i'm drew griffin in for don lemon. the faa tells us that flight there, delta flight 2284, a regional jet operated here in atlanta, blew a tire we're told as it landed. just a few minutes ago. you can see at least a portion of the fuselage has some smoke

on it. we believe there was a fire. we're trying to get details. passengers had to be evacuated. scary moments obviously but apparently there are no injuries. just a few minutes ago we did watch a bus transport passengers from that plane to the delta terminals here in atlanta. we want to bring in on the phone, you were in a hotel that overlooks the runway as i'm told. can you tell us exactly what you saw? >> caller: we were just out on the balcony of our hotel that overlooks the runway and we were just watching planes come in and then after one landed there was a big boom and just a line of smoke and then it looks like it turned off the runway and then the fire got a lot bigger. and then fire trucks went over and they started evacuating everybody. >> did you see any need for any ambulance or anything like that? >> caller: a bunch of ambulances

and fire trucks went to it. i don't know if they needed them or just because of the fire. >> okay. thank you so much for that eyewitness account. we're trying to get official information from either the airport or the airline. this just obviously happened a few minutes ago and we're not sure which runway that is tying up. this is certainly turning into a problem with the flights coming in and out of atlanta hartsfield jackson international airport. working the computer to see where we may be going to next. a flight landed. this was the bus that i guess just a few minutes ago was taking the passengers from the plane to the terminal. we're hoping to get in touch with both delta, with the airport and perhaps even some of the passengers who were onboard to see what exactly took place, whether or not anyone on board might have been hurt.

we're told this flight or originated in pittsburgh. if we have the flight number correct it was due to land at 4:55 p.m. that would be about the time that this all began to happen. we'll continue to follow this story as we get more information. again, a delta flight 2284 looks like everybody is okay but it did have to make an emergency landing. we move on with other top stories of the day. the taliban claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed seven people and wounded the german commander of nato forces in northern afghanistan. among the dead, two afghan police chiefs and two german soldiers. this blast happened as high level afghan and coalition officials were meeting. nato and afghan president hamid karzai both condemned the attack. a live report from islamabad ahead. egypt very opened its border crossing into gaza today.

that effectively eases a four-year israeli blockade. hundreds of palestinians streamed into egypt. some for the first time ever. some now seeking medical treatment. watching this with concern is israel which fears this move could allow more militants and more weapons to get in and out of gaza. president obama is headed back to washington right now. he wrapped up a six-day trip to europe today in poland spotlighting that country's 1980s transition to democracy and calling for that to be a model for nations across north africa and the middle east. he held meeting with poland's president and prime minister and veterans of the solidarity labor movement which is credited with helping end communism in poland. now to missouri, president obama will visit joplin sunday meeting with victims of last sunday's huge tornado and today officials announce there are more victims. the death toll increasing 142

people killed. more than 100 still missing. despite the widespread damage, cnn's casey wian says rebuilding has already started there. >> this is america. we're going to rebuild it. >> reporter: four days after an historic tornado demolished much of joplin, missouri, contractor daryn collins started construction on the first new building to emerge from the rubble. >> at some point we're going to have to stop scratching our heads and standing staring at the rubble and roll up our sleeves and get things back to normalcy. >> reporter: he's rebuilding his wife's beauty salon which we built once before 17 years ago. he discussed the idea with officials on tuesday. wednesday the okay to start and thursday construction began. >> we've had just an enormous outpouring of generosity and help to get prepared to get back to this point and the city has been great. city of joplin gave us a permit

in record time. >> reporter: there's still no electricity in this part of joplin. a generate powers the tools. >> time to roll up our sleeves and do what we do to move on with our lives. >> reporter: passersby stop by to offer encouragement. >> two police officers stopped by to say we want to shake your hand. first glimmer of hope that we've really seen toward the town rebuilding. >> reporter: four nearby homes that collins built in the past year are in ruins already he has at least six projects waiting to be rebuilt. >> my heart and prayers go out to everyone that lost loved ones. i hate for it to come to something like this to bring business to the area but i believe everyone around here will surprise everyone in the country with the rate that we can come back. >> reporter: after so much tragedy and so much devastation, collins takes solis in the cross that remains standing in the rubble of st. mary's church across the street and in the

