monitoring the situation. let us know when you have more. and right now we want to hand off to jake tapper and erin burnett, they're going to pick up coverage of all the breaking stories we have for you today. erin, jake. >> all right. thanks, chris. appreciate it. we've got two big headlines as you all know we're watching the boston bombing and the explosion at a texas fertilizer plant. i'm erin burnett here in boston. >> and i'm also here in boston, i'm jake tapper. we have reporters across the country who are covering these two stories here in boston of course the terrorist attacks and then of course the explosion in texas. all they could do was watch and then duck for cover. this is that incredible moment yesterday when a major fire turned into almost complete devastation for a small town near waco, texas. it's a chemical plant. it makes fertilizer. and it's surrounded by homes and

schools. the fire is still right now burning. more than 60 homes were either leveled or badly damaged. and emergency crews are still searching for a few first responders who are missing. a few minutes ago we heard from the governor of texas, rick perry. >> to that end i am declaring mclennan county a disaster. we'll request an emergency declaration from the president. i also want to commend the hard work put in again by chief and his team at the department of emergency management, they quickly responded to this disaster. it is unfortunate for us that we face both natural and manmade disasters all too often in this state. but the bright side of that is we've got the finest emergency management team in this country. and it is very important to stress that at this point much of the information that we have is still very preliminary.

and more information is coming in all the time. >> there are a lot of questions, obviously, about what happened and how that happened in texas last night. here in boston the memorial service, which the president attended, wrapped up just a short time ago. it was a very poignant beautiful service i thought watching it honoring those killed and wounded in monday's twin bombing here in boston. ♪ from sea to shining sea >> the focus was on healing and the spiritual wounds caused by the attacks. some people singing and tears streaming down their faces. the president offered words of reassurance to the families to the killed and to the wounded. he also had praise for the city of boston. >> you showed us, boston, that

in the face of evil, americans will lift up what's good. in the face of cruelty, we will choose compassion. in the face of those who would visit death upon innocence, we will choose to save and the comfort and to heal. >> police identified two men seen in images near the finish line moments before the explosion. our deborah feyerick has reported on this extensively. the bags were bigger than they should have been. photos have been circulated to state and law enforcement agencies, but the pictures are not being released to the public yet because they're worried in so doing they could impede the investigation. it is still unclear whether this was an act of domestic or foreign terrorism, jake. the huge question out there and unanswered at this time. >> the debate going on in law

enforcement circles right now about whether or not to release the photographs, to get the help of the public. do you know who these people are? and then there's the risk of course of tipping them off that they know who they are. >> right. >> another story we need to update you on. a mississippi man has now been charged with making threats against president obama and sending threatening letters to him and to a mississippi republican senator wicker. paul kevin curtis was arrested at his home in mississippi for allegedly sending letters to the president and senator wicker. final tests are being carried out right now to determine definitively if those letters are contaminated with the deadly poison ricin. as we know initial tests are often wrong, false positive. but the initial test did say they were contaminated with ricin. >> all right. and now one of these images most of us will remember from the deadly fertilizer plant explosion in west, texas. the city's medical director, his face bloodied, organizing the search and rescue effort after he had obviously undergone injuries himself. and then updating reporters on

the situation. >> there was just a major, major explosion. the windows came in on me, the roof came in on me, the ceiling came in. i worked my way out to go get some more help. of course we lost all communication because the power went out. the station is badly damaged a whole 1,500 block of still meadow. my son lives there. luckily he was on the second floor or his roof would have fallen on him. that whole street is gone. >> he's on the phone with us now. we see the picture of you last night, we see your face bloodied. how are you today? >> i'm doing fine. went to the hospital about 4:00 in the morning had everything sutured i needed to get sutured.

so i'm all right. >> well, i'm glad to hear that, sir. and what can you tell us about the other casualties? there seems to be so much uncertainty today i know they're still going door-to-door. how many people do you know at this point lost their lives? >> somewhere between five and 15. we haven't really been able to get into the investigation. we'll have a better picture. we have not been allowed in yet. >> dr. smith, it's jake tapper here in boston. we've been told that three to four firefighters were missing or unaccounted for. can you give us any update on that? is there a more concrete number than three or four? >> we don't know yet. i know for a fact that two volunteers are fatalities

