>> wolf, i have good news for you before i hand the show over to you. we have survived. it passed by. we made it. it's okay. >> we're relieved. >> yes. i will now leave nu the hands of wolf blitzer who is standing and surviving and -- >> it was only 65 million years or so ago. >> you are not that old. i'm telling people. wolf blitzer, over to you. >> thank you very much. we're watching what is going on over at the jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena. we can laugh and joke. 3.6 million miles, an asteroid hit 65 million years ago but where you are these nasa scientists are taking this pretty seriously aren't they? >> they're actually enjoying it. yes. they're taking it very seriously. did you know there are about a thousand what they call near

earth objects, large, large asteroids that are out there that they are watching and they've been able to basically see about 95% of those. they know where they are. the scientists here did calculations years in advance. this particular one, the 1998 qe-2 as it is called was discovered 15 years ago and they knew then because of their calculations, calculus by the way, that it would not hit earth. they've known it for a very long time. what they are excited about is it is coming very close in scientific terms and they will be able to see it using radar, which means they'll be able to see the properties of this. they'll be able to see the spin. what they discovered that they didn't know is that there is a moon that is actually orbiting this 1.7 mile wide asteroid. and so that was really interesting because they didn't know that. this is really all about science. all about being able to see these things. but certainly the scientists here say there are a lot of asteroids out there. in fact, we were just talking to one of the scientists and he said basically that he discovered there were three more with the team that had come in

to view that they discovered just today. let me let you hear what he said about this particular asteroid in comparison with the one that hit us in russia. >> how come you couldn't track the one that actually did hit russia? nobody knew that was coming. >> welsh twell, the big ones arr to see because they're bright and can be seen further away. that one over russia came from the direction of the sun so we can't even look in that direction to find asteroids and it didn't really pass close enough to the earth any time in recent history to have been discovered earlier. >> so there you go. that is the scary part, wolf, that there are a lot of smaller asteroids. you saw what this did in russia. it was scary. broke windows. people were injured. they couldn't see it and they can't see a lot of the smaller ones and don't know exactly where some of the medium ones are. they can do some serious damage just out of the blue. no one knew it was coming.

>> an opportunity for nasa scientists to study this, learn from it, and deal with it down the road. thanks very much reporting for us. we'll get to breaking news we're following right now. what are some pretty alarming weather conditions right now in most of oklahoma of all places including the already tornado ravaged city of moore, oklahoma right outside of oklahoma city. the storm prediction center has just issued what it is calling a, quote, particularly dangerous situation tornado watch until at least midnight. that means enhanced risk of a major tornado outbreak and it could be very bad. cnn meteorologist and severe weather expert chad myers is not that far away in norman, oklahoma right now. he is actually chasing these latest storms. he is joining us. chad, what can you tell us? >> what we are doing now is watching the storms start to fire to our west near i think landry, even further to the

west. the towers that are going up in this very hot atmosphere. we've been out here for three and a half days watching these cells. this is the latest the cells have fired all week which means it is the hottest that it's been. we are looking at 88 degrees right now. the last couple days we've seen storms fire up at 78 degrees. how does that make a difference? the hotter it is the high ert storms will go. if it fires early in the day, if the storms go up at noon they're not going to be too bad because it's not going to get too warm before it rains. today it hasn't rained yet. we are going to see the hottest day of the week with the biggest storms of the week today. that squall is over but this is a very dangerous day for the people of central oklahoma. we'll be out here keeping awed vised warning people at home if we see something on the ground. >> i never heard this phrase particularly dangerous situation. that is a technical term that they're using. we've heard of tornado warnings, tornado watches. of course real tornadoes. what exactly do they mean when

they say there is now what they call a pds, particularly dangerous situation tornado watch? >> i think this is something the weather service has done very wisely. we have different categories of even tornado warnings. you hear the word tornado emergency. you'll hear of this particularly dangerous situation. which means they believe there will be large and dangerous tornadoes, ef-3s and possibly even bigger up to the 200-mile-per-hour ef-5 tornado potential in any one of these cells that decides to rotate by itself and not link up to another cell. and the potential, the pds watch is the one step above a normal tornado watch and you really need to pay attention because there will be not only tornadoes but large and deadly tornadoes out there. if you hear the word "tornado warning" that means we've already seen them or doppler radar has indicated them. if you hear tornado emergency, another word, that means a large tornado is on the ground headed

to a city or town. that's the next step up from tornado warning. i think this added verbage is going to help people understand what is out there. >> chad, thanks very much. we'll stay in close touch with you. chad is in norman, oklahoma. our meteorologist samantha mohr is standing by at the cnn severe weather center tracking the storms not just oklahoma. i understand in missouri there are some actual tornadoes warnings right now. what is going on? >> well, missouri we've had the most activity so far today. but we do ek pekt that area to expand as the evening progresses and cool air moves in from the northwest. very moist air. dew points here. that major moisture in the atmosphere into the 70s. incredibly moist. in the heat that chad was talking about here. this is the area we expect to see for an enhanced risk of development of tornadic development today. there's that pds area over oklahoma. we have another tornado watch

currently in place over southeastern kansas and then across much of missouri and that's where the severe thunderstorm warnings are right now. well to the north of springfield here. moving off to the east. these cells have been moving really quickly off to the northeast around 35 miles per hour. so a quick pace. tulsa, tornado last night. things fairly quiet for now. but as chad said you have breaks in the clouds. you get the solar radiation heating. that adds more lift, more con x convection to the atmosphere and we can see things explode here. right now the oklahoma city radar looking fairly benign but it'll change and change very quickly, wolf, once that cap in the atmosphere breaks. we could see a lot of rapid fire development with some very intense tornadoes. >> we'll stay in close touch obviously with you as well. thank you. let's go to the phones right now. greg carbon is joining us. he is a warning coordinating

meteorologist with noaa's storm prediction center in norman, oklahoma. is that right? >> that's correct, wolf. >> so tell us about these latest threats that are out there. where are they most severe? >> well, i think samantha and chad have summarized the situation quite well. this afternoon we're seeing a very volatile air mass across central oklahoma. very hot conditions. but the cap as samantha just said is suppressing development which allows that instability to build so when you finally do break through that inhibition and the mid level of the atmosphere you can see explosive thunderstorm development. the pds or particularly dangerous situation watch stretches from the red river to the border with kansas and it is really anywhere in this broad section of central oklahoma over the next few hours where we expect to see explosive thunderstorms development and the potential for tornadoes. we're seeing that development maybe start to occur now just to

the north of oklahoma city between oklahoma city and tulsa. right now in the short term that looks to be the area we'll probably see initial developments. >> how much warning will folks get? >> once the storms form about ten or 20 minutes before they begin to show character in terms of rotation. hopefully we won't see too much activity but there should be plenty of warning. people are in tune to what is going on out here. they know the atmosphere is going for this type of development through the evening and we'll keep a close eye on it. >> what is the best advice for those people who may be in the midst of a tornado in the next few hours? >> i think it is really important to emphasize may because tornadoes on a very small scale can be quite violent but not the whole state of oklahoma is going to be experiencing very severe weather overnight. just a few isolated locations. so the advice i have for people is to stay tuned to local tv and radio from the national weather service.

