"crossfire" won't be seen tonight so we can bring you more of our special coverage of the deadly tornado outbreak. we're also following other breaking stories right now. i want to go back right to jennifer gray at the cnn severe weather center. i know that more information is coming in and it isn't good. what's the latest, jennifer? >> yeah, this is a potentially deadly situation going on in northern alabama. we have a very strong storm that's pushing to the north and east. it is producing a possible very large tornado, and it's possibly on the ground as we speak. so if you're in the path of this storm, you need to get to your safe spot immediately. limestone and madison counties in northern alabama. athens and hazelgreen. look at the proximity to huntsville. this is just north of huntsville, alabama. this is a tornado emergency. it is 5:30 central time.

and folks are probably wanting to get home from work. don't. stay put. this is very, very dangerous. this is a life or death situation going on here in northern alabama. so a tornado emergency. looks like there could be a very large tornado on the ground. we've been watching what we call velocity. the winds going toward and away from the radar. and this is continuing to track to the north and east. we're seeing these very strong cells continue to push at about 45 miles per hour, wolf. so a very dangerous situation going on here. possibly a very large tornado on the ground as we speak. stay very safe. >> yeah. hope folks find a safe area to go to. all right, jennifer, we'll get back to you. i want to speak to an eyewitness. scott is joining us on the phone. he saw a tornado on the ground in starkville, mississippi. scott, tell us what you saw. >> hi. well, i actually intercepted a tornado near the town of -- let's see here.

just southeast of starkville. and tracked it into louisville to the northeast and intercepted it there and got the tornado going through the town and had debris falling from the sky and had big tile swatches and everything. it was going through the town of louisville. >> how much damage did you see, scott? >> on the southeast corner of town, it was impassable. it was pretty devastating. there are some foundations that were completely wiped off from what i glanced at as i was trying to get around the downed trees, so it looked really bad. >> how powerful did the storm seem to be? >> this was a pretty violent tornado. i would say this tornado was probably at one point almost three quarters of a mile wide. >> that's a pretty significant tornado. and what are you seeing now? is it over with? has it passed?

where are you? >> well, wolf, i'm actually in starksville at the moment. i am actually getting some gas because i tried to get gas in louisville before the tornado came and it knocked all the power out. i was in danger of losing -- or running out of gas. so i had to take it up to macue, that's direction near starkville to get gas. >> have you ever seen anything like this before, scott? >> not in the southeast. i usually chase in the plains, in kansas and oklahoma. but seeing this in the southeast was just, just crazy. just -- something i don't want to ever see. >> it was an awful, awful situation. so where do you go next? what are you going to try to do? >> well, there's a tornado warned storm just, i do believe it's -- well, actually -- no, it's still there. it's heading toward crawford, mississippi, near brooksville, and i'm going to try and

reintercept that storm as i come from the north. and try to intercept it safely. >> scott, hold on for a moment. jennifer gray is still with us, our severe weather meteorologist. jennifer, you want to weigh in? ask scott a question? >> yeah. i know, scott, we've had a couple of these tornado more than emergencies. we've had particularly dangerous situations the past few days. reiterate how important it is for people to heed these warnings. don't get on the roads. this is a very dangerous situation, life or death. just because you guys are out chasing the storms, just kind of shed some light on how dangerous the situation is for today. >> right. right. if you are at work and you're there already, stay there because that's -- more than likely if you're in a sturdy building, large building, that's going to be better than trying to make it out going to your house. because you're going to get caught out in. you can hydroplane and slide off the road. it's not just the tornadic storms but even hydroplaning.

it's very dangerous. so i would just stay where you are. if you're at home, take shelter. if you're at work, stay there until you have the all clear. >> all right. scott, i want you to be careful out there. scott peake chasing this storm. we'll stay in close touch with you, scott. jennifer, before i let you go, just update viewers who may be tuning in right now on the very latest we're getting. >> yeah, we've been talking about these very, very ferocious storms just in the northern part of alabama. i want to mention this new warning that's popped up. this is just on the north side of jackson, mississippi. one of the more populated areas as we know. this tornado warning for heinz and madison county. madison and ridgeland. in effect until 6:30 p.m. a very, very dangerous storm. we also have one as you can see just on its heels, bolten and edwards in the next couple of minutes. if you're outside the jackson, mississippi, area, in the suburbs, you can see just

outside find your safe place. another storm is headed straight for you. so extremely dangerous, not only outside of jackson, mississippi, but outside of huntsville, alabama. we're seeing two very, very dangerous storms headed your way. >> very dangerous. we know what happened in arkansas yesterday. today, mississippi, heading toward alabama. but you also say other states including iowa and illinois, they should be bracing for tornadoes? give us a sense of how widespread this extreme weather is moving. >> yeah. absolutely. let me show you. i'm going to zoom out and we're seeing storms anywhere from iowa, like you said, all the way down to portions of eastern louisiana. and so as these storms continue to track to the east, it is going to be an extremely volatile, extremely dangerous situation as we go through the overnight hours. so this is a long line, and these storms are tracking at about 45, 50 miles per hour at times. that's why you get the warning, you've got to go. very, very quickly. you can't wait any longer because a lot of times just as