support he's received from his community. >> i thank god to live in such a place. >> reporter: now collins says he hopes to have that business reopened in 45 days. he may already be ahead of schedule. pictures we were showing you were from thursday afternoon. a little while ago here are pictures we can show you where that structure is today. he hoped to have the roof on by sunday. he's already got the roof on today as you can see. now, one of the things that we noticed over the last few days in joplin is the incredible number of volunteers who have come to this area from all over the country to help out in the cleanup and recovery effort. 2,500 officially registered volunteers. many hundreds more who are simply here on their own without any specific group helping out. joining me now is one of those. it's abigale williams. tell me what you are butterfly done to help out in this cleanup and recovery effort. >> we've just been chopping down a lot of trees over by 32nd

street and today clearing up houses and trying to help people out basically. >> reporter: why did you feel it was important to come out here? >> i'm from here. i have a lot of my friends and basically almost like family members and they lost a lot here. i just decided to come out and help them. >> reporter: i understand tomorrow is your 24th birthday. >> yes. >> reporter: how are you going to celebrate your birthday? >> i'll be out here. i'll be out here helping out. hopefully. >> reporter: obviously a big job and big cleanup process ahead. do you think this community will be able to rebuild and bounce back from this tragedy? >> i hope so. i think it's going to take a really long time. really long time. eventually i think we're strong enough that we'll be able to pull through. >> reporter: just one of the people who are coming here and giving their time. she planned to volunteer somewhere else this summer.

just got finished with college and will now volunteer at home because there's plenty of work to do. >> i get overwhelmed looking over your shoulder at the work that needs to be done. great story that you're saying but as you look behind you, the amount of work that needs to take place is certainly more than an individual can grasp. >> reporter: absolutely. it's even bigger than we first thought, drew. the initial estimates of this tornado were that it stretched six miles through the community of joplin. but we drove from one end of where the devastation started to the other today. and it actually was three miles west of here and nine miles east and 12 miles swath of devastation. about twice what the original estimates were, drew. >> incredible. thanks for that. tonight at 8:00 right here on cnn, a one hour special on this tornado in joplin. in tuscaloosa, alabama, an important part of that story. why? because exactly one month ago an

f-5 tornado mowed down a giant section of that city. the agonizing recovery efforts there offer a glimpse of what joplin is now up against. cnn's david mattingly joins us live from tusk tuscaloosa with a preview. >> reporter: people in joplin can see their futures. there have been significant steps forward. streets are now clear. the water is back on. and electricity is being restored to neighborhoods by the day. there are also significant things to point out like the house behind me. there are very large areas where it looks like the tornado just hit yesterday. i had a long conversation with the mayor of tuscaloosa and he tells me the time has come for a lot of tough decisions to be made by individuals on what they're going to do and the city has some tough decisions to make as well. >> we've moved 300,000 cubic yards but when you go around

tuscaloosa it looks like we were hit by this tornado yesterday. and that is difficult because you hurt. you hurt for the people who have lost so much and there's just no easy path out of this and you have to be prepared for this long road. >> reporter: that is such an underestimate there. a long road indeed. what we've seen is that the city of joplin and city of tuscaloosa are linked not just in tragedy but in charity as well. there was actually a charity fund-raiser going on in joplin for tuscaloosa at the time that the tornado hit there. and take a look at this video. this happened today. a truck load of aid from alabama now arriving in joplin. i talked to so many people here about the things they have learned about their fellow man and it all goes back to charity and generosity that they have seen as they try to put their lives back together and one thing, one bit of advice that