if you get a warning that a tornado is in your location, take action, you have an action plan to take cover and take shelter. put as many walls between you and the tornado and get down low. >> you're actually worried about an ef-3 or ef-4? the one that hit moore, oklahoma was actually an ef-5 which was 200 miles an hour. >> a lot of this depends on what is struck. i mean, these ratings are based on damage that the tornado inflikts on structures. so many times we'll see tornadoes form in open country that cause very little in the way of damage. it is the unfortunate circumstances when people and structures come in the way of these tornadoes that you see the higher ef-ratings. you know, if we're lucky we'll get through this without much in the way of damage but the potential is going to exist through the evening hours especially across central and northern oklahoma. another threat overnight jus to emphasize this, very heavy rainfall will evolve from this system. flash flooding and flooding is

quite likely as we go into the weekend especially for northeast oklahoma into parts of missouri. >> greg carbon with noaa's national weather service storm prediction center. thanks very much. we'll stay in close touch with you. obviously deep concern. we'll stay on top of the tornado threats right now. they're happening in the midwest especially in oklahoma, missouri, kansas. we'll remain on the ground. chad myers is actually chasing this storm right now. also coming up, an american woman killed in syria's civil war. her emotional family tells us how they found out and what she was doing there. i'm a conservative investor. i invest in what i know. i turned 65 last week. i'm getting married. planning a life. there are risks, sure. but, there's no reward without it. i want to be prepared for the long haul. i see a world bursting with opportunities. india, china, brazil, ishares, small-caps, large-caps, ishares. industrials. low cost. every dollar counts. ishares.

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congestion, for it's smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment. a 10-year-old girl's fight to stay alive is reaching the highest levels of the obama administration. we'll get to that in a moment. we'll take a look at these pictures just in from oklahoma. there is a tornado warning in effect in parts of oklahoma and between oklahoma city and tulsa

we just heard also in kansas and missouri. we'll have much more on this dangerous situation coming up as well. stand by for that. there's other news we're following including this 10-year-old girl's fight to stay alive. she has only weeks to live unless she gets a lung transplant but under current rules her chances are very slim. the family talked to cnn's brooke baldwin. >> her lungs have deteriorated significantly. and we're saying a few weeks. if we don't receive a pair of lungs in the next few weeks she will die. >> i used to go to school before i got oxygen. i got to go to school and at least try and act like all the normal children. >> what a are stoy.

senior medical student elizabeth cohen is working it for us. what are you finding out here? >> let's take a step back and talk about sarah's situation. the reason why as you said wolf she has a slim chance of getting a lung is that she is a child. there aren't a lot of pediatric lungs out there for transplants. and so what her parents want is to put her on a list for an adult transplant and that lung would be modified to fit her smaller frame. that's possible but here's the hitch. she will be at the bottom of the list so that adults who are healthier than her and aren't near death the way she is would get those lungs before she would. so today the news is that secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius sent a letter to the organ procurement and transplantation network and asked them to review this policy. asked them to take a look at it. let me quote exactly from her letter. she said, i ask that you pay particular attention to the age categories currently used in lung allocation and review the policy with the intent of identifying any potential improvements to this policy that would make more transplants

available to children. so she is reaching out and saying, review this policy. let's see if it makes sense. >> what does it mean for sarah in the immediate future? >> you know, i wish i could say this will mean a lung for her quickly but, unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. the organ transplantation network, they don't have to do what she is asking them to do. they can choose to say no we don't want to review this policy. we reached out to this group and they said they would have a response. they haven't sent it to us yet. even if they do choose to review it sometimes the reviews can take a while. and as we heard from her father she doesn't have long to live. >> what a story. let's wish her the best. hopefully she'll get this transplant. appreciate it very much. elizabeth, a bullet riddled car shown on syrian state television and we now know a michigan woman was inside fighting along side rebels. that according to the regime. her death is bringing syria's bloody civil war closer to home for the white house as well.

our national political correspondent jim acosta is joining us. what are you picking up over there? frnls wolf, white house officials are being very cautious about the death of this american woman who was killed in syria but as one important player in any potential military conflict in syria told cnn, that is nato secretary general, president obama is looking at all of the options on how to deal with the crisis. >> secretary of nato. >> when the president offered brief remarks about his meeting with nato secretary general mr. obama made no mention of syria. as the secretary general told cnn the ongoing crisis was very much on the agenda. >> we discussed syria and agreed the best way forward is a political solution. >> reporter: rasmussen says that could get complicated if russia follows through with its plans to provide the syrian regime of bashar al assad with new antiaircraft weaponry. >> i would urge all actors to reframe from steps that could be

a potential obstacle to finding a political solution. >> reporter: another troubling development the death of an american woman nicole lynn mansfield who was apparently killed in syria by forces loyal to assad. >> loved her dearly. dearly. >> reporter: reacting to the heart breaking news mansfield's family says she had converted to islam in the last few years and was lured to syria by militants in the conflict. >> there are people calling her a terrorist. there are people calling her a cia agent. she was neither. she was just an american woman misguided by people who had bad intentions. >> reporter: both the white house and state department reacted with extreme caution. >> what would the white house say to other americans who are thinking about getting involved in that conflict on either side of the equation? >> it's the state department's responsibility to offer advice to americans about travel to foreign countries. >> but another trip by an american to syria might actually

have its benefits. nato's secretary general says arizona senator john mccain's surprise visit with the free syrian army this week could be helpful. >> i think it always helps to engage with the opposition. it is split. the extremist elements within the opposition. so to engage with moderate forces within the opposition might be very helpful. >> not necessarily a bad thing. >> no. >> might be helpful. >> it might be helpful. >> reporter: both sides could be digging in for a long fight as syria's leaders said in an interview. he may run for rere-election. >> translator: if there is a need for putting my name my candidacy for election if they want i will not hesitate to put my name. >> reporter: nato's secretary general also said u.n. inspectors must be allowed into syria to investigate whether that regime has crossed that red line outlined by president obama and used chemical weapons.

for now, wolf, the secretary general says while the white house is saying all options are on the table fwle comes to dealing with syria it seems the political options are the ones gaining traction now. >> in our next hour we'll speak live with the daughter of that american woman from michigan killed in syria. all right. jim acosta, thanks very much. when we come back, most of oklahoma right now under what the national weather service is calling a particularly dangerous tornado watch at least until midnight. we're on the ground there tracking the storms. we'll bring you the latest. our own chad myers is in norman, oklahoma. also a small plane plunges right through an apartment roof here in suburban washington, d.c. we'll tell you how it happens. stay with us. [ female announcer ] yoplait greek 100.

