in illinois a twister devastated the city of harrisburg early this morning killing at least five people and injuring about 100 others. as many as 300 homes and businesses were either destroyed or damaged. downed power lines and trees littered the streets there just a short while ago we heard from the mayor. >> so evidently there was several minutes before it actually did hit after the sirens went off. we're very fortunate that we have a good system in place that we have an early warning detection system. so we still have some time. the way this came through and where it hit at, it's just complete -- just tore everything up in its path. it was devastating. >> and these pictures that you're going to look at show the massive damage in the small town of harveyville, kansas. that's destroyed homes and trees uprooted and power lines down as well. take a look at this.

a twister captured on film by a storm chaser in kansas in missouri where two people died. joining me now is wendell edwards. he's live from branson, missouri. set the scene for us. how bad is the damage? >> reporter: you know, randi, it's pretty bad. take a look at what is going on. this is a vitamin and health food store. people are just now assessing the damage and trying to clean up and see what is left. what we can tell you, though, is storms ripped through this main part of branson, missouri. this is the main district. a lot of theaters and plazas. as you can see, the quilt store, the fabric store, part of that ripped off. we don't know of any injuries here or anybody that has been severely hurt but we just got here and are trying to assess

what is happening. this is the main strip in branson. a very tourist attraction, to say the least. and this is just a week or so before spring break starts so thankfully a lot of people weren't here but they want to clean this up before the height of their season starts, just before the summer. people are cleaning up. several state troopers and people down here trying to assess exactly what is going on. we are here, too, trying to talk to people who survive these terrible, terrible storms. randi, back to you. >> wendell, as i see people going through the devastation, are they still searching for survivors under this rubble? >> reporter: randi, they are not searching for survivors. about 30 people may have had minor injuries but no people reportedly killed, at least here in branson, missouri. it really has been confined to the main entertainment district. there is a strip here of several

theaters. you know, mini country music stars to have many of their shows. it's like a second nashville only it's in the midwest here in missouri. but we do not know of any search and rescue going on. all we know is the damage cleaning up, picking up the pieces, as the cliche goes. >> very quickly, how about the warnings? we heard from some of these other people in other states how quickly this storm impacted their area. was there a warning? were people able to get out of the way of this storm there? >> reporter: from what we understand, there was. but the storm came in the middle of the night when most people were asleep. so if there was a warning, which we were told there was, many people were asleep and didn't hear it or see it by the time the storm had already blown through. so then they woke up trying to assess what happened. we heard that it hit a subdivision maybe half a mile off the strip, too. we'll take our eyes and camera over there.

one couple was in their bedroom where they have a storm shelter and they were able to get into it without any warning. that's what we're trying to find out. it seems to be pretty devastating but then again, as they say, it would be much worse. >> all right. wendell edwards reporting from koco, our affiliate. we're listening to the mayor of harrisburg, illinois. he's speaking live with our affiliate there. >> the municipalities are helping out. >> we've got neighboring coal mines that have sent their rescue teams and we've gotten support from other states as well. everybody is coming to us as they did in joplin, missouri, when that event happened there. we're, unfortunately, not to the tune -- not to the -- i guess to the level of that but still it's just heartbreaking to see what we've got going on here in harrisburg and i would just ask everyone to keep us in your

thoughts and prayers and not only today but in the days ahead for us and keep the ones that -- the families that have lost loved ones and those that are injured in your thoughts and prayers, first and foremost. >> reporter: mayor, thank you very much. we'll stay in touch with you as we continue here in harrisburg. mayor gregg relying on outside -- >> that was a brief interview with our affiliate. that was mayor eric gregg. let's check in with meteorologist jacqui jeras and new warnings. was this the storm that has actually hit some of these states? >> it's the same storm system, that's for sure, but not the same individual storm cell that we're talking about. but we have seen storms repeat themselves and redevelop over some of the same areas. you're looking at kentucky here. here's louisville, evansville, indiana, and now we're talking about central parts of kentucky.

we have two active warnings as we speak. both of which we call doppler-indicated radar tornadoes. this is heading towards a very populated area of bowling green, kentucky. we don't have a real signature on it or we'd get an icon on it but it could drop down at any given time and this storm that we're talking about right now, this is clay city, kentucky, and stanton, kentucky, we have major rotation on this storm heading your way. a warning about this storm. to put it into perspective, you can see lexington as well. the danger remains very heightened as we have a new watch to talk about. all of the old boxes have been expired and we're talking about one specific area. you can see it across tennessee and kentucky. this is a tornado watch until 8:00 local time. more tornadoes expected, more damage expected.

hopefully not more fatalities. >> and when you hear about the strength of this storm, we've heard witnesses tell us that people were being sucked into a building and a piece of 2 by 4 stuck into concrete. how fast and strong are these storms? >> the storms are moving quickly, like 50, 60 miles per hour. so you can't outrun something like that. you can't outdrive something like that. we have one confirmed tornado report, the one in harveyville, kansas, that was an ef-2 tornado and produced winds of about 110 to 135 miles per hour. based on some of the pictures that have been seen, particularly out of illinois, we're going to see winds much higher than that. >> jacqui, thank you for keeping us posted. and now i'm joined by the phone with terry. how widespread is the damage in

your city? >> the damage is limited to an area on the eastern side of the city an area that was called gaston city before it was annexed years and years ago it was hard hit. the line of the storm was through a small shopping center next to a walmart wiped it out, went next to a drainage ditch and there were at least three people killed in a small apartment building that was collapsed and total rubble. that side of the city is heavily damaged. >> are people still unaccounted for in harrisburg?

>> not to my knowledge. they have been doing house-to-house searches shortly after 5:00 this morning. they called for spray paint to mark houses as they did each house. one of the early problems was that there was debris on the roads that led to the hospital which is also in gaston city. they called for snow employees to clear that out. >> so is the hospital up and running? >> the hospital is up and running. however, the hospital administrator is having a nonemergency evacuation of a wing of the hospital because the damage to it involved two patient rooms and an office and no injuries there. but the air conditioning equipment, heating equipment on the roof went so they are having a nonemergency evacuation. the emergency department is

remaining open and accepting patients. >> when you look at the damage there, really it looks as though your community has been, in a sense, just crushed. where can people go who lost their homes? what is left for them? >> this is southern illinois. we're used to it. we have devastating floods and nobody really pays attention to it. the federal government pays little attention to it. and what they've set up emergency shelters where people really don't show up because they go to the homes of family and friends. it was -- before 6:00 this morning we started getting phone calls, where can i make donations? >> and how is the community holding up? is the concern over? is the fear over? or are you bracing for more? >> no, i don't think that there

is -- i'm not gauging any high level of fear within the community, although i'm sure the forecasts are not good through friday so there's going to be extra attention to the sirens. >> uh-huh. >> and the warnings. >> all right. we appreciate that. terry geese, thank you so much for the update. we wish you well in harrisburg. reporter tyler profilet is in harrisburg as well and he showed us this report last hour. >> people didn't have a lot of time to get to shelter. a bank has been torn. you be see here this is a strip