several people tell me to give to the people of joplin from tuscaloosa is that do not turn down anyone who wants to help. >> david, thanks. we'll see you tonight at 8:00. cnn presents special is called a twister's fury in the path of destruction airing tonight at 8:00 eastern here on cnn. another attack on nato forces in afghanistan with taliban taking credit. a live report from pakistan next. later, a special report on florida man released from prison after spending 27 years for a crime he didn't compete. we'll show you why people are saying this guy could be the next johnny cash. ike this: compacted, drained of nutrients. it'll hold your plants but it'll also hold 'em back. the solution: miracle-gro garden soil. the perfect mix of rich, organic ingredients, and miracle-gro plant food. just mix it in. and turn bad soil into great soil. helps plants grow twice as big.

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breaking news here in atlanta. a delta regional jet that apparently had some sort of fire when it landed just about 20 or so minutes ago. that's delta flight 2284. it is on a runway. we have a picture we want to show you taken from one of our viewers who took this picture from a hotel across from the airport just as that rescue crews were getting there. we believe those are passengers who are exiting the back of the plane. you can see the ramp at the back of the plane has been extended. the door is open. passengers are coming out. a tire, we believe, may have caught fire. the good news is nobody hurt as far as we know.

the passengers have been evacuated as far as we know and according to the airport from the airport's john kennedy, the runways are clear and normal operations continue at the airport. we'll continue to follow this breaking news and give you more pictures but again it is news that has ended well as this plane landed here at atlanta hartsfield jackson airport. another attack on nato forces in afghanistan. the taliban taking credit. among targets was nato commander of coalition forces in north afghanistan. he was wounded. seven others are dead. stan grant has the latest on how a suicide bomber once again was able to get in and get close to nato forces. >> reporter: the taliban says it specifically targeted this high level meeting between international and afghan officials in northern afghanistan. the militants saying they wanted to disrupt plans to launch a military offensive against it.

inside the meeting was the head of all of nato forces in northern afghanistan, german john marcus kneip. he has survived. some of his troops german's foreign minister describe this attack as barbaric. there's is a significant and powerful figure in the reasonable who was also killed. a former military commander in the northern alliance which fought the taliban in 2001. this attack complicates an already confusing and complicated picture inside afghanistan. u.s. troops are preparing to withdrawal and drawdown at least in coming months. nato forces looking at handing over responsibility for security to afghans. at the same time there are these talks between the taliban and

government there and u.s. forces as well to try to reconcile the militants with the rest of the country. now, at the same time there's been attacks across the border in pakistan as well in weeks since osama bin laden's death also targeting american, nato and pakistani troops and installations here as well as in nato supply lines. a very complicated picture caught in the middle ordinary afghan and pakistani civilians and of course international troops as well around 200 troops killed in afghanistan so far this year. stan grant, cnn, islamabad, pakistan. >> we want to return briefly to our breaking news. additional information from delta. i correct a mistake i made just a few minutes ago. that is an md-88. i'm looking at a small screen. it's flown by delta from pittsburgh to atlanta.

we're told by the airplane, 44 passengers and five crew landed at 4:14 p.m. after the brakes overheated passengers were evacuated via emergency slides on the taxiway. no reports of injury. all passengers bussed to the terminal. that's according to delta's corporate communications. this is the still photo of what it looked like a little scary moment for people onboard that flight but this is what we're told from the airline that what you're seeing are brakes overheating. the airport itself open. runways clear. operating normally. we'll continue to follow that as warrants. in the meantime, so who do you think does better with the ladies? happy guys or those dark aor brooding type? that's what we'll ask wendy welsh about. stand by. first, despite glimmers of hope

in some sectors of the economy when it comes to real estate, times are very tough. what can you do if your house is on the market? christine romans has tips in tonight's edition "smart is the new rich." >> evon and her husband are looking to sell their home in western new york. >> it's been now a month but last year we had it on for a whole year, almost a year, and we didn't sell it. >> is there anything did you in between to get the house into shape so it would be ready for the new real estate market? >> yes. we redid the kitchen and fenced in the whole backyard. >> reporter: they priced it too high and have now lowered their asking price to $329,000. it's a buyer's market and that means number one it has to be priced right. number two, it has to look good. enter home and style designer and author of "no place like home." >> my first thought was i wish this was a mirror. i wish this was here to bounce