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all right. look at this. look at these pictures from independence, kansas right now. look at how ominous those clouds look. it's 4:25 p.m. central time in independence, kansas. and it looks pretty gruesome. we know there's a particularly dangerous weather watch that we're watching in oklahoma, kansas, missouri. samantha mohr is joining us from the cnn weather center right now. these pictures in kansas right now look ominous and i know they're all on tornado watches even as we speak, samantha. >> yeah. they are. this is a watch that we have here, actually a warning we have here north of independence, wolf. you can see that in fact we'll query it for you so we can show you exactly where this is moving.

it's moving to the northeast at around 30 miles per hour. so the cities of cherriville and independence are under the gun right now. that is until 4:30 local time here. as you mentioned we do have the pds, particularly dangerous situation here across much of oklahoma that we are concerned about. here's the cell we're talking about that has the tornado warning on it. it is moving off to the northeast about 30 right now so that means it will -- this tornado will likely arrive in independence at 4:34. cherry veil around 4:46. should be moving into parsons around 5:19. if you live in these areas you need to take cover right now. the lowest level of your home. shoes on the kids. helmets if you have them to protect your heads. just stay away from any exterior walls. put as much distance between you and the tornado as possible. so that means the lowest level interior room of your home if you don't have a basement or

storm cellar. that is the cell we're watching right now. numerous thunderstorm warnings all around eastern kansas stretching up into missouri. we'll be monitoring oklahoma very closely. it is that area just southwest of oklahoma city we expect to see things rapidly develop as we head into the next 45 minutes to an hour and a half. that's what we'll be watching very, very closely here, wolf. >> one quick question. there are a lot of people watching. when i was in moore, oklahoma last week if you didn't have a basement, you didn't have a storm cellar, a lot of folks ran to their bath tubs if you will. they put a mattress over them. but some people decided to try to drive as far as they possibly could. what is the best advice, stay inside your house and try to hide with a helmet, with a mattress over you in the bath tub, or do you get in your car and drive away? >> i would say it's probably

best to barricade yourself against any storm debris. if you are going to get into your car you need to act early enough. you don't want to wait until the last minute because it's very easy to get disoriented when you're in a rain wrapped tornado situation. you don't know which way to go. so you would be better off in that situation to stay in your home. if you do have some lead time then you want to drive at a right angle away from the tornado to get away from it. some of these tornadoes can be moving at some 40, 50 miles per hour. so of course you have to be able to keep up a pretty brisk pace to out run it. i would say barricading yourself, putting helmets on your children. shoes on their feet. you don't want to have them barefoot when the storm hits is probably your best line of defense at the last minute all right. samantha, stand by. we'll take a quick break and resume our special coverage right after this. man: i know the name of eight princesses. i'm on expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for, because i'm raising two girls

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pictures. independence, kansas and troy, missouri. what the national weather service describes as particularly dangerous tornado warnings not only in missouri and kansas but also oklahoma. chad myers is in norman, oklahoma chasing some of these storms even as we speak right now. what's the very latest, chad? >> i think the latest, wolf, is that there was a very early rush hour today. i think people are taking this very seriously. i know we're all shell shocked between how many tornadoes we've had the past couple of weeks but people heard about this and they said i think we're going home early. because i have not seen so many cars on the road at ten after 3:00 as we were driving from edmund down to norman. now we're back on the road headed toward mustang into i-40. we'll travel i-40 west a little bit. this is where the storms are going to fire. the reason why this is important is because these are going to be large tornadoes today. they are firing west of oklahoma city. oklahoma city runs from almost guthrie nowadays which is edmund

north. i believe some 40 mile populated stretch from north to south between edmund and moore. there's very little that a tornado could go through without hitting a populated place. the storms are going to fire to the west of this populated place and travel right in it. we are going to follow the storms at the exact same time they're coming in from the west and hope that literally something goes north of town, something goes south of town. this is going to be like a rake, the tines of a rake will go right across oklahoma today from the southwest to the northeast. so from the southwest part of the state all the way up toward tulsa and probably still keep going after that. but this city is on edge. they're on alert. they know what's coming. they're getting ready. they know what happened to moore. this is not new. this happens all the time. this is tornado alley. they did it. today with the pds watch, the updwru upgraded watch, particularly dangerous situation watch everybody is going home and getting their family to be safe. >> particularly dangerous

situation unfolding right now. the storm warning over there in oklahoma, in kansas as well as missouri. all right. chad, we'll stay in close touch with you and get back as soon as we get more information. in other news we're following, including new developments today in the scandal over irs targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash broke the story yesterday. house investigators this week and next are interviewing key irs employees from the tax-exempt office in cincinnati. dana is here now with new information. what else are you hearing? >> we are told that the irs has identified 88 employees that they are seeking documents from to turn over to congressional investigators. now, this is what i'm told, wolf, that the irs told congress from a congressional source. now, republicans have not seen these documents yet but they are still privately, clearly preparing to season this to say, look. if the irs is casting this wide net for 90 employees, then the

whole concept of a couple of employees going rogue in the cincinnati office just isn't accurate. when they're talking about targeting tea party groups. now i ran this by somebody at the irs. this is information i was told. their response is that they did cast a wide net but it's just a precautionary measure to make sure they didn't miss anything to try to answer congres's questions about who was involved and why this happened. >> as you know there are a lot of reports that the former irs commissioner doug shulman who was a bush administration appointee but held on during the clinton -- the obama administration -- visited the white house during the obama administration 157 times. that's a lot of visits to the white house. what was going on? >> well, let me just give a reality check here. that is that it appears that it wasn't 157 times. that doug shulman the former irs commissioner went to the white house. that is a number of times apparently that he was cleared in by the secret service. you know how it works. you've covered the white house.

just because they clear somebody doesn't mean they actually go. a white house source i talked to today said that is exactly what happened. doug shulman was cleared in but many times his deputies went. now the obvious question is how many times did he go? more importantly what did he talk to white house officials about? who did he meet with? the white house can't answer exactly how many times he went but they do insist when he did go to the white house his preliminary discussions were about obama care because the irs has a really important role in implementing obama care. that's the primary reason he was going to the white house to talk to officials there. the other thing they point out at the white house is doug shulman testified under oath, penalty of perjury, that he didn't tell anybody at the white house discussed this whole idea of targeting so the whole idea he was having discussions about this they say just isn't true. >> why didn't he just say i went to the white house on many occasions to talk about obama care because the irs does have a legitimate tax related function as far as implementing obama care. instead he was flippant in saying well there were easter egg rolls and i would take my kids there. >> that's a great question.

we need to ask him that question and we haven't been able to but that is an excellent question. >> it's up to the white house to try to explain and it's been clumsy i think. very difficult for them to do. >> very clumsy. you would think a smart guy like that would have at least said yeah there was a lot of important work i had to do at the white house in implementing obama care. thanks very much for that report. hillary clinton as all of our viewers know was a very popular secretary of state but her approval rating has since taken a hit since she stepped down. take a look at this quinnipiac university poll in february. 61% of those asked had a favorable opinion of her. now that number is down to 52% while her unfavorable rating climbed six points in the same period. let's get more now with our chief political analyst gloria borger. what is going on here? >> 52% is pretty good. 62% is the stratussphere you get when you're a well respected secretary of state.