mall close to a walmart here that has been destroyed. there was a wireless center, a payday loan place all in this strip mall here. i spoke to the manager of this store. he grew up in oklahoma. he grew up in tornado alley, he says. he's very used to experiencing tornadoes and being able to survive them. he said he's never heard anything like this tornado, he's never seen anything like the damage that this tornado left behind. we're also not too far away from where we had the most loss of life. there's an area of town called gaston city. it's about a quarter of a mile off behind me. that's where authorities say they have recovered ten dead and two children. more than 100 people have been injured so far. a lot of stories, talking to some of the survivors. most of them say when they started to hear the sound of that freight train, it lasted two to three minutes long and even into a closet. they just huddled together with

their loved ones and hope that the storm passed over. most of that storm was spared but as you can see, not everybody was so lucky. >> tyler, if you want to have your photographer again to go into that building behind you and tell us whether or not you know, was there anybody inside that building? it looks like a business there. it was early in the morning. was that an empty building or imagine if a lot of people had been at work and they were not able to get to a basement or underground or have been with their families. this could have been a lot worse. granted a lot of times we talk about how when these tornadoes or severe storms hit coming during the night, that's usually the worst time. this walmart store had a lot of damage on the backside of the building. i've talked to people who actually worked there inside. they were actually in the middle of a shift change, people coming in to work in the early morning. when those doors opened, the wind started to come through and it started sucking people inside of the building because of the difference in the air pressure.

then people started running for cover. it was really unbelievable. lots of people after the storm passed hugging, crying, looking for their loved ones. obviously a lot of the cell phone service has been jammed in this area for some time. so a lot of people had to spend a couple hours getting ahold of their loved ones. for ten families at least they weren't able to contact them because we have ten dead here. i want to say the most memorable visual that i have so far is actually a two by four piece of wood stuck into the side of walmart. if you can imagine the force that it would take for a 2 by 4 piece of wood to stick into a concrete building, that's how strong the storm was. the hospital that sits behind me, this is gaston city where we've had a lot of the injuries and devastation. not too far away is the hospital. we want to understand they have called in extra hospitals. other doctors have been put on standby so they can accept

patients. roads have been blocked off because they have power lines across the roadway. one man said he was ill and needed to go see a doctor. they turned him around and said he needed to see someone else. unless someone is having a baby, you need to find another hospital. that's how serious the situation is here in harrisburg. we do know that the hospital did sustain some damage as well. they have been able to operate as smoothly as they can in devastation like this. and to find out how to help more for those affected by the tornadoes, go to cnn.com/impact. you'll find all of the organizations and the ways to help those in need. once again, that's cnn.com/impact. well, we're going to take a break for a moment from the storm coverage. but we'll have much more for you after the break. we'll share new warnings out in the midwest and bring you the newest pictures coming in of the devastated areas. we'll be right back.

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updating you now on our top story. deadly storms in the midwest. tornado warnings right now in kentucky. elsewhere, at least eight people have been killed, including the six in illinois where the city of harrisburg was devastated by a tornado this morning. about 100 people are injured. as many as 300 homes and businesses either destroyed or damaged. these pictures show the massive damage in the small town of harveyville, kansas, 20 miles from topeka. and take a look at this. a twister captured on film by a very brave storm chaser in missouri where two people died. let's check in one more time with jack see jar ras. jacqui jeras. >> this is the storage thm that been talking about in kentucky.

this is bowling green. this has a history of producing large hail in addition to strong winds. this is what we're concerned about right now and this has a strong rotation on this storm. you can see a hook signature on it. a lot of lightning and damaging hail and this is a strong indication of radar and a very intense dangerous situation. we also want to show you the widespread situation to give you a better perspective of where these areas are that we're talking about. it's this line in central kentucky that's been producing all of the damage. it's been storm after storm lining up and going through the area and moving around 60 miles per hour. so you can't outrun that. you can't chase it down in your

car. you need to take shelter when this happens. we're also watching new development here into western tennessee. this is going to be the line that fires up. nashville, you're under the watch area. be aware that storms are going to develop to your west and then beginning to move in. we're also watching this area here in eastern kentucky for some smaller storms which could be developing. this is going to be ongoing throughout the day. this is a moderate risk day, randi, and we call it. widespread severe weather. we have 19 reports of tornadoes. we consider 20 an outbreak. at least ten people have died. we think those numbers could possibly continue to rise as we get more information. six states have been impacted by this. and we're assessing the damage today. a lot of people being impacted, picking up the pieces and pieces of video coming in from all over parts of the mid-south and parts of the midwest as well. we have one confirmed tornado that's been analyzed by the national weather service. that was the one in kansas and

and that was an ef-2. based on some of the damage i've seen, we could see a few tornadoes assessed stronger than that. this is the video from elizabethtown, kentucky. we have confirmed wind reports up to 70 miles per hour and it could cause just as much damage, if not more. we know some of the fatalities that have been occurring have happened just in wind damage, not just tornado. so be aware of that. no matter what it's called, go to your lowest floor away from office buildings and so forth. the storm near kimble in east central kentucky could produce a tornado at any given time and

we're pushing towards 24 hours since this outbreak. >> take a look at the hospital there, the medical center there. you can see windows and doors blown out. people can still be treated there. we asked one of the newspaper editors there in that area just recently at this hour. he said people can be treated but are looking to evacuate the hospital. what does that tell you when you look at pictures like this? what does that tell you about the strength of this storm? >> some of the walls are still up, randi. so hospitals are very well constructed and to see a wall come off like that, we definitely are talking about winds well over 100 miles per hour. i'd have to see a bigger picture of the hospital to give you a better estimate. but it's almost reminiscent, isn't it, of what happened in joplin. you know, they sent -- they had

those workstations and tents set up outside of the hospital and continue to treat people. it's amazing how medical workers are trained for these types of emergencies and how they can still operate even when you see pictures like this with the damage and you can see hospital beds exposed to the open air like that. >> and when you think about the warnings in a storm like this, even if the sirens were going off, how quickly would people have had to move in a situation like this when you know how fast the storm is coming? >> we'll have a look back at the statistics and how much time is between the warning and actual touchdown. on average, the national weather service has been doing an extremely good job of warning in advance and giving people as much as 20 minutes before the storms move through. now, that's enough time for most of us in our homes to get to a safe place but when you're talking about people who are mobinot mobile and medical problems, it's difficult to get them to a

safe place and that's the concern when we talk about medical centers and nursing homes as well as opposed to homes. >> a frightening moment for people there in at least six states, as you said, that have been hit. jacqui jeras, thank you. >> go to cnn.com/impact. you can find a way to help those in need. once again, cnn.com/impact. we want to talk politics up next. a clean sweep for romney though he barely won his native state last night. >> we didn't win by a lot but we won by a lot and that's all that counts. >> but is it really enough? that is "fair game," next. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars.

