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President Obama on Wednesday toured streets strewn with debris and wrecked homes in Vilonia, Ark., promising the federal government would help the town recover from a tornado that killed 15 people last month.

In brief remarks from a rubble-filled subdivision, Obama said hed come to make sure the victims know your country is going to be there for you.

Because when something like this happens to a wonderful community like this one, it happens to all of us, he said.

The presidents trip was his first to Arkansas as president; Obama had little reason to campaign in the Republican-leaning state in 2012.

He was greeted at the airport by Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, Sen. Mark Pryor, a Democrat, and Rep. Tim Griffin, a Republican. Obama viewed the storm-damaged homes north of Little Rock from Marine One, the presidential helicopter, before meeting with first responders and victims' families in Vilonia, where a twister upended cars and leveled buildings on April 27. He later walked the battered area, navigating through the piles of wood, trash and water-logged belongings.

Obama noted that the disaster was compounded by the fact that many in Vilonia had just rebuilt from another severe tornado three years ago.

Folks here are tough. They look out for one another, and that's been especially clear the past week, Obama said. Im here to remind them that theyre not doing this work alone.

More than 400 federal emergency workers have been deployed in the South and Southeast, where storms hit several communities late last month, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday.

The president issued a major disaster declaration for the region. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson visited last week.

Obama made his brief stop on the way to Southern California, where he is scheduled to raise money for Democratic candidates. He is due to land in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening.

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Obama tours tornado damage, says Arkansas 'not doing this work alone'

WASHINGTON (AP) Within weeks, President Barack Obama's administration is set to unveil unprecedented emissions limits on power plants across the U.S., much to the dismay of many Democratic candidates who are running for election in energy-producing states. Fearful of a political backlash, they wish their fellow Democrat in the White House would hold off until after the voting.

But Obama can't wait that long.

Unlike the Keystone XL oil pipeline, whose review the administration has delayed, probably until after November's elections, the clock is ticking for the power plant rules the cornerstone of Obama's campaign to curb climate change. Unless he starts now, the rules won't be in place before he leaves office, making it easier for his successor to stop them.

So even though the action could bolster Republican attacks against some of this year's most vulnerable Democrats, the administration is proceeding at full speed. Obama's counselor on climate issues, John Podesta, affirmed that the proposal will be unveiled in early June just as this year's general election is heating up.

"Having this debate now will only injure Democrats," said Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic strategist. "Democrats are in trouble. The best thing when you're in trouble is to avoid further controversy."

To be sure, Americans generally support cutting pollution. A Pew Research Center poll late last year found 65 percent of Americans favor "setting stricter emission limits on power plants in order to address climate change," while 30 percent were opposed.

But Democrats are fighting most of their toughest races this year in conservative-leaning states that rely heavily on the energy industry, including Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alaska and Montana. Already, conservative groups have spent millions accusing Democrats in those states of supporting energy policies that would impede local jobs and economic development.

Never mind that it's Obama's administration not House or Senate candidates drafting the rules. Even when Democrats try to distance themselves from Obama on the issue, Republicans say that's evidence that congressional Democrats are impotent to rein in their party's out-of-control president.

Republican Rep. Steve Daines, who is running to unseat Democratic Sen. John Walsh in Montana, calls the new rules part of a broader war Obama is waging on Montana's jobs and families. Daines said in an interview, "The Democratic-led Senate has been complicit in supporting President Barack Obama's war on coal, and Montanans don't like it."

Seeking to head off those arguments, some Democrats already are assailing the expected new rules in hopes voters won't lump candidates together with Obama in states where the president is highly unpopular. Rep. Nick Rahall, a Democrat from coal-rich West Virginia and a top GOP target, said an earlier Obama plan affecting only new power plants "hinged on fantasy and endangers our economy."

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Obama Climate Rules Can't Wait 'Til After Election

President Barack Obama is removing special trade benefits for Russia because the country is too economically advanced to need them and Moscow's involvement in Ukraine made it an appropriate time to take the step, the White House announced Wednesday.

Obama notified Congress that he plans to remove Russia from the Generalized System of Preferences program, which gave Moscow a $544 million break on import taxes in 2012 on products ranging from metals and minerals to tires and ceramic wares.

The program, which allowed $19.9 billion in imports to enter the U.S. duty-free in 2012, is designed to help developing countries boost their economy through trade. The program expired in July 2013, but the Obama administration supports legislation under consideration in Congress to extend it.