light into the room a little bit more. >> reporter: we asked him how to help this house sell in a sea of homes for sale. >> you don't have a dining room. you have to make people think they have a space to gather in. when i see the table, i almost think you have this great light fixture you put in to center the table. >> reporter: spring is the big selling season but according to fannie mae, home sales are expected to remain soft in the near term and the spring season could deliver disappointing results. so in this climate when it comes to sprucing up your house to sell, it could be as simple as paint color that can make a really big difference. for a couple hundred dollars you can redo the whole first floor or paint the front area. gray is the new beige. a cool modern gray right away tells perspective buyers that your house is different than all of the other ones on the block. >> i think for very little money you can tweak a house all over

the place. >> reporter: perhaps at the end of the day the most important thing to keep in mind, it's all about coming home. >> there are simple things that create that mental illusion for people coming in as a perspective buyer to say i can see myself living in this home. that's really key. >> reporter: christine romans, cnn, new york. ♪ what do you see yourself doing after you do retire? client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize. "i better start doing something." we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach.

surviving a tornado a massive flood doesn't mean the ordeal is over. for many the mental wounds can last long beyond the initial trauma. our human behavior expert dr. wendy walsh is here. i think we've even seen some of this already in joplin. survivors just walking around not knowing what to do. what do you do to pick up, do the work and carry on? >> this is really what you're talking about is the first stage of trauma which is kind of numbness and it's really crucial that people do a number of things in this stage to stave off potential for a full blown stress traumatic stress disorder which can last decades or a lifetime. that problem with integrating these painful memories with a new life without the stressors. so some of the things people can do is make sure they talk about it. this is especially hard for men because men aren't accustom to

tending and befriending like women do. it's important for guys to talk about what they're feeling and what they saw and talk about experiences and feelings of loss. second thing, don't be alone. that's a duh to me but it's important that people gather together and share stories and integrate the whole experience and third, all kinds of research shows the best way to stave off depression and stress and anxiety is to give back. give a helping hand is one generous way to prevent pos post-traumatic stress disorder. >> i've seen that with a hurricane. a guy goes down the street and helps an elderly person recover because it helps him feel like he's doing something good. >> healing ourselves as we help others. >> i want to talk about a study that applies to the saying that nice guys finish last when it comes to getting girls. what is this about? >> this is a small study out of the university of british

columbia. take it as you will. canadians. it showed women a lot of different photographs of men. some of the same men but using different expressions. they asked women not who they would like to have a relationship with and marry and have kids with but who they would want to have a romp with. they discovered that the more brooding and angry the man, it denoted power or that she wanted to save him in some way. he was definitely more attractive if he had a bad boy face from this one small study. >> all right. here's something i don't get. moms descending on georgia to protest a public nudity law. here's the part i don't get. it's because of this ban on breastfeeding any child over the age of 2. what makes sense about this law? we have to do a behavioral study on politicians who pass this law i think. >> exactly. these lawmakers are a bunch of

boobs. what they forgotten -- listen, i nursed each of my children for three years each. i was a dairy queen for six years. i would have clearly been breaking the law in georgia had i gone there because when kids are hungry they got to eat. the real problem is that our culture has sexualized the breast so much. breasts have a day job and a night job. neither of them pay very well by the way. we have to understand that this isn't a bodily fluid that's a waste product. this is not urine. this is food. body builders would covet this stuff if they could get ahold of the protein. if children are hungry and need to be nursed, most children had three to five years. what can i say? catch up, georgia. >> i can't believe it was that big of a problem where this is passed. it seems ridiculous to me. >> exactly. one isolated incident of one lawmaker seeing something that disturbed them because they were still confusing the breast with sex only. >> all right.