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snoof. mitt romney goes two and two. is is it smooth sailing from here? potential trouble for the road away. the road to the white house is always fair game. let's talk to maria cardona who is in atlanta. in washington, doug. welcome to you both. lots to talk about here. let's start with romney. he won arizona handedly and michigan was closer. what happened to santorum, was this his last chance to gain on romney?

maria, we'll start with you. >> santorum, instead of sticking to his populist message and brought him to the position of being front-runner, he went down this sort of odd alley of these social issues which i think really hurt him with voters. it hurt him with the media even because they then started digging up all of these other speeches and comments that he had made that made him then go deeper into the social issues and i think at the end of the day voters realize this is not the same person that they had been hearing from and that they wanted somebody to actually talk to them about the economy. and he -- i think he squandered an opportunity. is it the last opportunity? maybe not. out of michigan he is getting a good amount of delegates and going into super tuesday mitt romney is not very strong in a lot of these other states where social conservatives are still looking for the anybody but romney candidate and the question is, can santorum still

be that candidate or does newt gingrich rise again? >> doug, what do you think? can santorum still derail romney? >> you know, there's so much that has happened it's hard to make clear predictions about what is going to happen in the future because who knew that herman cain would be a flavor of the week in everything that we've seen. but if you're in the romney campaign, a win is a win is a win and mitt romney won. i went to north carolina. i'm going to see the north carolina tar heels beat duke but if they win by one point, i would be happy with that as well. >> romney may have won michigan but if you take a closer look at the delegate estimate, romney won 11 delegates, santorum won 11 delegates. it's still a win, maria. >> exactly. and to doug's point, a win is a win and it really isn't.

last night romney won but the fact that it was even a question whether he should have been winning his own home state where he was born, where he grew up, where he's been campaigning for the last five years, where he has outspent santorum, two to one, spent $2 million, he may have won but he did not come out a winner last night and is he tainting with independents, latinos. in terms of the broader picture, if he wants to beat barack obama, he clearly is not a winner. and by the way, as a blue devil, i'm going to put my bet on duke. >> doug, i want to ask you about olympia snowe. she blamed the gridlock in washington, partisanship in washington. she said, i have no doubt i would have won re-election. i do find it frustrating, however, that an atmosphere of

polarization or my way or the highway has become pervasive. really her comments a warning, do you think, to fellow republicans? >> i think it's a warning to both parties. remember, barack obama said pass this bill, pass this bill. he didn't say, i'm going to introduce this bill and we can work together on a better legislative solution. but for republicans we're going to pick in mind we picked up the govern governorship. there was only 19% of the vote. that's really significant and something to remember in this instant analysis. >> maria, what do you think? >> i think the message here and it's coming from olympia snowe herself that this is not a party that welcomes moderate views anymore and that's exactly why mitt romney has had to out-extreme every one of his independents and the broader

he's the most extreme candidate on immigration that might have helped him win arizona in the primary. it's not going to help in the general election or frankly any other state with a growing latino population. >> i would be more concerned about what's happened to blue dogs than the blue devils this weekend. >> okay. well said. >> we'll see. >> well said, doug. >> thank you, randi. well, if you take sleeping pills to get some z's, my next guest says you could die younger but not everybody's buying it. the study's leet author joins us to explain.

welcome back. i'm sure many of you have had those nights where you're tossing and turning and doing everything except the one thing thaw want to be doing, which is sleeping. the common solution? sleeping pills, of course. many of you have probably popped a few here and there. but the new research that i'm about to tell you about may prove to be a wake-up call.

it may multiply your risk of dying early. those who pop one to 18 sleeping pills over a year nearly quadruple their risk of an early death. three pills or more a week could multiply your risk five-fold. and there's more. people taking sleeping pills increase their risk of cancer by 35%. that makes it a greater risk than cancer. the findings are pretty shocking and come with it their fair share of critics which is why we are getting face time with the main author, dr. daniel crickey. first of all, how many people did you study? >> we studied over 10,000 people taking sleeping pills and over 20,000 who took no sleeping pills over a period of about 2 1/2 years. >> and when you say that these people died earlier, those who did, how did they die? do you know? >> we don't know what they died

of, unfortunately. our electronic records did not have that information. >> so you didn't actually meet with these people? these were -- this was an electronic study? >> it was a study of electric front nick medical records. we'll see more of those studies of electric front nick records in the future because they allow us to see risks we could never see before. >> let's talk about some of the other risks. in your study, participants who took sleeping pills also, you say, had higher rates of health problems, such as cancer, asthma, cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood pressure as well. how does this koor late to the increased risk of these problems? >> well, to explain that, the patients had more health problems before they took sleeping pills and after. now, there was nor increase in the patients who took sleeping

pills but it's hard to interpret whether it's the sleeping pills that were associated with those increases in other health risks. so we're not very persuaded that the sleeping pills caused those increases. we're not sure of that. >> and when you think about the sleeping pills being related to this early death, i mean, is there a direct cause and effect? were you able to establish that? >> no. our study is a study of association. the sleeping pills are associated with much higher deaths. you could argue that that doesn't prove that sleeping pills are causing the deaths and it's true. it doesn't prove it. it's just, we can't find any other explanation. it's the same situation with cigarettes where there was no proof but cigarettes are associated with cancer. >> we do want to point out that

the drugs that you studied are fda approved and we did reach out to the fda, which has reviewed these drugs, they say, and they have ruled them safe. they wouldn't common specifically on your research but this is what they told us. we are actively reviewing all safety information for this drug. they are talking about ambien there. drug labeling, prescribing new information as it is learned and actively review data and work on information to make sure that patients have the most up to date safety information as possible. now, our medical unit, which is on top of all of this, spoke to a number of sleep experts, including a doctor you may know, dr. russell rosenberg and he says their methodology was flawed and control groups compare apples and oranges. what would you like to respond to that? >> did you ask dr. rosenberg how

recently he's been taking money from the sleeping pill manufacturers? >> i'm asking you this question first. >> i think that's the answer. >> so you're saying your data isn't flawed? >> no, our data isn't flawed. it has limitations like all studies do but it's not flawed in the way he described. >> let's talk about a few other things in your research, a few other results. some might see them as weaknesses. one is that people taking sleeping pills were not asked why they were prescribed the drug. you did not control for psych attic disorders and also the control group didn't necessarily suffer from sleeping problems. so it kind of begs the question, could there be underlying conditions here that might increase the risk of early death? >> well, we controlled for all of the underlying conditions that we could control for.

but the emotional data is confidential under the laws of the state we were studying in. but we don't think that that is compounding very much because other studies that have had that data did not find that underlying insomnia was a factor. the other studies showed it was the sleeping pill, not the insomnia, that was associated with death. >> in your research -- i know i asked you about the cause and effect -- but were you able to figure out what is it about a sleeping pill, about any of these drugs that would cause an early death? was there something specific that you were able to find or pinpoint? >> this study didn't pinpoint the causes but we know very well what some of the causes are. these are drugs that are used to execute prisoners, people die of

overdose from these drugs. they make sleep apnea worse. they cause depression. suicide is increased among sleeping pill users. infections are increased among sleeping pill users. cancers are increased among sleeping pill users. so those are some of the causes and probably not all. >> all right. dr. daniel krike, appreciate your time and it was definitely an interesting conversation to be had. thank you very much. >> thank you. of course, we'll get to much more on the devastating tornado damage throughout the midwest. we can tell you that eight people are reported dead. we'll bring you the latest, including the latest pictures and warnings right after the break. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day