because my son on the scene was about 400 feet back and saw -- >> sir, you were involved in helping evacuate a nearby nursing home. can you tell us about the status of those patients? are they all right? >> yes. luckily we had absolutely no fatalities at the nursing home. when i saw the fire, i knew how close went to the nursing home and immediately get them away from the building. and i think that maybe saved some lives because the explosion happened right after away from that side of the building. but all nursing home accounted for. we were missing ten earlier, but after we were able to get in, the urban search and rescue teams found there were no

bodies. it was very hectic. >> dr. smith, thank you very much. we both appreciate you're taking the time. >> you're welcome. >> good luck, sir. we're all hoping for a good outcome for some of these people. i want to get now to the search and rescue command post. this is where the focus is still on those missing. jake and i were talking, they're out there right now searching door-to-door to try to find if people are still alive. martin savidge is there for us. martin, have they made any progress or have a better sense of how many people are still missing? >> reporter: no. those numbers you continue to hear five to 15, that's the number of casualties. but i've also been told, you know, don't put a lot of stock in that. they really just don't know at this particular point. i asked them, well, what about missing? do you have any idea of how many people are missing? they say no. there's a couple reasons for that. primarily in the chaos in the aftermath of that event last night, they were literally taking the injured and throwing them into the back of police

cars and squad cars and sending them off to hospitals. nobody was writing down names at that point. lives were on the line. there were a lot of people disbursed, may be displaced but not necessarily missing. and that process is working its way through. so that's why the numbers are very fluid. talking about the search and rescue. they did it all night long. and they have covered the entire blast area. but that was the kind of quick look to find the obvious. now they're going in and doing the very difficult and methodical. the problem is so many buildings so heavily damaged, so dangerous that the search and rescue crews to go into that they literally have to shore the buildings up, hold them up so that the rescuers can go inside and continue to look for survivors. they have not declared this a recovery mission yet. they are saying it is still search and rescue and hope is still strong that they will find more people alive in the ruins. erin. >> all right. marty, thank you. if you're looking to try to help those affected by the boston

bombings or the texas explosion, vitd cnn's impact your world. there are ways you can help as we know so many people are trying to do. they care, they feel so far away, but there's a lot you can do. a lot of things people have been worried about in the west, texas, area was the air quality. people were talking about the fumes and smell and fear. so we're going to have the very latest on that and how significant that ammonia in the air could be after this. >> the last word that i had was that the chemical in the air aspect of it was not a significant concern. apparently that's been somewhat contained or under control.

welcnew york state, where cutting taxes for families and businesses is our business. we've reduced taxes and lowered costs to save businesses more than two billion dollars to grow jobs, cut middle class income taxes to the lowest rate in sixty years, and we're creating tax free zones for business startups. the new new york is working creating tens of thousands of new businesses, and we're just getting started. to grow or start your business visit thenewny.com

prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made? [ club scene music ] [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

[ male announcer ] engine light on? come to meineke now for a free code scan read and you'll say...my money. my choice. my meineke.

and we are back now with our other big story here in boston, massachusetts. the president just a few moments ago arrived at massachusetts general hospital to visit with the victims. michelle obama is visiting victims at bringham women's hospital. they had just wrapped up the memorial service just a short time ago. our don lemon was inside the church during that service. don, when i was watching it on tv, it was really poignant even more so than i expected. made you sort of choke up. what was it like to be in that space? >> well, if you think you choked up being outside watching on television, i hope i can convey to you what it was like on the inside. it was a very solemn service. and quite frankly a very beautiful service and a very moving service. i don't mean this in a cynical way, but as it all started to play out, as the speakers started to speak, as the

president spoke, i kept thinking, erin, we have covered so many tragedies lately. we have covered so many acts of terrorism whether it's by gunfire, explosion, that we collectively are becoming too adept at reporting this, speaking on it and almost too elegant. these things should be things that shock us and leave us speechless. we seem to be doing it by routine chl it was moving in the sense that the speakers there who talked about the firefighters, the rescuers, the volunteers, the heroes who finally felt that people appreciated what they had done and they got time to reflect in that service on what had happened and what they had done. and i looked around as the president was speaking, as governor deval patrick was speaking and i looked around and

saw these big rugged guys with tears in their eyes. this one woman was sitting next to me in a grey suit, she had grey hair. and the entire time she was crying her head was down during the ceremony. there was also a gentleman sitting next to me who was also i would imagine one of the family members involved in the tragedy. he was with his two daughters, a teenage daughter and a pre-teen daughter and his wife sitting next to me. and when the children's chorus of boston started to sing, the entire family just really broke out into tears and started crying. and i think one of the most poignant moments to me i think boston needed this, i think the victims families needed this. i think the country really needed to grieve and reflect on what had happened. i saw these big guys with tears in their eyes when the president said, listen, they messed with the wrong city, stiff upper lip pushing their chins out trying to hold back the tears and standing up applauding the president saying, you know, collectively, we're going to get over this, we're going to get over this. you did mess with the wrong city. and so it was very moving.