wendy, thanks to all of the tips and help and observations. have a good weekend. >> good to see you. in addition, this memorial day weekend we remember thousands of widows across this country. one young woman became a widow at the age of 21 built a sisterhood for those just like her. an uplifting stories that's next. the count on chevy event is here. your ticket to a cruze eco. 42 mpg and over 500 highway miles a tank. one of our 9 models over 30 mpg highway. fuel up,

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new information from delta air lines and faa. the brakes overheated on that flight, flight 2284 from pittsburgh as it was landing last hour. 44 passengers, 5 crew members on board. earlier the faa reported the plane also blew a tire. firefighters were called and us today doused the plane. delta tells us no reports of injuries. this is one of our viewers taking a picture from a hotel across from the airport. the flight is an md-88. blew a tire on landing. caught fire. all aboard, 44 passengers, 5 crew evacuated. obviously scary moments for everybody there as the crews had to come racing to the scene to make sure to douse those flames before they could spread any further.

overheated brakes is what we're talking about. in missouri the death toll in joplin risen again after last sunday's tornado. 142 people now confirmed dead from that f-5 twister. 100 still missing. president obama scheduled to tour the devastation sunday and meet with some of the victims. taliban militants say they specifically targeted a high level meeting between nato and afghan officials in afghanistan today. seven people were killed. nine others hurt when a suicide bomber blew himself up. among the wounded was the target, a german head of nato's northern afghanistan command. he's said to be in stable condition now. president obama is headed back to washington this hour. he wrapped up a six-day trip to europe today in poland spotlighting the country's 1980s transition to democracy as a model for nations across north africa and the middle east. he held meetings with veterans

of the solidarity labor movement credited with ending communism in poland. just in time for memorial day and your road trip. the gas prices are falling throughout the country. the national average now at 3.81 to a gallon of regular down from 3.99 just a couple weeks ago. you are still paying more than a dollar higher than you were last year. he was the man who made this song famous back in 1970. ♪ you will not be able to lose yourself and skip out during commercials because the revolution will not be televised ♪ >> a poet and musician. gil scott-heron called by many the godfather of rap. he delivered social and political messages through music and spoken word and rose to fame in '60s and '70s and was an influential force releasing a final album last year. in 2008 scott-heron revealed

that he had contracted hiv. this weekend americans remember our fallen heros but for thousands of widows across the country, every day is their memorial day. karen davis lost her husband at 21 and then went to build a sisterhood for those like her determined to turn their grief into triumph and survival. that's why she's this week's cnn hero. >> my husband corporal michael davis was killed in baghdad, iraq. four years later people still don't know how to react when you say. hi. i'm a widow. after the funeral i felt like everyone wanted to write off my grief due to young age. you're young. you'll get remarried. i wanted to talk about it with other widows. they won't judge me if i'm laughing and tell me that i'm grieving wrong. i just wanted to create what i was searching for and just hope that there were others that

could come and help me build it too. i'm taryn davis and i'm a new generation of military widows to share love, sacrifice and survival. >> follow me. >> these events cause us to step outside of the comfort zone. >> the impact will affect us for the rest of our lives. >> moments where they can all reflect. followed by that time where they feel like they are living life to the fullest. >> my little sister wrote taryn. she wanted me to find other sisters. i went from being completely alone to not anymore. >> you see the world a different way. as widows we see our life a different way when we land. >> these military widows have given me a life again. they teach me so much and show me how far i've come to know one day another widow is going to come along and they're going to

be the one changing that widow's life. that's pretty amazing. >> the organization is connected nearly 800 widows through her online community and retreats. to tnominate someone making a bg difference in your community, go to cnna heheroes.com. ♪ >> that man's voice has been compared to that of johnny cash. but why is this 52 year old just beginning his singing career? because more than half of his life was spent in prison for a crime he did not do. what is that? it's you! it's me? alright emma, i know it's not your favorite but it's time for your medicine, okay?

you ready? one, two, three. [ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you did a really good job, okay? let's go back to drawing.

a florida man who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit now is trying to fulfill a long delayed dream. william dylan was just a teenager when he was put behind bars for killing a man in florida. three years ago a dna test finally proved he didn't do it. and he was released. now some say he could be the next johnny cash. here's cnn's john zarrella.