she is off that perch now. she is being seen as you can imagine wolf through the prism of presidential politics. obviously i think if you look at some other questions asked in this poll there is some spill over from the question of benghazi. this poll asked people whether they blamed hillary clinton in any way for the events in benghazi including the death of the ambassador there. and it's about a tie with about 48% saying that she bears some of the blame. and in breaking down these numbers even further, here is the real problem for hillary clinton. if you do look at it through a presidential prism, and that is independent voters. take a look at this. independents' favorable view of hillary clinton is now down 13 points. of course we all know from the last election that those are the voters you have to get in your camp if you're going to win. >> but the polls show she is still a very formidible candidate. >> she is. completely formidible. she is the obvious front-runner in the democratic party. let me put up another number

that shows you how formidible she is. you've heard of the gender gap another thing we talked about all during the last election. look at how women view hillary clinton. 27 points more favorably than unfavorably. that is a gender gap any candidate would like to have because women are so important. she doesn't do as well with men. she is down a little bit with men. she doesn't do as well with republicans obviously. women like hillary clinton. by the way, in hypothetical matchups she beat two potential republicans, rand paul, jeb bush of course very early. joe biden did not beat those two candidates. so i think lots of democrats would like to be in hillary clinton's shoes right now. if they're thinking about running. >> let's point out still very, very early. >> very early. of course, she is transitioning to kind of be a quasi-private

citizen. that is going to be a difficult job for her. because she is always going to be seen through the presidential prism until she tells us exactly what she is going to do. >> we'll find out at some point. thank you. just ahead an american mother cleared of drug smuggling over joyed at being released from a mexican jail. she is speaking out about her ordeal, plus a plane nose dives into an apartment. this apparent disaster does have a surprise ending. we're keeping a close eye on the storm threats out there in the midwest happening right now. look at these live pictures coming in. ominous clouds. we'll have much more on this story when we come back as well. we went out and asked people a simple question:

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take a look at these live pictures coming in from kansas right now. independence, kansas, pittsburgh, kansas. the national weather service in wichita has just issued a tornado warning, yes a warning for northwestern la bette county in southeast kansas as well as northeastern montgomery county also in southeast kansas. the warning until the top of the hour. we're staying on top of this story checking in with chad myers who is chasing these storms for us. much more on the tornado warnings. the watches coming up. stand by for that. other news we're following including this. it had the making of a deadly disaster but amazingly no one was seriously hurt when a small plane plunged right through the roof of a virginia apartment. what happened? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. this pilot was trying to get to dulles airport but was about 20

miles short. instead, he ended up right up there. imagine being jolted out of your sleep only to see the pilot and a plane in your apartment. disaster narrowly averted. >> may day, may day. >> reporter: a single engine prop plane crashes through the roof of this three-story apartment building in a suburb just outside washington, d.c. the pilot, 61-year-old william larson, desperately calls for help reporting his cessna cardinal had engine problems, electrical failures, and low fuel. >> heading toward dulles. emergency requested. >> fuel remaining? >> i think that's our problem. we're not going to make the airport. >> reporter: seconds later, he nose dives through the roof of david ventura's living room. >> we heard an explosion and came out to the door. it seems like all the dry wall

and wood is on the floor. two guys come out. all of a sudden we heard this noise. kind of like the building shook. >> reporter: virginia state police say four adults and two children were asleep in the apartment. only one of the adults was injured but not seriously. crews used a crane to remove the cessna. the pilot is a professional aerial photographer. youtube video shows him at work with the same plane that crashed friday. he was taking night time infrared photographs when his plane ran into problems. luckily, both the pilot, his passenger, and all residents are expected to be okay. >> thank god nobody got hurt in this deal. all right. back out here live, wolf, you know they're about to start some repairs here but we can tell you that the people who live in this apartment had to be evacuated while these repairs are under way. really, a good thing that that plane was low on fuel. had it been a full tank, the story may have ended a lot differently. >> you're absolutely right. rene, thanks for that report.

rene marsh reporting. we're just getting this in. grim news from houston. we've just learned four firefighters have been killed battling this blaze. officials say five other firefighters have been injured. this is a five-alarm fire. 160 people called to the scene. it started at a hotel, the southwest inn, spread to a neighboring restaurant. you can see the flames shooting up from the building and the thick, black smoke could be seen over a very wide area. once again, four firefighters dead in this houston blaze. here is a look at some of the other stories we're monitoring right now in the situation room. extreme flooding in arkansas has claimed the life of a sheriff attempting a rescue at a home overwhelmed with water. the sheriff apparently drowned. two people at the home and a wildlife officer said to be with the sheriff are still missing.

more positive housing news today. foreclosures have fallen to their lowest level since early 2008. this according to a new report. so-called distress sales accounted for a lower percent. at the height of the crisis almost half of all homes sold nationally were foreclosures. just ahead an american mother cleared of drug smuggling over joyed at being released from a mexican jail and is speaking out about her ordeal. we'll stay on top of the tornado threats happening right now in the midwest. ♪

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an american mother who was wrongly jailed in mexico on drug smuggling allegations is now a free woman. she's back in the arms of her family after being released. cnn stephanie elam is joining us from goodyear, arizona. how is it going over there, stephanie? >> well, at this point, wolf, we know she made it back across the border, somewhere late in the night, early morning. and then they had a three-hour drive to get back here to g goodyear where their family is. they'll el us more about that. but overall you're talking about a woman who spent nine days in jail because they believed she had taken over 12 pounds of marijuana and put it under her seat on the bus as she was

coming back across the border with her husband. because of video that came out, the surveillance video shows she had a purse, a couple of blankets and some water. now she is coming home. despite all that's gone on, you would think she might have a grudge against the country of her birth. she is a sufficieu.s. naturaliz person. but not so. >> i love mexico. my family's still there. so mexico, it's not mexico's fault. so it's a few people who, you know, did this to me, and probably to other people. who knows. you know? so i probably will go back. mexico is a beautiful country. >> so now that she is back on american soil, her legal

problems are not completely done in mexico. but she doesn't need to be there, her lawyer in mexico will take care of that, wolf. >> so happy she's back in the united states out of jail. thanks very much, stephanie, for that. we're following the tornado threats in the midwest right now. there are several warnings. they are out -- the warnings are out for a possible major tornado outbreak. we're on the ground chasing the storms. stay with us. these are live pictures coming in from oklahoma city. look how ominous those clouds are right now. and just what happened only, what, 10, 12 days ago in moore, oklahoma, right outside of oklahoma city. it is terrifying this situation. we'll stay on top of it and give you the latest. our own chad myers is op the ground chasing this storm. also coming up, a new concern at the united nations right now of what they're calling killer robots on the front lines of war. and this will be your premium right here. sorry to interrupt, i just want to say, i combined home and auto with state farm, saved 760 bucks. love this guy.

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...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. robots on the front lines of combat that can act and think for themselves. but it soon could be a reality. and that's something that has the united nations talking. here's cnn's atika shubert. >> a futerristic danger in hollywood films like the terminator, now a big enough threat to start a united nations debate. robotic technology has advanced to levels that wouldn't look out of place in a sci-fi blockbuster. these robots developed by the pentagon can climb stairs, detect, and avoid obstacles, and even correct themselves if you push them around. robots are getting close to being able to do the physical

tasks that we can do, and more. it's only a matter of time before they appear on the battlefield. machine technology is already being used to kill. we've seen that in drone strikes against the taliban and other terrorist groups. but behind the drone tech nothing, there is still a human being calling the shots. giving robots the power to make those life-or-death decisions themselves is what the nuflt u. discussing. a computer's ability to analyze and think is improving all the time. google has been experimenting with neural networks, a kind of artificial brain capable of teaching itself independently from human programmers. and that raises a scary question. will the artificial intelligences that power our robots one day decide to push back? atika shubert, cnn, london.

a cnn u.n. said they need to study this more before the machines are given the power to kill humans. look at these pictures. tornado warnings and watches in the midwest. we're live in oklahoma. where forecasters have just issued a special alert. a dangerous situation may be developing. also ahead. >> i looked at her body, her feet and her hands. and her nose and her mouth. and i just -- i knew it was her. >> i'll talk to the daughter of an american woman killed in syria's civil war. she has a lot of pain and many questions she's asking right now. and cnn's anthony bourdain tells me about the most terrifying adventure of his entire career. you're going to find out where in the world he went. i'm wolf blitzer. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. the world. you're in "the situation room."