and also i think it's important to point out when you look at the list of speakers, you know it sounds like a rabbi, a preacher, a priest, a jew, an hispanic walk into a church, but that's exactly what happened here today. and it was a true reflection of america. you had speakers from every different type of faith, every different background, you had an african-american governor, a black president of the united states, all in unison saying that the country will get over this, boston will get over this. it was a true reflection of america. and i was quite honored to be there and i think it was exactly what the country needed to hear today. >> don lemon, thank you very much. i want to just for a moment listen, you know, as don so describing what it was like to be there just to have us for a moment listen to what president obama had to say. >> our prayers are with the injured. so many wounded, some gravely.

from their beds some are surely watching us gather here today. and if you are, know this. as you begin this long journey of recovery, your city is with you. your commonwealth is with you. your country is with you. we will all be with you as you learn to stand and walk and, yes, run again. that i have no doubt you will run again. [ applause ] you will run again because that's what the people of boston are made of. your resolve is the greatest rebuke to whoever committed this heinous act. if they sought to intimidate us,

to terrorize us, to shake us from those values that deval described, the values that make us who we are as americans, well, it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it. [ applause ] not here in boston. our love for each other. our love for country. our common creed that cuts across whatever superficial differences there may be, that is our power. that's our strength. that's why a bomb can't beat us. that's why we don't hunker down. that's why we don't cower in fear. we carry on. we race.

we strive. we build and we work and we love and we raise our kids to do the same. and we come together to celebrate life and to walk our cities and to cheer for our teams when the sox and celtics and patriots or bruins are champions again to the chagrin of new york and chicago fans, the crowds will gather and watch a parade go down boylston street. and this time next year on the third monday in april the world will return to this great american city to run harder than ever and to cheer even louder for the 118th boston marathon. [ applause ] bet on it. >> you hear the president speaking, but as he finishes there are so many questions surrounding the investigation of the boston bombings. what we do know right now the very latest we understand is they have honed in on a couple

crucial images of two men who were hovering by the fin ib line. i want to go to exactly what we know about those images right now because they could be the key to finding out who did this heinous act. that's after this. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. welcnew york state, where cutting taxes for families and businesses is our business. we've reduced taxes and lowered costs to save businesses more than two billion dollars to grow jobs, cut middle class income taxes to the lowest rate in sixty years,

and we're creating tax free zones for business startups. the new new york is working creating tens of thousands of new businesses, and we're just getting started. to grow or start your business visit thenewny.com we need to get ambulance

this way. a bomb just went off inside here. it's pretty bad. >> president obama is offering praise -- in a statement today the president offered prayer and support for a shaken community. he wrote "west is a town that many texans hold -- many texans are continuing to respond to the tragedy. i want you to know they have the support of the american people. >> here in boston president obama attended an interfaith service honoring the victims of monday's bombing. he told the congregation that the spirit of the city remains undaunted. authorities say they're making significant progress in the investigation. they're trying to identify two men, these men appeared in images near the finish line moments before the blasts. deborah feyerick joins me now. deb, so i know law enforcement officials have been debating whether or not they are going to release these images. have they made any decision? are they still grappling with this issue?

>> no, there's been no determination as to whether to release those photos. those photos were widely circulated yesterday. they showed two young men, both of them carrying bags. one is a backpack, the other is sort of a sling shoulder bag. but now after speaking to an intelligence source, i am told that in fact investigators are dialing back on those two individuals. they were clearly wanted or of interest because of where they were standing, how they were standing, the size of the bags. but right now it looks like those two individuals are sort of falling farther down on the list of people who need to be identified. there's been a lot of reporting about who these two individuals might be. and cnn has actually reached out to some people who know these two individuals. so right now looks like those two are falling down the list. there's still a lot of other suspects. that's one of the things, jake and erin, we've been talking about is investigators have to rule things out. there are so many images that are out there. it's important that they identify people and say they're