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new capzasin quick relief gel. (announcer) starts working on contact and at the nerve level. to block pain for hours. new capzasin, takes the pain out of arthritis. we're watching a ferocious band of storms push out of the midwest and now into the southeast. tornado watches are in effect for parts of kentucky. all right apparent tornadoes are blamed for at least eight deaths. six in southern illinois. the city of harrisburg took a direct hit. hundreds of homes and other buildings are damaged or obliterated, including the harrisburg medical build you can

see the building right there just gone. two people were killed overnight in missouri. the governor has declared a state of emergency. it sounds like a breakthrough, north korea promising to stop testing long-range missiles to allow inspectors to visit the main reactor, all in exchange for food owe further talk. but if you think you have heard all of this before, so has hillary clinton. today's agreement was talked about in a hearing on capitol hill. >> the united states, i will be quick to add, still has profound concerns. but on the occasion of jim jong-il's death i said that it is our hope that the new leadership will choose to guide their path of peace by living up to its obligations. today's announcement represents a modest first step in the right direction. >> a previous moratorium collapsed a few years ago and the north went on to test two

nuclear devices. it's now agreed to stop that as well. and now some breaking news from the entertainment world. singer davie jones, best known as a member of the monkeys has died. jones died this morning of an apparent heart attack in florida where he lived. the emergency call came in this morning and he was rushed to the hospital. davy jones was 66 years old. more information as we get it. the man in charge of the rupert murdoch empire is leaving. james murdoch became front-page news himself in an allegation of cell-phone hacking. both murdochs were hauled before congress and both deny breaking any laws. james murdoch will move to new york to focus on an international operation. in syria, a group says the

city of homs came under the heaviest shelling so part in the government's ruthless assault. these pictures capture the destruction. a man desperate hely tries to pull an injured child from the rubble. at least one person has died so far today. at the same time, no let up in the bombardment. helicopters flew over the city firing on civilians. they have moved into one neighborhood controlled by the opposition. you might forgive mitt romney if he considers yesterday super tuesday. romney eked out a win in a state that doesn't need much delegate-wise but would have cost him dearly if he lost. it's a much needed boost ahead of next week's voetding in ten states.

santorum has a solid is in tenn he also tops the polls. in another primary yesterday, arizona, santorum came in a distant second. romney won by 20 points there. charges will be filed against the high school student who fired shots in the cafeteria. t.j. lane, the 17-year-old suspect, will be tried as an adult. lane appeared yesterday in juvenile court after which authorities made public some of the 911 calls from chardon high school where lane allegedly opened fire. >> 911, where is your emergency? >> we just had a shooting at our school. we need to get out of here. oh, my god. >> ma'am, -- we got a school shooting. ma'am, what stool? >> chardon high school. >> chardon high school? >> yes, ma'am.

everyone is running away. >> why is the person with the gun? >> i don't know. he was in the cafeteria and everybody just started running. >> we've also heard briefly that the football coach is being called a hero for chasing lane out of the school. frank holtz talked to our affiliate wews. >> i just want to say i'm sorry for the families, for the victims. i wish i could have down more. >> of the two victims who survive, one remains in serious condition. the other one, joy rickers, went home from the hospital yesterday. we're keeping an eye on the devastating tornadoes that ripped through the midwest that are now heading south. many more warnings and another new tornado watch. we'll bring you the very latest right after the break. keep it here. y with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain.

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those deadly storms in the midwest are taking aim at the southern states. tornadoes are possible for parts of alabama, georgia, mississippi, north carolina and tennessee. so far twisters are blamed for eight deaths, six in southern illinois. much of the city of harrisburg is devastated. you see the video there. hundreds of homes, other buildings, all damaged and destroyed, including the harrisburg medical center. the building's south wall no longer exists. storms killed at least two people in the state of missouri. that governor has declared a state of emergency.

jackie says we're watching all the warnings, tracking the path of this storm. >> we're still watching central parts of kentucky, randi, for this line producing two new tornadic thunderstorms that are showing signs of rotation here. this is a storm here and this is a storm here. that's what those purple boxes mean where the tornado is likely occurring. we don't have reports from people on the ground saying this is producing damage right now, but we've been getting signatures here of mesocyclones showing strong rotation of this storm. so this is bering green and hart counties in kentucky, and the second one we've been watching that's been rotating for about an hour now, this is magothin and morgan counties in eastern kentucky. this is just north of the jackson area. so two still very dangerous storms. and the threat now is accident up and downing a bit. we've got a new tornado watch, so this includes parts of west virginia, the eastern half of

ohio and this is going to be ongoing until 9:00 tonight. that's the new threat area. we could see thunderstorms developing here and we're also expecting these storms in kentucky, then, to continue to pr propagate eastward, and we need to take this and talk about the bigger picture. as we head into nighttime and the skies begin to darken and night fall continues, we expect storms to develop all within this orange area. so we're talking about the carolinas, we're talking about parts of alabama into georgia, and some of these could happen while you're sleeping. so you need to have your norad weather radio on so you stay safe and you are alerted during the nighttime hours as these storms continue to come down. this is the one we're most concerned about again in eastern kentucky, that morgan county, and there you can see some strong rotation in this area just north of west liberty. back to you. >> all right, jackie, thank you very much. of course, we will go live to harrisburg, illinois. some of the worst hit areas just

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all right, here we go. welcome back to cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. breaking news this afternoon. the big story, these deadly

storms, tornadoes just ripping apart the midsection of our country. look at this. the pictures tell the story. we are working on getting pictures in to explain to you what is happening as far as on the ground right now, and also looking ahead to tonight. hit by tornadoes thus far, you have kansas, missouri, illinois and kentucky. and this is one of the twisters. this was spotted by a storm chaser in reno, kansas. ominous twister moving about so far. these numbers could obviously change. at least eight people are confirmed dead, including two children. hundreds, though, hundreds of people have been injured, and this could get much worse before it gets any better. the storms are not over yet. they're heading now into the southeast. we have our weather teamworking on this. we're going to them in a minute. i want to continue to show you these pictures. this strip mall entirelily obliterated by winds, tornado. this is what was left in the

path of these storms. this is harrisburg, illinois. very hard hit early this morning. a lot of people still asleep. a tornado slammed into southern illinois early this morning, and there was little time for a warning, little time for people to heed those alarms and to seek asylum, seek shelter. at least six people are confirmed dead in harrisburg specifically. as i mentioned, more than 100 injured. those numbers could change. rescuers now digging through what you're looking at, the aftermath, the rubble, the pieces, bits and pieces of buildings and structures, including what used to be a shopping center and hundreds of homes here. i want to get straight to our reporter, tyler prufelai from our affiliate kfds. he was standing in front of the strip mall that was ripped to sle shreds in harrisburg. >> people didn't have time to get to shelter, and even if they