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we begin with breaking news this hour. tornado warnings and watches in the plains and midwest. they are in effect right now. forecasters have issued a special kind of alert that a particularly dangerous situation may be developing. let's go to oklahoma where tornado-ravaged areas are at risk once again. our severe weather expert chad myers is on the ground. he's chasing these storms as they unfold. chad, what's the latest? >> the latest is, we just heard our first thunder boom right over here. we have three cells that have now developed west of oklahoma city. i am standing not that far out of el reno, oklahoma. they're rotating going up from the ground to 50,000 feet in less than 20 minutes. that's explosive development, wolf. we're talking about a storm that just starts as a little cumulus cloud. and 15, 20 minutes later, it's

ten miles high. i'm going to have my photographer go ahead on up into the sky. what we're seeing up here -- [ inaudible ] -- it's an anvil of the cloud. this is now a mature thunderstorm beginning to get into its stage where it can rotate and put down a tornado. we do know that there will be tornadoes in oklahoma today. we're seeing a cauliflower kind of puffiness off to the west. i've seen clouds out to the west now beginning to have flat on the bottom. that tells us that there's a lot of air going straight up into that thunderstorm. obviously it has to go straight up. it has to go ten miles high to get to the top of this thing. the biggest potential will be tornadoes in 15 or 20 minutes. or less. these cells now just violent ly violently -- >> are we talking, once again,

in moore, oklahoma, outside of oklahoma city, or closer to tulsa, or in between? where's the biggest threat? >> here we go. these storms are west of oklahoma city, and then moving from west to east. maybe slightly north of due east from the west. but that is going to take this cell right into northwest oklahoma city first. then possibly over edmonds. we have more developments south of here that could still get to the moore, norman area. but for now, i don't see that cell going up as hard as the cell here, that will affect maybe piedmont, or guthrie. but these storms are just going to travel just to the north of i-40. moore and norman would be south of i-40. >> the live pictures from our affiliate koco in oklahoma city. you see how it looks like those clouds, those dark clouds, chad, i don't know if you can see what we're seeing, it looks pretty ominous right now. the pictures on the right are

coming in from el reno, oklahoma, from the left they're coming in from oklahoma as well. i think they are right where you are, chad. it looks pretty ominous to me. >> it truly is. the updraft we have going is very, very strong. we just had a brand-new, what we call a cloud-to-ground lightning strike. the more lightning we get, the more shear is going on in the storm. the more pale being generated by the storm. we'll see this continue for much of the night. >> chad, stand b for a moment. our meteorologist, samantha moore, is watching what's going on. even as bad as the situation is, samantha, in oklahoma right now, there are new warnings being released in nearby kansas. what's the latest? >> yeah, into kansas, we've also had our severe thunderstorm warnings extending into missouri today. but of course, we are very concerned about the situation developing west of oklahoma city. like chad was just talking about, to go from ground level basically up to 56,000 feet,

some ten miles, in just a period of an hour. you know you have a lot of vertical motion in the atmosphere. that's why we have these warnings in place. it's actually a severe thunderstorm warning, not a tornado warning yet, even though they're starting to see some signs of rotation here. like chad was saying, they'll likely end up issuing a tornado warning on this particular cell very shortly. it is moving off to the northeast at 30 miles per hour right now. so that will put it in gary around 5:16. kingfisher around 6:10 here. hennessey, around 6:36. into covington at 7:20. even into stillwater around 7:52. if it stays on its current path. and we do expect to see it intensify. we do expect to see the rotation continue to develop here. and not only are we concerned, obviously, as intense tornadoes tonight, but the hail here alone could be up to around four inches in diameter.

so that's as large as a softball. that is enough to kill a person, if it hits them in the head. so this is another reason you need to have a safe, sturdy structure to get to, lowest level of your house. have that plan ready to go and have your kids informed on what to do. helmets op the head, shoes on the feet and the interior-most area of your home, wolf. >> good advice from samantha. don't go too far away. let's go back to chad, he's right in the middle of all of this. chad, these pictures we're seeing, we did see some folks standing not too far away from you. it looked almost like a family there. are these storm chasers? what's going on? >> you know, wolf, this is going to be one congested area today. we even had a lot of congestion yesterday, where storm chasers almost make their own traffic jam on these very small roads out in rural oklahoma. where we were yesterday. obviously, the more people you get, the slower things happen. and this -- 20 years ago when i first lived in oklahoma city,

this didn't happen. there might have been 15 or 20 chasers out in western oklahoma. now there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of people out there hooking for these storms. i want to call them thrill seekers, because they're really not helping the national weather service, they just want to see it for themselves. i understand the thrill, but i also understand the danger. we picked up in the middle of the radio that this is dangerous. when we see these guys, not knowing -- when they're going in the wrong direction, we flag them down to turn around. people just want to have fun out here. this isn't fun. today this is danger. >> are they far away from you, chad? >> they are. they're in good shape. they're with us, and with other professionals today. >> because i'm just wondering, i'm sure a lot of our viewers are wondering, how dangerous is this for you, chad, and for our crew? >> wolf, what i see on the radar, and what the professionals that we have from

the severe weather center we brought from norman, we know exactly where this cell is. we know where it's going. we know we are absolutely not in the way. i am, without a doubt, i'm 15 miles from this storm. and even if it gets to be one mile wide, i will be nowhere near this storm when it starts to roll past us. everyone here that we're with, is absolutely in a safe location. i wouldn't put my photographer, or producer or sound people in any sort of danger. we're not just a pickup with a noaa weather radio. we have our own radio, our doppler radar in the car with us. so we know where this is going, we know what direction it is. we also have authorities back in the area, the sheriff telling us what's going on, but also meteorologists back at cnn. they call us and say, this storm just turned right. you need to drop south on highway 64, or whatever it might be. so we're in constant contact. there is no danger out here. >> what is the time frame we're

looking for, for a tornado, or tornadoes, to touch down in oklahoma? >> we have mid-level rotation now. 15 to 20,000 feet, the storm is rotating. we don't have anything yet close to the ground. they don't see any type of lowering that would indicate a wall cloud. there's something called a scud off to the west. scud is rapidly rising air. this air down here is 90 degrees. when it goes up 2,000 feet, and it's still not in a cloud, it actually condenses. it condenses on itself and becomes its own cloud. and that's the scud we're seeing now. that just indicates the storm is still going up, becoming mature, and the rotation will come, i would say within ten minutes. there will be a tornado warning in oklahoma, i believe. >> within ten minutes. and is it really possible, chad, and i know you can't be 100% accurate in the prediction of where this tornado will touch down, is it really possible that the folks in oklahoma city, or even in moore, oklahoma, could once again experience a tornado?