not of interest as it is to say, you know, this one goes sort of on the priority list. that's what they're doing right now. we were told earlier that in fact investigators are looking at surveillance video from weeks past. they want to see if there was anybody walking the marathon route who may have looked suspicious, may have been checking out for example the tree where it's believed one of the devices may have been placed. so all of that is underway. and the teams like we're doing on some levels, the investigators are brainstorming, they're trying to figure out where the bombs went off as they were supposed to. whether one was supposed to go off first and then the second. so there's a lot of things that are going on. in a way it's been a quieter day for investigators as far as the glare of the media spotlight because the president is in town. they've been able to do what it is they're hoping to get done. right now no determination on whether there are going to be any photographs released or any presser today, jake. >> and, deb, i spent some time with an amateur photographer who took a bunch of pictures of the

marathon, his boss's wife was running in the marathon. he posted these images on flicker. he let the fbi know about them. and since then they've been clicked upon, his flicker site, 7 million times. this tremendous interest by the public in looking into these photographs. obviously a lot of conspiracy theorists out there. it's like the film on steroids. are law enforcement officials still interested in getting images, photographs from the public? or did they feel like that area has been covered? >> no, you know, look, absolutely. they don't want to leave anything unturned when it comes to what it is they're looking at. and various images from various angles may show a detail that is missed in a photograph that they already have. so it is crucial that they get those. jake, just to mention, there's another image of a young man who seems to be bolting away from the scene of the crime. even that young man has been sort of lowered down on the

list. i spoke to one person who said, look, everybody's a suspect until they're not a suspect. so everyone's trying to avoid that language until we really know who we're talking about and what we're looking at, jake. >> all right. thank you, deborah feyerick. check in with you in a bit. rain helped first responders contain the texas fire, but heavy winds threaten to make matters worse. severe storms are hitting texas. what this could mean for search and rescue efforts. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 opportunities are waiting to be found in faraway places. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 markets on the rise. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 companies breaking through. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 endless possibilities. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab, i search the globe for the big movers. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can trade in 30 different markets tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 to help me seize opportunities, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 potentially better returns and new ways to diversify. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 to get an edge, i use schwab's global research. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 they give me equity ratings on foreign stocks tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 based on things like fundamentals, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 momentum and risk. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i also have access to independent firms tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like ned davis research and economist intelligence unit.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and with my schwab global account, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can trade directly online in top markets tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 in their local currencies-- when the markets are open. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus, their global specialists are on call around the clock. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 there's a world of winners out there. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and now i have a better shot at finding them. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 now get our best global offer! tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 trade commission-free online through september 2013 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 when you open a schwab global account. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-924-0868.

welcome back to cnn's continuing coverage. i'm jake tapper. this is erin burnett. we're here in boston where the city took a moment today to pause to heal. there was a memorial service that just ended within the last hour. it was to honor those killed and wounded in monday's twin bombings. president obama was there. he offered words of comfort to the families of the three people killed in the attack and the dozens wounded. he also tried to provide reassurance to those wounded. and he had praise for the city of boston. >> you showed us, boston, that in the face of evil, americans will lift up what's good. in the face of cruelty, we will choose compassion. in the face of those who would

visit death upon innocence, we will choose to save and to comfort and to heal. >> investigators are trying to identify two men seen in images near the finish line moments before the explosions. photos of the men are being circulated among state and federal law enforcement agencies, but not yet to the public. authorities are debating whether or not to release the photographs of the public. there's concern that releasing them might impede the investigation. it's still unclear whether the attack was an act of domestic or foreign terrorism. and this is another american community healing today. west, texas, it's a burning fertilizer plant. it went off last night like a bomb. we were here and people we were talking to a mile away were describing it like a bomb in their backyard where literally all their windows were blown

out. right now we understand at least five people have been killed. it happened late yesterday. and the fire is still not completely out yet. more than 160 people are hurt. and rescuers are still not found several firefighters missing since the explosion. >> i was made aware that they are still in the search and rescue process. his comment to me was that they are continuing to do that. it is a very slow methodical search at this point. and they are using every available resource that they have to do that correctly. >> the fire and explosion at the west, texas, fertilizer plant released what's called anhydrous ammonia, a gas used in fertilizer production. officials say the chemical in the air is not of physical concern which we weren't sure of last night. but victims have been treated for chemical burns. elizabeth cohen joins us now --