>> reporter: his studio is in a downstairs room of his north carolina home. ♪ in a couple months william michael dylan will turn 52. by now a career as a singer/songwriter should be well established but dylan is just getting started. ♪ his single "black robes and lawyers "requesti lawyers" will be released on itunes next month. >>wanted them to feel it. >> reporter: those say his voice and songs remind them of the late johnny cash. when a chicago music producer first heard him sing, he was

stunned. >> it turns out that he's fantastic. he's truly a great singer. >> reporter: instant fan he produced dylan's first yet to be released cd. the talented bill dylan you see here today is a man making up for lost time. you see, 30 years ago right here in the brush behind this beach, a murder turned bill dylan's life into a nightmare. this is on florida's east coast. in 1981 police found the body of a 40-year-old man in the thick brush beaten to death with no other suspects, they focused on a teenager, bill dylan. >> my personal opinion is they knew i was innocent and it didn't matter to them. >> in bill dylan's case there was so much evidence that pointed away from him having committed this crime. it was just rejected by law enforcement because they had their guy and were sticking to it. >> it was convenient. >> he was convenient.

>> reporter: dylan was convicted and sent here to florida's last stop. it wasn't long after that the witnesses recanted their stories. the evidence fell apart but no one listened. more than once dylan contemplated suicide. >> what got me through was that part of me that says don't let them win. if you die and kill yourself, they will win. >> reporter: on the inside he learned to play the guitar. in his studio, dozens of songs written in prison. he wrote "black robes and lawyers" on toilet paper. >> this is something i wrote called mother son. it's written on a calendar from prison. >> reporter: dillon spent more than a quarter of a century in hell before dna evidence proved what he knew all along. he was innocent. under florida law, he was eligible for $50,000 for every year he spent locked up.

1,350,000, florida would do right for bill dillon or would it? >> when we come back -- >> this is an issue of government at its worst. the arrogance of government. >> 27 years behind bars. 27 years wrongly convicted. dillon is free and broke. how much is the state of florida offering him for its terrible mistake? we'll be right back. ale announc] in 2011, at&t is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible.

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william dillon spent 25 years behind bars for a murder he didn't do. what about the years the innocent man spent behind bars? the state of florida is saying tough luck. here again is john zarrella. ♪ most of my life in prison >> reporter: last month bill dillon sang at a fund-raiser in new york for the innocence project which champions the cases of those wrong pfully imprisoned. dillon was one of those. ♪ will someone please hear my plea ♪ >> reporter: dna evidence freed him after 27 years spent in a florida prison for a murder he didn't commit. it was there that dillon wrote songs and learned to play the guitar. his songs are about life on the inside. >> i think the one i cherish the most is "black robes."

the first one i wrote about my incarceration. >> reporter: when released in 2008, he expected florida would do the right thing. under state law he was eligible for $50,000 a year for each year he he spent in prison. so far he hasn't seen a dime. >> you know how i live my life? i rely on other people. i relied on other people since i was released from prison. i have nothing for myself. not a thing. >> reporter: why hasn't bill dillon gotten his money? florida's compensation statue has a clause called the clean hands provision. if you had any prior felony conviction, no matter how minor, you are not eligible for the money. >> when i was 19 years old, i got caught with a joint in my pocket with nine college kids coming from a bottle club at 4:00 in the morning. >> reporter: possession of the pill was a felony. dillon got probation. >> that one quailude bill