The White House says Russia's removal will mean its goods will be subject to normal tariff rates once Obama issues a proclamation, which can be no sooner than 60 days from congressional notification.

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said Russia was set to be eliminated from the program on Jan. 1, 2016, after being upgraded to high-income status by the World Bank last year, but Obama decided to move forward ahead of schedule. "Russia's actions regarding Ukraine, while not directly related to the president's decision regarding Russia's eligibility for GSP benefits, make it particularly appropriate to take this step now," she said.

The announcement comes on the day that Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country has pulled troops back from the border it shares with Ukraine. But the White House was skeptical of the claim.

"We would certainly welcome a meaningful and transparent withdrawal of Russian military forces from the border," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "That's something that we have sought for quite some time. I will say that, to date, there's been no evidence that such a withdrawal has taken place."

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

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Obama Removing Special Trade Benefits for Russia

President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, arrives in Israel this week for high-profile talks that come against the backdrop of rising hopes for an Iranian nuclear deal and faltering U.S.-led peace talks with the Palestinians.

Rice's trip her first to Israel since assuming her White House post last year has been long planned. She's leading a contingent of U.S. officials the State and Treasury departments, Pentagon and intelligence community who hold regular discussions with their Israeli counterparts.

But the Iranian negotiations in particular are expected to factor into Rice's talks Wednesday and Thursday, particularly her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader has been vocal critic of the U.S.-led nuclear negotiations with Iran, accusing Tehran of using the talks as a stalling tactic while it pursues a nuclear weapon.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that Rice's meetings will not produce "any new development on the Iran front."

"It's an opportunity for representatives from the United States and Israel at high levels to discuss that issue, among many others," Carney said.

The U.S. and its negotiating partners Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China reached an interim nuclear accord with Iran late last year and are now holding delicate discussions on a final deal. Nuclear experts from each country were meeting in New York this week ahead of higher level talks scheduled in Vienna next week.

While the talks have yielded some positive signs, the toughest issues must still be negotiated and any deal could fall apart.

Obama and other top U.S. officials have sought to convince Israel that the talks represent the best option for resolving the international community's dispute with Iran peacefully. Israel sees the Iranian nuclear program as an existential threat and has resisted any suggestions that Tehran could be left with some nuclear capacity.

Iran says it is not seeking a bomb and is instead pursuing a peaceful nuclear program.

Despite being one of Obama's closest foreign policy advisers, Rice has kept a relatively low-key public profile on both the Iran and Mideast peace issues, allowing Secretary of State John Kerry to serve as the administration's primary spokesman on the matters. Kerry has played a particularly hands-on role in the U.S.-brokered peace talks, shuttling to the region frequently in an effort to jumpstart the stalled process.

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Obama Aide Susan Rice to Hold Meetings in Israel

President Barack Obama is expected to meet with the head of Syria's opposition council in the coming days, as the U.S. weighs the possibility of more economic sanctions aimed at changing Syrian President Bashar Assad's calculus ahead of June elections.

A White House official said Obama would see Ahmad al-Jarba while the opposition leader is in Washington for meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry and other U.S. officials. The exact day of Obama's meeting was unclear, though it's likely to occur after the president returns from a three-day trip to the West Coast that kicks off Wednesday.

The official insisted on anonymity in order to confirm Obama's meeting before it was publicly announced.

Jarba's trip to Washington comes as the Obama administration is boosting its support for the Syrian Opposition Council. The State Department announced Monday that it would give the opposition's offices in Washington and New York formal diplomatic status and increase non-lethal assistance to the opposition by $27 million.

The administration recognized the opposition council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in December 2012, but its U.S. offices had been recognized only as informal liaison bureaus until this week.

The moves come at a critical time in the conflict as Assad's government has made recent battlefield gains and is planning presidential elections in June. The administration is considering taking additional steps in the coming days, including the possibility of levying new sanctions on the Assad regime.

Earlier U.S. sanctions on Assad and his associates have had little impact in stemming the bloody civil war that has stretched into a fourth year. More than 150,000 people have been killed in the clashes between rebels and forces loyal to Assad, with millions of others displaced by the war.

The White House has denounced the June presidential elections in Syria as a farce aimed at giving Assad the veneer of electoral legitimacy. Assad has ruled Syria since 2000, when he took over from his late father.

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Matthew Lee and http://twitter.com/APDiploWriter

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Obama to Meet With Syrian Opposition Leader