people thought the bad weather and rain last night could be a bad thing. ended up perhaps being a miracle. elizabeth, let me start with you in terms of the damage that can be caused from the ammonia when people are getting chemical burns and people afraid it could cause physical damage. >> it's true. it can cause a whole array of damage. so what you dread is this huge concentration coming at you. that can kill you, actually, quite quickly. now, what you hope for is that it's so dilute and you're breathing in a low ka concentration. you might feel burning in your nose and throat, but probably no long lasting effects. >> and does it matter how far away you were from the location of the explosion? >> absolutely. the concentration's going to be highest right near it. and it's going to be lowest farther away. i don't want to say a blessing here, but an explosion will actually burn some of this up. so that's a good thing in some ways. >> burn it off. >> right. exactly. >> and exactly what kind of health problems does this pose in addition to what you were just talking about?

>> well, it depends again on the concentration you're breathing in. so if you survive it and appears people have. i mean, this doesn't appear to be the major problem here. the actual problem -- but you could have long lasting lung problems. you could have long lasting upper respiratory, ear, nose, thoet. >> this is not just a short-term thing, it could effect you for the rest of your life. >> it could be a short-term thing if the concentration was really low. it wouldn't feel great, but it wouldn't be a big deal and you just go on. but if you breathed in enough of it, it could effect you for the rest of your life. we have a lot of experience with this kaem chemical buzz unfortunately it's involved in explosions with some frequency. in fact when you hear about crystal meth labs blowing up, that's ammonia. doctors know a lot about this. >> i want to ask chad more about this. ammonia's used in everything, fertilizer, used in everything. chad, what more can you tell us about it, this form? it's basically anhydrous is a

form of storing the ammonia. >> it's not the ammonia you might have under your sink to wipe them down with. you still want to use gloves because you can get a chemical burn from household ammonia. this is a gas, anhydrous ammonia, nitrogen and three hs, doesn't have any water in it. hydrous means without water. anhydrous means if it touches you it will try to get the water out of your skin or eyes or lungs. that's the real threat of it burning you. it's the chemical burn itself. if it's released into the air, it's actually at a point still heavier than air and sink to the ground where the first responders are. so this is the issue there last night. they could actually smell the chemical. a cold front went by last night and into this morning and changed the wind direction significantly. that's the perfect thing that could have actually happened here. you will have breathing difficulty if you breathe too much in. let me just go back to background. i grew up in nebraska. in nebraska they use anhydrous

ammonia. it comes in a big long tank looks like a big hot dog, a big propane tank. you drag it behind a tractor. you inject this gas that's really a liquid for a while into the soil. it becomes a perfect fertilizer for plants to use. but if you ever would see someone dragging this along, you'd never really want to be close to that. and the farmers that would be using that would always want to make sure they knew what wind direction was because if you breathe it in, it could be absolutely fatal especially to the farmer just a few feet from the tank that he's dragging behind his tractor. back to you guys. >> chad, it's jake tapper here in boston. i understand there's heavy weather in texas right now all the way up to canada. how is that affecting the recovery effort in texas? >> it couldn't be better. this could not be better. yesterday the plant right here had winds coming out of the south and southeast blowing this anhydrous, blowing this gas back into the north part of town. and there's i-35 right there. if you drive from dallas down to

waco, you drive by this town all the time. well, what's happened overnight is that the winds have shifted direction and are now blowing the wind from the north and from the northwest away from this town. first responders and rescue men and women are able to get in there without really any riskhye it's blowing downwind and past the school into the prairies of eastern texas, jake. >> chad, thank you very much. last night when this first happened they had to for a while, jake, the choppers going in to try to help people, they couldn't fly because of the wind and the wind shifted, they were worried about some of the rain but that rain helped dampen. we're going to continue to follow the two top stories we're following. the boston bombing and explosion in texas, if you're looking to help those affected, we want to make sure you know you can help if you want to. cnn's impact your world, go online and you can find that there. jake and i will be right back. t begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice.