did get to shelter, it ripped things apart. you can see here this is a strip mall close to a walmart here that has been destroyed. there is a center that has a pay day loan place. i spoke to the manager of this wireless store. he grew up in oklahoma, so he grew up in tornado alley. he says he's very used to experiencing tornadoes and being able to survive them. he said he's never heard anything like this tornado, he's never seen anything like the damage that this tornado left behind. this is a strip mall here that has several businesses inside, a sporting good store, a wireless center, payday loan operation in here as well. there was no one inside these buildings whenever the storm passed through. granted, it did pass through shortly before 5:00 this morning, so luckily people were not there. but that's what the manager of one of these stores told me. he said, just imagine if someone had been here working, imagine if a lot of people had been at

work and had not been able to get to a basement or underground or been with their families. this really could have been a lot worse. gra granted, we do talk a lot about when severe storms hit, if they come during the night, that's usually the worst time. but in this case, at least for the folks working in this strip mall,lucky it came at night or they might have been inside. patty works for the tornado management agency. and patty, we're thinking about you all now, and looking at these pictures, it's absolutely devastating. i'm hearing as far as harrisburg goes, six fatalities? can you confirm those numbers hold, and b, can you tell us anything about injuries there? >> actually, i can confirm that number of six, unfortunately, is true. at this point i don't have any firm numbers on the injuries. things are very busy there right

now, so i haven't been able to get any kind of number on the injuries, but we know there have been many injuries. >> describe, as we're looking at pictures here, describe the damage and describe what kind of calls you're getting right now. >> i'm actually in springfield. we have other staff that was deployed to harrisburg soon after we got word of the tornadoes. they are on the ground working with the local officials there to determine what type of assistance that they might need from the state as they finish this response and work on any kind of recovery. >> what kind of help is your state getting right now? >> well, actually, they had already worked through the mutual aid organizations for the fire, police and emergency management and had brought in some assets for both the help with law enforcement issues and with the search and rescue issues, and then also we have

emergency management personnel from other counties that were called in to support the emergency managers there in the county. >> i know we have made the phone call to governor quinn to try to bring him on. from what i understand and also from his twitter page, he's actually heading en route to the areas hardest hit so we won't be able to talk to him. but if you can, patty, what message do you want to get out to the people of illinois? >> i just want to let those in the affected areas know that we're ready to do everything possible to help them. we're working very closely with their local officials. we want to commend their local officials for what they've done so far and how quickly they responded to help the people that were in need after this very sudden storm, and that we're going to keep working to help people through this very difficult time. >> patty thompson, thank you so much for calling in. we appreciate it. and also just want to clarify, again, cnn has confirmed eight

deaths, six in harrisburg, illinois, two in missouri. the six in harrisburg involved two children, from our understanding. i know the affiliate was reporting ten deaths specifically in illinois. again, we are reporting six in illinois, two in missouri. that brings us to a total of eight. again, those numbers can change. we have chad meyerson and jackie jaris standing by talking about the damage on the ground. jackie, what are you seeing? where is the storm right now? >> we're focusing in on kentucky right now, brooke, and this has really been the big area of concern. the last couple of hours we have a strong line of thunderstorms that had rotating thunderstorms within it, and there are two that are under warning right now, neither of which we have proof that they've been on the ground, but see this little yellow arrow that's rotating here just north of columbia, that means our computer algorithms are seeing that strong rotation under there, and it's very likely that a tornado could drop out at any time.

we're also seeing this little hook or this little inlet right here where there's less reflectivity, and that's also one of the signs meteorologists look for for possible signs of a tornado. this is the other storm we're talking about in eastern kentucky. this is magoffin and morgan county. the warning has just been extended, so two very dangerous situations we're talking about across central kentucky. the other thing that concerns me that i'm watching at this hour is what's happening to the south and west of this line of storms. we're getting new development just outside -- there we go, just outside of the nashville area and in nashville as well. look at that, we're even starting to get signs of rotation here even though there is not a warning. nashville, you need to be on high alert, especially if you live north of there as this line of thunderstorms is now expanding and it's going to be intensifying here over the next couple of hours. and as we take a look at the big picture for the watches, the two watches that are in place for this hour -- a watch, by the way, conditions are right for

tornadoes. a warning means it's happening now, seek shelter. so the watch for nashville across southern kentucky and the other one here across eastern parts of ohio and west virginia. >> before we go with chad on where this could go, what kind of damage are we seeing, jackie? just help us understand the scope of the damage so far. we're talking four states so far hit. tornadoes, winds. how large is the path of destruction? how many miles have these tornadoes traveled? >>listening in, you can switch this map over to an additional map we made. we're actually talking about six states from nebraska into kansas into illinois, kentucky and indiana, we all have reports of tornadoes that have caused damage in those states. now, the national weather service hasn't confirmed any of them except for the one in harveyville in kansas. we've seen the video and the damage that occurred there.

they say that one was an ef-2 tornado with winds at 111 to 120 miles per hour. based on the damage i'm seeing in these other places, particularly in illinois, we're likely going to see stronger tornado damage there. we're going to add more states to the toll here. probably going to see some stuff in parts of tennessee and maybe some here in parts of illinois. we'll continue to track the situation. these storms aren't going anywhere, brooke. they're pushing to the east. they're going to be holding on even after nightfall, and that's what makes this so dangerous to so many people. >> chad, i want to go to you. we were talking before the show, and you said -- thus far we're confirming eight deaths, and you're saying this is even going to get worse. >> the storms are bigger tonight than they were last night. it doesn't mean anything is going to get hit. whoever heard from harrisburg, illinois, if you're not from illinois, until this morning. all of a sudden harrisburg,

illinois was knocked into the spotlight of what was an ugly, ugly day. we'll have 200-mile-an-hour winds across parts of tennessee. you just home they hit farmlands and they don't hit towns like they did last night. when you get a tornado on the ground like last night at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. you need a weather radio to wake you up. you hope the sirens outside will wake you up, but that's not what they're made for. those sirens are made to tell you to go inside when you're outside. when you have your windows closed, most of the time you can't even hear those tornado sirens. look at the scope of this, brooke. it is snowing in fargo, detroit and the great lakes. the warm side where the tornadoes are are all the way down from memphis, into nashville and into the carolinas late tonight. so where is it going to go? if you see the storms to your west, they are headed your way and they're headed fast. 50, 60 miles per hour.

you can't get out of the way of those. these tornadoes today are not to be chased. they're too hilly here. some of the producers were asking me today, do we have tornado chasers out there? no, because they know better. they know not to go out when it's a hilly area. all of a sudden you lose a tree, a tree goes right in front of your chase vehicle and you can't go anywhere. you are stuck behind that tornado. don't chase them, don't look for them, don't even take pictures if you don't have to. i just want you to be safe inside there. there will be tornadoes on the ground tonight and there will be tornadoes on the ground after dark. and no weather radio is available at many stores, including a radio shack, someplace like that. they're about $20 and they can save your life. >> so long live strong, violent tornadoes and storms northern alabama, southern georgia, northern mississippi, western carolina and western tennessee. we're all over the story, and i know you are as well. we want to see some of your pictures. please be safe, but if you're

anywhere near any of this aftermath, if it's headed toward you, don't waste time taking a picture. but if you're in the aftermath, we want to hear from you. go to cnnireport.com. we now know a hospital has been hit in harrisburg, illinois. we are getting pictures of the damage. i'm talking about entire walls at this medical center gone. we've got a nurse practitioner standing by. she saw it all, she took pictures. she's going to join me live, next.