>> there's no question that that could happen. without being an alarmist, and i don't do that, but there's certainly the potential that there's enough moisture potential, enough upward potential, a shear southwest of oklahoma city, to generate thunderstorms there that could roll right over the same areas that government hit just a couple weeks ago. without a doubt, that's the potential. now, we toured the area today, wolf. and about a five to eight-block wide area was hit. we're talking a 60-mile long city, and less than a mile wide was hit. so there's a lot more out there. the likelihood of that same area being hit is low. but the likelihood of something hitting a metro area from edmonds down to norman is probably better than 50/50 today. some damage for sure. >> at least within this hour, we could expect some potentially very, very dangerous situations to unfold where you are, chad. and you're saying within the

next 10 to 15 minutes there could actually be a tornado warning there? >> i think so. tornado warnings don't necessarily mean there are tornadoes on the ground. a tornado warning is a doppler indicated radar, the indicated rotation, or a tornado sighted by a spotter. if the national weather service in norman looks at the storm through the doppler radar, and if it's strong enough location, that there may be a tornado coming down, they will put a warning out. that warning comes out 15 minutes before the tornado touches down, in the best case scenario. the average warning is about a 13-minute warning. the goal is 15 minutes for anybody on the ground. so 15 minutes before they believe it's going to touch the ground, that's when the sirens go off, and that's when they send it out. >> these are critical moments for folks to deal with this. chad, stand by for a moment. we'll take a quick break and resume our special coverage of what's going on in oklahoma, kansas, missouri, right now. tornado warnings, and watches, in the midwest.

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what's your policy? tornado warnings, watches, they're in the works right now. you just heard chad myers, who is on the scene for us, say if there is a tornado, it could actually hit the same area. the general area that was destroyed. a lot of it leveled in moore, oklahoma, right outside of oklahoma city. i don't want to be overly pessimistic right now, but these are ominous pictures we're seeing. we'll get back to chad, and samantha moore, and get the latest information from on the ground. but this is a serious situation developing in oklahoma right now. also, by the way, in kansas and missouri. while we await more information, let's check some other important news. u.s. officials and family members there are now trying to piece together a 33-year-old

woman's tragic journey, from her home in michigan to the bloody battlefield in syria. syrian state-run tv said nicole mansfield was killed by pro-government forces along with two other westerners, while fighting alongside the rebels. we're trying to get answers about her death. and we're learning more about her complicated life. our mary snow is joining us now from flint, michigan. her hometown. she's digging on this story. what do we know, mary? >> well, wolf, we've been talking to family members and friends who are just heart broken and shocked and confused. they're at a loss to explain how she wound up in syria. wolf, we're also getting a picture of a family at odds over her embrace of her new faith of islam. this is how the world found out about nicole mansfield. syrian television aired her driver's license, and images of a bullet-riddled car and her body when it reported three westerners were killed. >> i didn't believe it was my

mom the first time i saw them. then i had to look again, and i looked at her body, and her feet and her hands, and her nose, and her mouth, and i knew it was her. >> in flint, michigan, 18-year-old triana jones is struggling to make sense of how her mom, the woman she knows, wound up in the middle of conflict. she says she last spoke to her month several weeks ago and didn't know where she was. >> i know that she was talking to people online, and that they told her about the project in syria. and that she was interested in going over there to help. but she didn't think that it would be fighting. she told me that there would be no guns or anything. she would never be involved in that. and they lied to her. >> jones says her mother was just a single mom who struggled her whole life and worked in health care. and says she did not display her

islamic faith around relatives because they didn't approve. mansfield's family said she converted in the last five years and prayed regularly at this store-front mosque. people here who knew her say she embraced the faith, and became a devout muslim. >> she was a very quiet person. she didn't say a lot. she was very kind and giving. and i just can't believe anything like this happened to her. >> gregory mansfield, nicole's father, objected to his daughter's conversion. he became troubled when she traveled to dubai in recent years. >> that was three years ago. all i know is i went to the fbi about my concerns. and i know that they did follow up, because they were following her for a while. they just -- they needed to revoke her passport, and this wouldn't be going on. we wouldn't be setting here right now. >> the fbi would not comment on gregory mansfield's claims that he'd approached them.

nicole mansfield's death in a war zone remains a mystery. >> i want answers. you know? i want to know why they didn't revoke her passport. like i said, i'm confused by all this. i really, truly am. >> joining us now from flint, michigan, nicole mansfield's daughter, tri ana jones. we're very sorry about the loss of your mom. how shocking has this been for you? >> it's been very shocking. when i found out, i didn't really believe it. and then i saw it on the news. that's how it confirmed my beliefs. >> when was the last time you spoke with your mother? >> the last time i spoke with my mom was about three weeks to a month ago. >> did you suspect anything was out of the ordinary? did you know she was in syria,

for example? >> i didn't know that she was in syria, but i knew that something waste right. >> how did you know? >> well, usually when she leaves, she'll tell me where she's going. and when she'll be back. and she keeps in contact with me. and this time, she just disappeared, and no one's heard from her. and the last time that we talked to her, it was just out of nowhere. she came and she went. >> do you have any idea how she wound up in syria, how she decided that this might be the place for her to be right now? >> well, i know that she didn't have the means herself to go that far. she doesn't have the means to buy a plane ticket, or anything like that. so someone was helping her. and i don't know why she -- i think she would want to go there to help the people that are

being oppressed. that's the only reason i could think. >> do you have any idea who might be -- who might have taken her, bought her a ticket, taken her to syria? >> no. i have no idea. she didn't keep me in the loop with her friends. she wasn't open about bringing me around them and letting me meet them. i came to some events with her, but -- >> i was going to say, did she ever talk politics with you, about what's going on in syria, or elsewhere in the middle east? >> yeah, she said little things about it. i went to a protest with her about the problems in palestine and israel. and me and my friend went to that protest with her. and then she would show me things, and like show me things off the internet like videos and telling me what's going on in the world.

but she didn't really say anything more than what was -- what she was explaining it to me. >> once again, triana, we're really sorry for what happened. sad for you, sad for your family. and presumably we'll be getting more information, and i expect you will as well. we'll stay in touch. good luck to you. good luck to all of your family members. thank you very much for joining us. >> you're welcome. >> triana jones, the daughter of nicole mansfield, joining us from flint, michigan. when we come back, we're going back to oklahoma. there are tornado warnings and watches under way right now. we'll have the latest on that. also, we'll have the latest on a huge blaze at a hotel. dozens of firefighters rush to the scene. we went out and asked people a simple question:

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our affiliate kfor is reporting from the scene as the tornado watches and warnings are escalateding right now. let's listen in briefly. >> we want to definitely keep you kind of on the short leash here, short line, if you will. because that area near hennessey is developing low-level circulation. >> we just lost our affiliate kfor. these are pictures coming in from koco, in oklahoma. look at that. the cloud cover. it looks pretty ominous over there. george howell is in moore, oklahoma. we heard from chad and others, george, that unfortunately moore could once again be a target of a tornado. i assume folks are taking precautions where you are?