take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪

i remember thinking there's a lot i have to do... check my blood sugar, eat better. start insulin. today i learned there's something i don't have to do anymore. my doctor said with levemir® flexpen... i don't have to use a syringe and a vial. levemir® flexpen comes prefilled with long-acting insulin taken once daily for type 2 diabetes to help control high blood sugar. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. no drawing from a vial. no refrigeration for up to 42 days. levemir® (insulin detemir [rdna origin] injection) is not recommended to treat diabetic ketoacidosis. do not use levemir® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause symptoms such as sweating, shakiness, confusion, and headache. severe low blood sugar can be serious and life threatening. ask your health care provider about alcohol use, operating machinery, or driving. other possible side effects include injection site reactions.

tell your health care provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions such as body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat, or sweating. flexpen® is insulin delivery my way. covered by most insurance plans, including medicare. ask your health care provider about levemir® flexpen today. welcome back to cnn's continuous coverage. i'm jake tapper here in boston. erin burnett here. a major development overseas about the man who wants to be leader again, pervez musharraf is right now under house arrest and wants to be president again. he returned to pakistan just last month after several years of self-imposed exile. he faces charges dating back to when he was pakistan's military ruler. musharraf was hoping to run for political office again. >> and now more on the

devastation in west, texas. after a fire and explosion at a fertilizer plant happened around 7:50 central standard time last night people watched in horror as a huge fireball, explosion and then burst into the sky. fredricka whitfield talked to responders. >> we need any ambulance we can get this way. >> reporter: at the time, all anyone knew was that a major fire had erupted in the night sky over the tiny town of west, texas. this young man was just yards away from the scene. >> i'm standing at my truck and then boom. >> we were able to cover one and then i grabbed my little one and dove through the door. it was like a bomb. it like picked you up. it just took your breath away.

>> just fire everywhere. and just bodies on the ground. bloody bodies. people in panic. firemen, fire trucks, police cars filled the town. >> reporter: the blast so powerful, so catastrophic homes blocks away were heavily damaged or flattened altogether. in the middle of the night the town was simply overwhelmed. >> going to have to go to the left -- >> reporter: people flooded the streets. a nearby nursing home evacuated. >> i thought, you know, what happened, i'm breathing so i'm good. and that's when survival kicked in and said just get out. >> reporter: the town's emergency services director himself injured and bloodied among the first responders. >> overwhelmed. i'm trying to do the best i can.

of course they're trying to sit me down because i'm bleeding. i said i've got a job to do. there's people hurt more than me. >> reporter: fredricka whitfield, cnn, atlanta. >> we're going to go right now to a man who was one of those first responders, his name is chris. he's actually not a professional first responder. he's a teacher. his mother works at the nursing home and he went right to the nursing home to help out. thanks so much for joining us. what did you see when this happened? >> i was actually 20 miles away when it actually happened. by the time i got there it was just -- it was total chaos would be the best way to say it. i mean, there were people everywhere. we had people getting out -- getting people out of the nursing home on wheelchairs taking them down a couple blocks away to a staging area and then again to a triage area. just really trying, you know, everybody was very helpful trying to get as many people out as quickly as possible.

>> so you heard that this happened and you just went immediately to where your mom works? did you call her first? did she call you? how did that work? >> i got a text from my dad. my mom works at a doctors office right across the street from where the nursing home was. and my dad texted and said there had been a big explosion and that windows had been busted out of their house. so i just headed that way to help him board them up because i figured he would need some help. and about -- i was about halfway there and he texted me again and said that there was a lot of damage at the nursing home and they are needing help getting people out. so i -- as soon as i got there i swung by their house just to make sure that it was somewhat secure. and then headed down to a nursing home. i parked at my grandfather's old house and ran for several blocks down the street from there. >> and, chris, last night when

this was happening we were hearing reports that there was a partial collapse of that nursing home, that they hadn't been able to account for all of the elderly people who live there. what was the condition of the people there that you were helping? were they all right or not? >> the few people that i was able to wheel out and get down, they had cuts and scrapes and things. i didn't see any major injuries. i did hear that there were possibility of other major injuries, there just weren't any that i saw. >> chris, thank you. >> thanks so much for your heroism, sir. coming up, there is flooding in chicago. we'll tell you all the latest right after this. ♪

if you have high cholesterol, here's some information that may be worth looking into. in a clinical trial versus lipitor, crestor got more high-risk patients' bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. getting to goal is important, especially if you have high cholesterol plus any of these risk factors because you could be at increased risk for plaque buildup in your arteries over time. and that's why when diet and exercise alone aren't enough to lower cholesterol i prescribe crestor. [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone. like people with liver disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. tell your doctor about other medicines you're taking. call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of rare but serious side effects.