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tornadoes slamming the midwest here, taking a very deadly toll. you have it hitting six states including kansas, missouri, kentucky. so far, and these numbers can change, eight people are confirmed dead, two in missouri, six in illinois. what you're looking at, bits and pieces of signs of what used to be some sort of strip mall shopping center. this is harrisburg, illinois, one of the cities hardest hit by this. the tornado just absolutely obliterated the shopping center, sliced through hundreds of homes, structures, slammed into southern illinois while people were sleeping. this hit right around 5:00 this morning, and there was very little time for a warning as people were, many of them, in their beds. as we mentioned, six people confirmed dead in harrisburg, illinois alone. more than 100 are injured, and those numbers, sadly, could go up as we're getting more information here into cnn. right now as you see them, rescuers out and about combing through the rubble in case

someone could be trapped. and this is an example of how bad things are in harrisburg. folks, you're looking at what should be a wall. this is the inside of a hospital, and this is actually the south wall of this harrisburg med center totally blown out. totally blown out because of the storm and the tornado that blew through early this morning. i have jane harper on the phone. shels t she is the nurse practitioner at this harrisburg medical center. jane, i know you were working a 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. shift. right around 5:00 this morning, tell me what happened. >> it was somewhere around 4:30 when we got the warning and the announcement was made over the loudspeakers to go into tornado disaster mode, so the patients started getting moved out of the rooms that had facing windows and into the middle of the building, into the radiology suite, which, you know, radiology equipment is big and

heavy, and so that part of the hospital is very well reinforced. and i think it was right about quarter to 5:00 when i really couldn't hear the tornado so much as i heard the explosion when the windows blew out and the wall came out. and i was about ten feet -- i'm sorry? >> i just want to interject and say this is one of the pictures you took and we're looking at a hospital bed. do you know if anyone was in that bed when this twister hit? >> no. that whole wing had been evacuated and the patients moved to radiology before the tornado hit. >> okay. please continue. >> and the electronic door on the south side was taken out, ceiling tiles started falling, there was this white-gray kind of mist that rained down from the ceiling. we started getting water.

all the fire alarms went off, the power went out, and all the electric doors closed, and it was total chaos for a little while, but the staff was just incredible. they were very efficient getting all the patients moved to safety, and the one room that you can see in that photograph that has no outside wall, i found that when i was checking the -- those rooms to make sure everybody was out of them. >> jane, what did it sound like when it hit? >> well, you know, they tell you a tornado sounds like a freight train, and i sort of heard something that wasn't really as loud as i would have expected. what i really heard was the explosion when the walls came out and the windows came out. >> so what has happened to the patients? you mentioned there was a tornado -- you went into tornado disaster mode, so obviously, as you mentioned, staff at the med center very much prepared for events like this.

where are the patients who were evacuated? is this hospital still up and running, just in different wings? what's the status? >> well, i can't really officially comment on that because i don't -- i'm not the public relations person for the hospital. but the plan, as i understood it when i left this morning, was to send everybody home that could be discharged, transfer everybody that couldn't because they have an engineer coming in to look at the building and see what repairs need to be done before they can go back and service our patients. >> just finally a question to you. are you doing okay? >> oh, yeah. it was kind of rough for a while, but, you know, everything sort of kicks in automatically, and i've worked on -- i worked on a trauma service for many years, and they drilled us over and over and over again on disaster management, and so

things just kind of automatically jump in. >> as a nurse practitioner, you are good people, and i am sure it was just absolutely natural for you. jane harper, thank you so much, and thank you for sharing your photos with cnn. we really appreciate it. as we mentioned, hundreds of homes, businesses. you saw the med center have been damaged or destroyed because of these storms. the salvation army, red cross are mobilizing these victims. if you're asking, how can i help? we have a web site. cnn.com/impact and you can help some of the victims here in these cities hardest hit by these tornadoes. also, news breaking just a short time ago. former teen heartthrob and monkees star davy jones has died. we're getting brand new information in from los angeles. we'll talk about this story next. what is that? new crystal light energy -- for women.

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davy jones, a member of the '60s band, the monkees, died today in martin county, florida. he was 66 years of age. still no official word what caused his death, but a law enforcement source says it was an apparent heart attack. jones was behind the hit "daydream believer" and he also was in the show of the band that aired from 1966 to 1968. michelle, i heard just sort of a collective sigh from half of my editorial team, you know, talking about the monkees and

davy jones. do you know any more, first and foremost, just about the circumstances of his death? >> reporter: not a lot of information right now, brooke, because this is all happening so quickly, but we did confirm that singer/songwriter and actor davy jones has died. he is best known, as you said, as the british band the monkees. the monkees formed for the express reason of the tv show. you mentioned "daydream believer," there was "i want to be free." there actually was talk recently of a reunion tour, but back in august, the dates got canceled and we don't really know what happened with that. there is no word right now as to a cause of death, but the martin county, florida coroner's office does confirm that he was hospitalized early this morning near his home. we're still working to confirm reports that he may have suffered a heart attack. also, brooke, this was a man

that loved entertaining. he started working in the theatre at the age of 11, he performed on broadway in the hit musical "oliver" before landing his role with "the monkees," but before he began performing, his first love was horses. he started training as a jockey at one point, he wanted to get back to that. he actually had horses at his florida home and he was an avid rider. at some point he wanted to be a horseman, he loved horses so much. >> they brought up the brady bunch. people were talking about that. as i understand, he was touring and singing and performing up until very recently. >> yeah, he was still playing dates. he definitely was. he wasn't touring as part of the collective monkees but he was still playing dates. i was reading stuff on line just from fans this morning that were saying he was the nicest man. after every concert he would stay around, talk to people, take pictures with his fans. he really loved having the

people there and performing for them. so yes, he was touring just recently. so we're still waiting and trying to figure out what exactly happened this morning. again, there are those reports right now that he may have suffered a heart attack. we're still working to confirm those reports. >> okay, nischelle turner, thank you very much. it's a sad day for monkees fans. we have our weather teamworking it is story here as we're taking a live look at the radar. we're going to talk tie repoo a reporter who saw some of these neighborhoods flattened by the tornado. that's on the other side of the break. stay with me. [ male announcer ] this...is the network. a living, breathing intelligence that is helping business rethink how to do business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn.

