

ATKINS, Ark. (AP) - Authorities went door-to-door early Wednesday searching for more victims of deadly tornadoes that ripped the roof off a shopping mall and blew apart warehouses as they tore across four states. At least 31 people were reported dead throughout the South.

The dead included 13 people in Tennessee, 11 in Arkansas, and seven in Kentucky. Among those killed were Arkansas parents who died with their 11-year-old in Atkins, about 60 miles northwest of Little Rock.

The family died from trauma when the storm their home "took a

(NECN/ABC) - The nation's largest-ever budget proposal is now in the hands of Congress.

The President sent his $3.1 trillion spending plan to Capitol Hill first thing Monday morning.

His final budget blueprint includes spending hikes of 7% for the Pentagon and another 11% for homeland security.

The administration would freeze domestic programs, and slow growth in medicare and medicaid. While protecting tax cuts, the President hopes this will boost the ailing economy.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Thomas S. Monson, a leader who became known for his folksy storytelling as he ascended through church ranks, was introduced Monday as the 16th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Monson, 80, succeeds Gordon B. Hinckley, who died last month at age 97. Out of respect for the deceased president, the Mormon church never names a successor until after funeral services. Hinckley was buried Saturday.

The church relies on a pattern of apostolic succession in selecting a new president. Since the early part of the 20th

(NECN/ABC) - (NECN) - Footage broadcast in the Netherlands shows Dutch student Joran Van der Sloot saying he was with American teenager Natalie Holloway when she collapsed on a beach in Aruba.

Van der Sloot says he believed Holloway was dead and asked a friend to dump her body in the sea, saying "She'll never be found."

A series of conversations between Van der Sloot and a man he believed to be his friend were recorded in a Range Rover rigged with three hidden cameras by a Dutch TV crime reporter.

(NECN) - Footage broadcast in the Netherlands shows Dutch student Joran Van der Sloot saying he was with American teenager Natalie Holloway when she collapsed on a beach in Aruba.

Van der Sloot says he believed Holloway was dead and asked a friend to dump her body in the sea, saying "She'll never be found."

A series of conversations between Van der Sloot and a man he believed to be his friend were recorded in a Range Rover rigged with three hidden cameras by a Dutch TV crime reporter.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush unveiled a $3.1 trillion budget on Monday that supports sizable increases in military spending to fight the war on terrorism and protects his signature tax cuts.

The spending proposal, which shows the government spending $3 trillion in a 12-month period for the first time in history, squeezes most of government outside of national security, and also seeks $196 billion in savings over the next five years in the government's giant health care programs - Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor.

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. (AP) - Four people were found dead in a home in a suburb north of Baltimore, and police said Sunday that officers had made an arrest in the case.

Police planned to release details at a midday news conference Sunday, said Bill Toohey, a spokesman for the Baltimore County Police Department.

The victims were a man, a woman and two teenage boys. Police did not immediately release their names or say if they were related, but neighbors said the home was occupied by John Browning, his wife and their children.