>> wolf, absolutely. people are definitely watching the local affiliates, listening to those noaa weather radios, watching the storm closely. according to the local affiliates, the meteorologists, they say that the storm continues to track up to the east-northeast. but if there is some rotation, it could track closer to oklahoma city. i want to show you exactly what we're looking at right now in moore. you see the clouds right there. you see a little bit of blue sky, and let's pan over here, dave, and you can kind of see, that is really the line, the southern edge of this storm system. and dave, pan up to those clouds right there. those are some funky looking clouds. the clouds really start to change. you see several patterns, as things get worse out here. we're really at a good place to monitor, wolf, this storm as it comes in, on the southern edge. but again, if the storm starts to track more to the east, that could definitely put moore, this area that was hit hard just a week ago, that on the bull's-eye with the storm system. so we're keeping a very close

eye on it. it looks like right now we have severe thunderstorm warnings. but this thing is growing fast, developing quick. >> i feel so bad for the people there who have gone through so much early last week. 10, 12 days ago they were going through a disaster, ef-5 tornado that ripped through moore, oklahoma, right outside of oklahoma city. and now once again, they have to be on edge. it must be heartbreaking to see what's going on. i assume folks are going inside, or whatever, they're maybe just driving away? >> well, wolf, you know, absolutely, you were out here just a week ago. you remember what it was like, just after that storm came through. people went back into these communities, they started to go through the debris, pile it up and start moving it out of the way. but i'll step out of the way and kind of show you, i mean, look out there. nobody's out there. and for good reason. this storm system could move into this area. no one is in this neighborhood right now. and obviously, if you're in this

neighborhood, the winds start to pick up, you don't want this debris flying around. we're monitoring that very closely as well, in case that happens, we're in a good position to move to a safe location to continue to monitor this storm. but it's definitely a telling sight out here. people want to get back in their neighborhoods and recover, but that's not happening right now. they're watching the storm, ready to take shelter should that become necessary. >> george, you've been there now for a few days. these are pictures, i want to tell our viewers, live pictures from koco, our affiliate there in oklahoma. chad myers was telling us that they potentially could get a tornado warning within minutes, if in fact these -- this weather system escalates the way they anticipate that it will. i want our viewers to know, it's not just oklahoma that's of concern right now in kansas. there have been tornado warnings and watches, also in missouri. there have been tornado warnings and watches. this is a serious situation throughout the midwest right

now. and it's been going on for days. and as we heard from samantha moore, our meteorologist, at the cnn weather center, at the cnn center, as you heard, this is a dangerous situation. that's going to continue, presumably, through the weekend. the governor of oklahoma is joining us on the phone right now, governor mary fallin. governor, what's the information you're getting? >> i'm actually driving right through the area, just passed through the moore damage site by the theater, where the hospital is, where the neighborhoods were destroyed. it's pretty dark here. i've got the radar on my ipad. it's more toward the oklahoma city, moore type area. on the radar you see a lot of purple and yellow and red and green. it's a pretty good storm that's coming through. we're watching it, and tracking it. we pulled up our fema off the

debris site, so they would be out of harm's way. i'm driving down i-35, which is right in the area where the neighborhoods and business area that struck moore. and the highway was just packed. it was moving very, very slow. i think people are going home from work early. i know many businesses let their employees off at 3:00, 4:00, in anticipation of the weather. but as i'm coming back from norman to moore, the transportation, cars have let up on the highway. so i think people are watching and paying attention and getting off the highways. there was an electronic highway sign, dangerous storms moving through this area 4:00 to 6:00, get off the highways. so we're doing a good job of telling our people what's going on. >> i was with you in oklahoma just last week. once again, given all the folks -- all that the folks have gone through in oklahoma city, and moore, oklahoma, only days

ago, once again potentially, we hope it doesn't happen, potentially you're facing a nearly similar kind of situation. how worried, governor, are you? >> well, we just want to be safe. and we operate -- we set up our operation center earlier today. and we're well prepared. we have all hands on deck. one things we do at our center is, we have the highway patrol, the health department, we have the local law enforcement, our different emergency management centers, the welfare department, all these different entities that deal with people, and deal with emergencies, all in the command center of the national weather service. so they're all working hand in hand, watching what's going on around the state. but it's kind of hard to believe -- big bolts of lightning over there -- it's hard to believe we have another storm threat going through. we've been in a terrible drought last year and the year before. and of course, now, we're getting severe weather and

storms. last year we didn't have that many storms. it's been a little bit remarkable as far as having some storms this year. >> what i hear you saying, governor is, what, the next half hour, potentially, could be the most ominous? is that what's going on? >> absolutely. i'm looking at the sky. and it's pretty dark in the area. and it's moving -- mostly moving into the oklahoma city area, around i-40, which is a major interstate that runs east-to-west through oklahoma. which it will come right toward oklahoma city. and it's about 40 miles out from here. if it moves on to the south and the east, it will head towards the moore area, where we had the storms. so i just advise everybody to be weather alert, to pay attention, get underground or get in a storm shelter, if the weather gets bad, and don't take any chances with these storms. >> did i hear you say, governor, you're heading towards norman, oklahoma? is that right? >> well, i left work a little

early because i had some long hours. i left about 4:00 to go down and do my mama duties and helped my son clean out his apartment. he just got out of college last week. i got down there for about 30 minutes, and all of a sudden i got all these weather alerts so i was driving back to norman to get to a safe area myself. i'm sitting here driving through what looks to be bad weather and coming up -- it's not raining in oklahoma city yet, but it's a good 30, 40 minutes right outside looking at the radar. >> you're heading toward oklahoma city then, right? >> i'm just passing right by the capital, getting real close to the governor's house. so i'm going to go there. and it's a few blocks from the command center, so i can be really close to be on guard. you know, it's interesting to see that our businesses let people off work early today. several of them did. about 3:00, 4:00. we didn't let our state employees off early at the

capital, because it's actually safer to be in the capital complex, because there are basements in those buildings. the traffic on one side of the highway is backed up pretty good, so i'm hoping they can get off and get to wherever they need to get. as you saw in norman, and the i-35 corridor last week, there were a lot of cars trapped on the highway when the twister actually crossed the highway. i don't know how many cars we had destroyed. but it really devastated the cars that were on the highway. >> at least school is over with. you don't have to worry about elementary schools, or middle schools or high schools right now. the kids are in their summer break. we know the tragedy that happened at the two elementary schools in moore, oklahoma, last week. so at least that part of the situation is not going to be on the table right now. governor, if you don't mind, stand by for a moment. i know you've got a lot of issues you're working with, if you could stay with us, we would be grateful. if not, we totally understand. we're watching a very serious

situation developing in oklahoma right now. actually, in oklahoma city, even in moore, oklahoma. the scene of a horrible ef-5 tornado, only early last week. we'll stay on top of this story and continue our coverage right after this. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there.