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. back to our breaking story here as we continue to cover these tornadoes that slammed six different states in the midwest beginning early this morning. some people had mere minutes before they were able to seek some kind of shelter. in total, cnn has confirmed

eight deaths. that is two in missouri, six specifically in harrisburg, illinois. some of the areas just absolutely devastated by this. you're looking at what used to be a strip mall, and as we look at these pictures, and as i've said before, really, the pictures tell the story here. i want to bring in mayor eric gregg, mayor of harrisburg here, and sir, i'm sure you are exhausted. i have covered major events like this in smaller towns, and i'm sure you know people, sir, who were affected, who were injured. if you can, just walk me through where you were this morning when this hit. >> well, and i appreciate your comments. we are a community that cares about one another and really just -- a horrific event like this is absolutely devastating to our community. this morning when the sirens were going off a few minutes before 5:00, i got outside with my sons and we knew there was something very wrong.

you could smell it, and our worst fears and nightmares transpired here today in harrisburg, illinois. the devastation, when it was dark, you really couldn't even begin to imagine what this looks like, and when the sun came up, it just was even more heartbreaking. you know, the loss of life is significant in our community. i mean, we've lost young people, and, you know, as a mayor and as a person that lives in the community, you just never want to see something like this happen. of course, we witnessed what happened in joplin, missouri and our hearts went out. in fact, many of our people went over to assist in that disaster, and today, you know, harrisburg finds -- we find ourselves in that same boat. not to that level, but certainly to the level that's very hard on our community and our area. but i'm telling you the thing that i'm so honored and proud of is the assistance that we've received from other communities nearby us, other states nearby us. the agencies both on the state

and federal level, and the governor will be here shortly, our local representatives. we just had an outreach of support that's been second to none, and i certainly appreciate that and it just makes me very proud to live in a community, in an area that cares about each other. this is just a horrific incident. and, you know, you just hope and pray that it never happens to your area. you don't want it to happen anywhere, but today it's at home with us in harrisburg, illinois. >> our hearts absolutely go out to you in harrisburg, and i want to go back to a point you made about young lives lost. i understand that two children have died because of the tornadoes. can you confirm that, a, and b, do you know the circumstances surrounding their deaths? >> well, i know that the area that was most devastated was certainly just to the southeast corner of our community, and that's where we suffered the most loss of life. it's my understanding that's where the young people lost

their lives. you know, again, it just absolutely -- you know, i was out there, and they were pulling people out of the rubble, and you just sit there -- it's almost a surreal event that you say, please, lord, just put your hand upon us and help us as we deal with this tragedy. and what we're doing now, of course, is making sure we've got every man, woman and child accounted for in our community. we're takingi incare of those t have been displaced. we're certainly setting up areas around our community that we'll be able to put people and take care of them. we're praying for those, the families that lost loved ones, as well as those hurting today that have suffered injuries. we've seen all sorts of injuries, broken bones, lacerations, just everything you can imagine. when this hit us at about four minutes to 5:00 this morning, people are in bed. they're not watching their televisions, they're not listening to the radio, they're asleep. unfortunately, even though the alarms, sight rthe sirens were

off and there were a few minutes to take cover, many folks didn't get the opportunity. >> mayor, forgive me for having to cut you off, but i do want to thank you and remind everyone that cnn.com/impact is how they can help. i'm only cutting them off because we want to go straight to missouri. mayor gregg, do we still have you on the line? >> i'm sorry. >> we're going to just roll with it and i'm going to keep talking to you. you're expressing your gratitude for people coming in and helping. let me go back to another point. the governor of the state of illinois, you mentioned, is en route to the area's hardest hit. can you tell us a little about that conversation you had with him, if, in fact, you spoke with him today? >> the governor's staff was actually on the phone with me as soon as the event happened and said, listen, we will do whatever it takes to help in your area and we're going to come there. and i said, well, we certainly appreciate that. the governor is reaching out to work with us and help us, and we've had, you know, the

senator's office -- we've had many of our elected officials say they're there for us, and that's, again, it's comforting as a mayor to know that basically the cavalry is coming for us and helping us. in many communities, many people stepped up. we've had so many people volunteering to help. just our citizens trying to take care of each other. again, that's the kind of people that we are here in southern illinois. we do care about one another, we do care what happens, and we definitely try to protect each other, and when disaster like this happens, we step up and try to do what we can to make sure that we, in the future, that something like this doesn't happen again. we hope to learn some lessons from this. >> and the fact that you helped joplin, perhaps the good folks of joplin, missouri will come and help you all. the good mayor of harrisburg, we're thinking of you and thank you so much for letting me call you in. we want to talk to our

affiliate, wght there in illinois. from what i understand, you were in a neighborhood earlier that was absolutely leveled. what can you tell me about that? >> that's right, brooke, it's a simple description of the neighborhood that was hit. it's breathtaking. you can see damage on pictures, you can see damage on tv, but as soon as you see it in person, it provides a different perspective of how devastating the damage really was. the tornado carved right through the southeast side of harrisburg and hit a strip mall and flattened that strip mall. it was a fast-moving storm, up to 70 miles per hour, and especially when you consider what time it hit, it left people very little time to seek shelter. and after it hit the strip mall, it hit the walmart and then moved to a residential area directly behind the walmart on the southeast side. that residential area was largely filled with duplexes with no basements at all, and according to the mayor who i spoke to earlier today, he said that's where the majority of the

fatalities were, including those young lives that were lost. as far as the damage is concerned, i would estimate it to be a couple football fields wide, and areas that did get hit got hit extremely hard. we've confirmed there have been six deaths and hundreds of injuries, but of course, those numbers are subject to change as there's more and more. >> you're saying hundreds. we have 100. where are you getting hundreds from? >> just officials on the ground. as i mentioned, it's a very fluid situation which leaves, you know, lots of questions, a lot to chance. but there is a press conference scheduled for 2:00, in about half an hour or so, at the county sheriff's office directly downtown in harrisburg, and hopefully they'll have some hard numbers as far as the damage and the possible death toll. >> okay. jordan vandenburg, if you're on

the ground on the scene, feel free to call us back. we'd love to take you back, and as you mentioned, it will be 2:00 local, 3:00 eastern when that press conference will happen at the sheriff's office, and perhaps we'll take a look at that live. meantime, just in to cnn, we have been confirmed that 35 national guard soldiers have been sent to kentucky. one community has absolutely no power, no stoplights. we're told these soldiers will simply be assisting and just getting people -- literally getting people around town. jackie jaris, i know you're covering kentucky specifically. what more can you tell me? >> western kentucky has probably seen the most damage at this time, but we're still looking at several threat areas really in central kentucky and then into eastern kentucky, and this is the line that has been producing the storms that have been rotating, the tornadoes and damage. we have this one morning that