absorbs the state from paying him for years in prison for someone else's crime. >> reporter: bill dillon waits and gets a kick out of playing video games that weren't around when he went to prison. >> i see why kids don't do nothing. >> reporter: he waits for one more avenue of hope. a claims bill that must pass the florida legislature. the senate passed it this year and not the house. even though state senator was a sponsor of the compensation legislation and clean hands provision, she believes dillon's case is an injustice. >> this is an issue of government at its worst. the arrogance of government to put someone in prison for 25 years and not apologize or not say we're going to compensate you for the time that you spent. >> reporter: even if a claims bill passes at $810,000, it's far less than 1.3 million he

would have gotten if not for that single qualude. as for the murder case, the investigation was reopened. as for bill dillon, he's not looking back. ♪ so many lies and twist of fate ♪ >> reporter: a single coming out on have his cd released soon. maybe, just maybe, bill dillon will finally get a break. john zarrella, cnn, raleigh-durham, north carolina. >> there are laws providing some form of compensation for the wrongly convicted in 25 states, plus washington, d.c. flf is the only state that says anyone with a prior felony doesn't get a dime, even if they didn't do the crime. when we come back, a young man is proving a doctor wrong after being told he would never walk again. it's amazing story. we'll have it for you. p to san francisco twice as fast! we get double miles every time we use our card...

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there has been ladies and gentlemen fire this afternoon in north carolina. near a town called hudson. this is a rural area in caldwell county which is west of greensboro and east of asheville.

we're being told that this is a chemical coat kgs company in caldwell county. the fire and smoke have shut down a highway there, 321, and forced evacuations of homes and businesses within two miles of this facility. we haven't been told exactly why the evacuations, what kind of hazardous material was involved, but apparently, just from the live pictures that we are seeing there, the fire crews, extensive fire crews do have control of this fire, and you can see the building has pretty much been destroyed as the fire crews attack it from all sides. we'll keep an eye on this and let you know. so far, i'm not seeing any reports of injuries in this, but again, this is live pictures coming in from caldwell county, north carolina where there's been a large fire this afternoon. well, each week? our human factor series, we look at ordinary people who are accomplishing extraordinary things. this week dr. sanjay gupta

introduces us to a young guy who's proving wrong when a doctor told him you're never going to walk again. >> like a lot of little boys, matt coursen loves sports, so much that he eventually ended up as a pitcher with the university of arkansas. but all that changed in april of 2006 when matt decided to drive his four-wheeler over to a friend's house. he never made it. >> my four-wheeler went off a 20 foot em barngment. knocked me out, memory loss. >> his backbone was shattered. his doctors said he would never walk again, but you know matt was a young man who didn't understand the word never. >> that doctor thinks i'm not going to walk again? i will walk again. >> a year after his injury, matt moved to baltimore, maryland, to work with specialists at the center for final cord center. he began a regimen to recover

sensation and movement in his legs. >> one big basis of our program is using is modern technology to move someone who's prayerlized using their own nervous system. >> the therapy includesgate training, water therapy, along with functional electric stimulation that uses a computer to send electrical impulses to a patient's legs causing them to contract and relax while riding a bicycle. does some of the work that the brain would formally do. as matt's sessions progressed, so did his recovery. he began to move his toes and able to walk more than 300 feet with the use of braces and a walker. matt also went back to school to finish his degree at the university of maryland determined not to accept his diploma in a wheelchair. >> things just don't happen. you have to make them happen. >> on may 23rd, matt coarsen walked across the stage as thinks graduation. although he has a long way to go, his doctors and families believe he's going to do it. and no one believes it more than

matt. >> one day i'm going to play that game of catch with my son in the yard and walk my daughter down the aisle. there's no doubt in my mind. >> dr. san say gupta, cnn reporting. ♪ hello sunshine, sweet as you can be ♪ [ female announcer ] wake up to sweetness with honey nut cheerios cereal. kissed with real honey. and the 100% natural whole grain oats can help lower your cholesterol. you are so sweet to me. bee happy. bee healthy. took some wild risks when i was young. but i was still taking a risk with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more, and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. along with diet, lipitor has been shown to lower bad cholesterol 39 to 60 percent.

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