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that's 7:15 p.m. eastern. that's another, what, half an hour or so. is this a pretty populated county, not so populated? tell us a little bit about osage county. >> well, in looking at the map, the weather map itself, this is a pretty long line of storms that's coming up from, oh, northwestern oklahoma, around a limit bit below oklahoma city, and going all the way up northeast. that's up northeast oklahoma. and there's a big storm front going all the way up into, it looks like the kansas area. and so it's going to be a long night, i think, for the state of oklahoma. and looking at these various storms popping up. i finally fought to the location where i can see a tv right now, and our local newscasters are showing possible rotation that's about 45 minutes out of oklahoma city. one thing to remember right now is that it's 5:30 or so oklahoma

time, which means it's rush hour traffic. people are coming home from work. people are certainly going to be on the interstate around i-40, which crosses from arkansas clear across oklahoma to texas. and so it's a major corridor. so i hope people are listening to their radios, and listening to their news, and following what's going on. it's important to do that. >> i hope so, too. chad myers is in oklahoma for us. our severe weather expert, our meteorologist, chad. i know you have a question for the governor. go ahead. >> governor, we do know there is a cone funnel. funnel means not touching the ground, but very close now to calumet along i-40. calumet is north of i-40, a little bit. so this is right along i-40, west of el reno. it should track close to oklahoma city. what do you say to the people of the city, that maybe if they just moved there, that they're already a little shell-shocked what they've seen in the last ten days, how do they prepare if

they just arrived in your city, and your state? >> well, they need to find a place to take shelter, if the tornado sirens go off. listen to the weather itself. don't stay in your cars. that's one of the things that we know, in any type of tornado situation, in any state, because sometimes tornadoes can actually pick up a car. and we've seen a lot of cars that were pelted, and destroyed from the ef-5 tornado that came through. don't get under a bridge. years ago, there was a mother and her baby that got up under a bridge and the mother got sucked up by the tornado and so did the baby. but they found the baby. you might remember that, over ten years ago. so the best place, if you're on a highway, get into -- if you can find a storm drain, some type of metal piping that's in the ground itself, crawl in there in the ditch, if you have to. if not, find a building, a place you can get in the center of that building.

get into a basement of a building. if you're at work and you've already got a basement, or a storm shelter, don't leave work, just stay there. it's better to be in a place. >> chad, hold on for a moment. we're just getting word of significant, what's described as activity west of oklahoma city. we're watching this situation unfold. stand by, everyone stand by. we'll take a quick break and resume our special coverage right after this. i want to make things more secure.

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advisory we're getting? >> we do have a tornado warning here, wolf. and this storm that is capable of producing a tornado is moving right along i-40 here to the east. and you can see right here, this is actually a symbol that marks a debris signature. it's picked up by the polar radar, and it indicates that we have some sort of debris rotating around in this part of the storm. this tornado warning has this system moving to the east, clocking in around 25 miles per hour right now. the worst time we could see this happening, it's coming right down the interstate at rush hour, potentially rain-wrapped. so you may not know, if you're out on the interstate, or if you're out anywhere, you may not be able to tell where the storm is, and where it is not, as it's rain-wrapped here. here it is moving to the east at 25 miles per hour, putting it in el reno, 6:08, and a dangerous situation.

very dangerous timing, wolf. >> looks very ominous, those clouds. chad, where are you and what are you seeing? >> wolf, i'm about eight miles from that rotation on the i-40. maybe nine. but what i've seen is essentially nothing. and this is a threat of storm chasers that go out and don't know what they're doing, and don't have a radar in their car and aren't out with other professionals to talk back to, either at a tv station or the national weather service. we know that there's a rotation in this cell somewhere. but all i see is rain wrapping all around the system. think about just the swirl in the middle. that would be the tornado, or the funnel. but around that swirl, from where we're sitting, you can't see it. because all you can see is a shield, a wall of rain that has wrapped all the way around that circulation. and that's the danger part. and right now, that dangerous part is right along i-40, about ten maybe or so miles west of el reno, traveling to the east, maybe to the northeast just a little bit. so it is still developing. we talked about this earlier

where there was just one cell. well, all those cells really have merged. that slowed down the development. but also created a bigger storm. so now four cells are now one cell. and there's still a couple of rotations out there, some spins out west of el reno, heading to the east, and el reno is just to the west of oklahoma city. and if that gets it back together, this could still be a very big tornado heading into oklahoma city metro area within the next, i would say 30 minutes to 45, maybe an hour. this storm has been moving quite slowly here. as it gets higher and more developed and more mature, it will pick up some speed as it gets up in the atmosphere a little farther, picking up some of the higher jet stream and mid-level winds. >> we still have the governor of oklahoma, mary fallin with us. we'll resume our coverage right after this. i asked my husband to pay our bill, and he forgot. you have the it card and it's your first time missing a payment, so there's no late fee. really? yep! is your husband off the hook? no. he went out for milk last week

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again, live pictures coming in from our affiliate in oklahoma city. pretty ominous situation that's watching what report from a storm chaser that we're getting. let's listen in briefly for a second. >> -- going through all sorts of cycles. again, supercell storms don't maintain the same strength all the way through. again, sometimes they will go through processes along the way. but again, this rotation is doing all sorts of things. still, we have enough rotation within this. i have a pretty good feeling that it's going to be very difficult for anyone to see a tornado out in this today with all the moisture that we have. but still, more than likely, if there is a tornado, either it is

rain wrapped or it will become rain wrapped if it's not on the ground yet. however, it's going to be, again, this vicinity right herement you can shere. large hail falling right along i-40 here. this is south of calumet. it is west of el reno. again probably 10 miles away from el reno. this is getting awfully close. this is near the i-270 -- route 270 exit off of i-40 there. again, that will be the exit that takes you up into calumet. so anyone that is really living, i would say, anywhere between red rock road and easton road, the areas between the exit for calumet -- >> all right. let me bring in chad. chad, you're not too far away from the ominous pictures that we're showing our viewers. >> yeah. i see the rotation on radar. and i also see the rotation visibly. i can see right just to our southwest probably eight to ten miles. i have good visibility. it is not raining between me and

the cell. i can truly see now some lowering. that is only a rotation here in the wall cloud. all of the cells that we had earlier have now all combined into one. they're not fighting each other anymore. they're actually working together. they're all going up together. there are a couple of different circulations. now this will involve the tail end of charlie. this is the last storm in the line. it is the one that can grab all of the moisture from the cell. the gulf of mexico is the source of all this weather. the gulf of mexico, the weather there -- it is a big desert. we wouldn't have tornados like we do in america. but the gulf of mexico sends us all of this moisture, dry air comes out of the rocky mountains and cold air comes down from canada, those three things get together in a triple point. that triple point can sometimes be oklahoma, texas, kansas. it just depends really where the jet stream is. there's a severe weather season. there is a tornado season in canada in the early august, september, october range. that's where the jet stream is.

but then it comes back down here for the spring time. and this is still spring. i know kids are getting out of school for summer break. technically this is still spring. this is a big day to day. we're going to see this -- i think we'll see a tornado on the ground soon. we clearly have a tornado warning. >> there's no way of knowing how large the tornado could be. >> i'm in perfect position just to the east of it, to the southeast of it looking into what is called the bear cage. the storm comes around. there are other rotation that's could be wrapped in rain. we're not seeing those. we're far enough away that we're certainly not worried. that is 15 miles away. but what you see now are the low rings of the clouds, the lowering and i believe there is a part to the left and right. wrapping around each other. and that may become the dominant circulation for this cell. good we'll stay on top of this story, chad. thanks very much. we'll take another quick break. don't leave cnn. we'll have extensive live

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breaking news. we have confirmation of a tornado that touched down in oklahoma. plus, more breaking news. information from the poison letter investigation just in. cnn has just obtained a copy of one of the ricin-laced letters. we'll show it to you. and the bizarre case of the blade runner, oscar pistorius charged with the murder of his girlfriend. tonight, photos from the crime scene, seen for the first time. let's go "outfront."