remains in effect outside london, kentucky. this is for lawrence and wayne counties. you can see the computer algorithm i was telling you about showing a mesocyclone, so it's a very good likelihood this is a rotating storm. we don't know for sure that it's on the ground, but you need to treat it like it's on the ground at this time, so you need to get to your safe place away from doors and windows. we've also been watching these storms in eastern kentucky. they're capable of producing wind damage, wind damage up to 70 miles per hour or so, and that can be as big of a problem as it would be for a tornado, potentially. so this could be a serious situation. we've got a live picture i want to show you now. this is out of nashville, tennessee from our affiliate wxmtv, and you can see ominous skies and raining, but take a look at this picture right here. this is our radar showing you conditions in nashville. we have very strong storms to the north and we have strong storms which have been off to the west as well. nashville, you're under a tornado watch, not a warning,

but this line of storms is developing very quickly and it's intensified, and i'm most concerned right here west of nashville, so be on high alert for a changing situation. one last thing i want to just kind of mention, brooke. you know we were listening to mayor gregg talk about the young children, unfortunately, that were killed. we talk about always going to that safe place, but there are some new suggestions that emergency officials are telling you to do. there is no shame when you go to bed tonight to have a bicycle helmet and to have a car seat next to your bed so that when you go down and seek shelter, you put that bicycle helmet on top of your kids' heads, because most fatalities are due to head injuries. and a baby, unfortunately, a small little baby, can get picked up by those strong winds and a car seat could protect them much, much more. so if you have a 10 to 20-minute window from when those sirens go off and you know those storms are coming to your house, you want to do it as quick as you can, those two things could potentially help you. and of course the norad weather radio, that's the one thing that

will wake you in the milgd of the night and get you moving. >> i know people from joplin were telling us about the bike helmets and the car seats. we're not going too far from this story. we're watching the storms move now into the southeast. again, send your pictures to ireport.com. i also want to send along this piece of information. there is a huge development in this unsolved mystery we've been following for you about that firefighter who went from florida to bangor, maine, has been missing a couple weeks. now an arrest in this case. we're on the case next. ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪

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a huge development in the case of florida firefighter jerry perdomo who disappeared after driving a rental car from florida to maine. police have arrested one of the

last people to see perdomo. he is 24-year-old jerry porter. with this murder charge, i know you don't have to have a body, but does that mean they found one? >> they have not found a body yet, brooke. i do have the affidavit as well as the complaint filed in this case. it really is very, very detailed. and the investigators have indicated that daniel porter told them that jerry perdom is dead. he also said he has told his father where the body is, where the murder weapon is, but daniel porter has not told investigators where jerry perdomo's body is, ask his fath father, likewise, have not told investigators the location of the body, but we suspect the investigators will be finding, unfortunately, jerry perdomo's body shortly. >> have investigators said anything about a possible location, possibly how he might

have been murdered? also, i was talking to perdomo's stepfather a couple days ago, asked him how he knew this porter, and he said he had no idea. do we know yet how he knew this couple? >> well, there have been some reports that daniel porter and jerry perdomo certainly had a relationship. they knew each other. these men may have been -- this may have been a drug-related homicide. that's what investigators are saying, brooke, but if you read the affidavit and the complaint, it's extremely detailed. they say that jerry perdomo wanted about $3,000 that daniel porter owed him perhaps from selling prescription drugs, and that they did find some evidence in daniel porter's home, including blood samples that were taken from certain carpets that are consistent with the dna of jerry perdomo's father, gary perdomo. so by all accounts in reading

this, brooke, i believe they think that they have the person that committed this murder, and indeed, they believe that jerry perdomo is dead, perhaps the result of a drug-related homicide. very, very sad story. >> it is sad. we'll follow it and see if and when they do recover a body. sunny hostin on the case. sunny, thank you. more developing news this minute out of syria. women, children, families, they say the government is targeting their neighborhoods, and the regime is about to launch a ground invasion very, very soon. we get a live report on syria next. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function

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for more than two weeks now, we've been talking about how bad, how horrendous, the bombing has been in syria. the shelling in civilian neighborhoods are so intense, those who live on the ground, they're fearing a full out ground invasion is next. youtube video shows the arrival of even more tanks today. there's one of them. and this is all happening at the hands of their own leader, president ba shr arka shar assa. this next picture is very graphic, but it shows what's happening on the ground here. syria blames assad regime. there is a 13-year-old boy bl d

bloodie bloodied, limp and buried under the rubble. cnn cannot independently verify the numbers since cnn has been restricted from inside the country. our senior international correspondent is joining us from beirut. nick, in terms of a possible full out ground invasion, what signs are you seeing that that's possibly begun or that it's imminent? >> what activists have been telling us was that in the city of homs earlier today, there were a lot of military pulled back from their normal checkpoint. the citizens believe they thought the army was amassing in advance. that neighborhood in homs where there has been vicious ongoing attack is where a lot of the video from homs comes from. today into a neighborhood that has been ground forces, syrian

government ground forces gone into the neighborhood on a ground offensive against the free syrian army. and for the first time, not only is ground offensive, but they've been attacked by government helicopters firing on the people below. we've also been told it's the heaviest shelling they've seen today. in the last couple hours, in the last hour, in fact, we've heard from activists on the ground. they say those ground battles and attack helicopters, the attack helicopters have now pulled off, the ground shelling is continuing. they believe the government is getting ready for a major assault, the ground offensive to go in and clear it out. that's what has that afraid, brooke. >> can the opposition handle both attacks from the air and on the ground? and what about president assad?

i know there's talk of war crime charges against him, are there not? >> there are. it's certainly something that's being hotly debated. you've had the british foreign secretary warning bashar assad about this very offensive inside homs right now, warning him not to go in on the ground. so far they've talked him into holding off the ground troops. they don't want to get too many of their own casualties, it appears, but they said assad possibly would be accountable for war crimes. but what they're also saying is this isn't the time to push that issue, because if you push that issue, you push assad into a corner, and what they're saying is it's better not to have him in a corner, to give him some wiggle room to negotiate, to step down and leave the country rather than just put him in a corner and say, move out of the

country, you're going to face war crimes. that's the dilemma here, being warned not point

has been shared. what you can do in the first instance is not to allow that location to be used by the application. many applications ask for a location, and gratuitously, apple says it tries to slap down gratuitous requests. the first thing you can do is simply say no. after the fact, you're kind of stuck but you can stop it from this moment into the future. >> john, we're hoping your times article will do exactly as you said and hopefully no more potentially nefarious action on your apps and your photos and mine will go nowhere. we are awaiting a news conference out of harrisburg,

illinois. we now know eight confirmed deat deaths. six confirmed deaths in harrisburg, illinois alone. two of them are children. actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber one. one chance to hunt down the right insurance at the right price. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. ready, aim, save! grrr! ooh, i forgot my phone! the "name your price" tool. now available on your phone. get a free quote today.

the day starts with arthritis pain... a load of new listings... and two pills. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. it can relieve pain all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lois... who chose two aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. back to you live in the second hour in the newsroom. i'm brooke baldwin. breaking news here southeastern states are under the gun as a dangerous storm