is your cholesterol at goal? ask your doctor about crestor. [ female announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

welcome back to cnn's continuing coverage. i'm jake tapper live in boston with erin burnett. and in keeping with the old testament plague that we're facing here with ricin and horrible terrorist attack and the explosion in texas, we're now told that there is a flood warning in chicago. we're going to go to chad myers. chad, what can you tell us about this? >> jake, it's been an ugly

morning. hundreds of flights canceled, the rest delayed. over 500 flights at o'hare didn't even go out today. but the rain has finally movered away. six to eight inches across last well, even though the rain has slowed down, the south side still seeing rainfall. i could go on to traffic.com, this is traffic.com, shut down in places, eisenhower still shut down, so many places here under water. and one more problem we saw, a sinkhole on the south side, 9600 block here. look at this, the car here on the right was there, then all of a sudden that car ends up in the same hole that those other two cars are already in. authorities trying to figure out what's going on here, could it be something underground, maybe a water pipe, but most likely a lot to do with the water that came down from the sky in less than 24 hours. guys, back to you. >> all right, chad, thank you. of course, the sinkhole, when you see that video, only minor injuries. >> thank god for that.

crazy. >> yes. sinkholes lately, maybe we're hearing more about them, but feels there's a lot more of them. biblical plague-like nature of what's happening, the explosion in west, texas, we've been talking about. the plant had been cited for having an ammonia smell in the past. people asking questions about its past, the regulations, and we've taken a look at that. coming up, that report. with a new 2-year, 24,000-mile scheduled maintenance program, a 3-year, 36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, and a 5-year, 100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty. we've got you covered eight ways to sunday. come to think of it, sunday, too. right now chevy truck owners can trade up to a silveradlveolldo. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation

because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

ó? the fire and the explosion at the texas fertilizer plant rocked the town of west, texas, last night. the entire town, much of it destroyed. the explosion blew out walls and windows in nearby buildings. the rumblings could be felt as far as 50 miles away. now officials are still telling us they believe between 5 and 15 people were killed. there's some firefighters who are still unaccounted for as we speak. more than 160 others were injured. search and rescue teams are still trying right now to find victims. and christine romans looks into how this happened.

have there been past regulatory issues for this fertilizer company. >> reporter: before the explosion, this is what the plant looked like, it was a facility authorized to hold, we're told, up to 54,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia, that's a farm fertilizer stored under high pressure, a gas stored under high pressure and is loaded on to trucks to be used to put into sprayers and sprayed on farm fields. now, it was cited, this plant, in 2006 for a lingering smell of ammonia. there was a complaint into state officials. we have this from texas environmental regulators, the lingering smell of ammonia. that was in 2006. and a local tv station reports either this plant was fined in 2006 by the environmental protection agency, the epa, for not having a risk management plan that met federal standards. now, "the dallas morning news "is reporting the plant filed then with federal and state officials that it had no risk of fire at its facility. that report said the company, the plant, told the epa the

worst-case scenario, the worst-case scenario for this chemical facility, for this fertilizer facility, would be a ten-minute release of ammonia gas that wouldn't kill or injure anyone. now, west fertilizer, that's the name of the facility, is owned by adair grain, a private company. why does a grain company own a fertilizer company? this is a prolific component of agriculture used for years and years but is also used as an explosive in the construction and mining industries, used for quarries and instant cold packs, anhydrous ammonia. officials from the chemical safety board are en route, there are state environmental officials, national and federal environmental officials, all working right now what is still a search and rescue operation. under the assumption all of these investigations are being done under the assumption this is an industrial accident and they are trying to figure out

what caused that explosion. back to you. >> thanks, christine. we'll be back at the top of the hour with the latest on the texas explosion, and, of course, the boston bombings live from boston, me and erin burnett. stay with us. look is only the beginning. ♪ ♪ this is a stunning work of technology. ♪ this is the 2013 lexus es and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection.

an --hcaptions by vitacy--id. www.vitac.com i'm jake tapper alongside erin burnett. this is cnn's special live coverage of several american communities recovering and healing today. >> that's right, jake, just when you thought something worse couldn't happen, it happened last night. here in boston, investigators are looking to identify people near the finish line just before monday's explosions, and, of course, this comes as the president was here today helping a grieving city say good-bye to those who lost their lives. also happening at this hour, investigators holding a news nf