The story

President Bush arrived in Tennessee on Friday morning, "taking the prayers of the American people to those who suffered from the devastating tornadoes."

After Air Force One landed at the Nashville airport, Bush immediately boarded a Marine helicopter to fly to Lafayette in Macon County, where 14 people were killed and 170 homes were damaged in Tuesday night's storms.

"People gotta understand here in the region that a lot of folks around America care for them," he said after receiving a briefing from local emergency officials.

"I'm here to listen, to make sure that the federal response is compassionate and effective."

He moved up a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington to make room in his schedule for the Tennessee visit. Read full article »

CNN's David Mattingly and Susan Roesgen contributed to this report.

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