you get the warning, it's right at your doorstep. so be very, very careful. this is a dangerous situation. it will be going on throughout the nighttime hours. and when the sun goes down, when it becomes nighttime, you can't see these storms anymore, that's when it becomes crucial that you have your weather radio. here's that wide view i was trying to get for you, wolf. look. see these severe storms, all the way, portions of illinois stretching through kentucky then we're seeing that line, that strong line stretching from southern tennessee, alabama, mississippi, on into eastern louisiana. millions and millions of people affected by this and these are very, very dangerous. we saw what happened in arkansas. we're unfortunately starting to see the same events unfold for mississippi. we'll be with you, though, throughout the night. and we're going to be monitoring it until this comes to an end. >> potentially about 45 million people at risk right now across the country. jennifer, we'll get back to you. we'll stay on top of this story. just ahead, new video

information coming into t"the situation room." we'll continue to monitor the dangerous storms threatening millions of americans now. we'll also show you the terrifying images and bring you an update. we're tracking the storm. weekdays are for rising to the challenge. they're the days to take care of business. when possibilities become reality. with centurylink as your trusted partner, our visionary cloud infrastructure and global broadband network free you to focus on what matters. with custom communications solutions and responsive,

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get back to the breaking tornado news in a few moments, but there's other important news we're following here in "the situation room." the obama administration trying to send a clear message to russia by stepping up its sanctions against president vladimir putin's inner circle. the violence on the ground in ukraine is only worsening. more clashes in east after a deadly bombing earlier today. chief national security correspondent jim schiutto is monitoring the situation. whaps the latest? >> in making their case, administration officials have been frankly brutal h their rhetoric. they said russia has done, quote, precisely nothing to meet its obligations under the deal

reached in geneva earlier this month intended to deescalateacc continuing to spark unrest. clearly it took some time, more time than expected to get sanctions together in rough agreement with europe. it's hard to distinguish them, in fact, from the earlier round of sanctions. administration officials say it's just one step of many. with the crisis in ukraine only growing more violent, today the obama administration introduced new economic sanctions it says are designed to punish russia for orchestrating it. the sanctions focus on individuals tied to russian president vladimir putin. including dmitry kozak, deputy foreign minister and head of putin's 2004 presidential campaign. and igor sechin, president of rossneft, russia's leading oil company, a close adviser to putin. the sanctions target nearly a

dozen businesses tied to putin's banker and believed to help manage the russian president's vast personal wealth. the penalties do not, however, target putin, himself. >> the goal here is not to go after mr. putin personally. the goal is to change his calculous with respect to how the current actions that he's engages in in ukraine could have an adverse impact on the russian economy over the long haul. >> reporter: notably absent from the new measures are some of russia's most powerful businessmen and companies, including the natural gas giant that supplies europe with most of its energy. also absent for now, sanctions on entire sectors of the russian economy. those omissions led to sharp criticism from capitol hill. >> this is basically a rehash of what's already occurred. so we've been pushing for a portion of sectoral sanctions, sanctions against some of the --

four of the largest banking institutions in russia so they would have an impact on the economy. we've ended up with nothing more than a slap on the wrist approach today. >> reporter: with 40,000 to a,000 russian troops still poised on the border, many see a stealth invasion already under way. with pro-russian militants occupying entire towns. one area, russian pop music blaring as masked gunmen stand guard. ♪ the militants also continue to hold european observers hostage, releasing just one for medical reasons. >> we have no indication when we will be sent home to our countries and to see our families. >> sanctions on sectors will be held in reserves, say administration officials in the event that russian forces invade eastern ukraine. one official said that the administration does not want to use all its bullets at once while at the same time cautioning there is no single

silver bullet to solve the crisis. i spoke to a senior ukrainian government official who told me the sanctions are, quote, a very good step but hopes not the final step in deterring russian actions in ukraine. wolf, as you know, ukrainian officials in fact, they're asking for bigger prices for russia to pay economically and also as you've noted many times asking for more significant military aid to push back this russian advance. >> yeah, they'd like weapons from the u.s. and other countries. they're not getting those weapons right now. jim, hold on for a moment. i want to get more on the violent clashes under way in ukraine right now. cnn was on the scene as pro-ukrainian marchers were stormed by pro-russian militants armed with clubs and batons. our senior international correspondent arwa damon was there on the ground in eastern ukraine for us. tell our viewers, arwa, what you personally eyewitnessed? >> reporter: yeah, wolf, all of this unfolding in city of donetsk where we are now. one thing painfully clear is the

government in kiev is most certainly not in charge here and the police are either unwilling or incapable of reining in the chaos. armed and menacing. the pro-russian camp guaranteed that they are the absolute authority. violently beating those who want to see a united ukraine. this was the scene just an hour earlier. there's an entire row of buses filled with police here. they say that they want to protect the population at this small pro-ukrainian demonstration. there had been various reports on social media that the pro-russian camp might try to stop them from demonstrating, might try to block them. so not truly. there are security concerns and tensions have been rising, but those we've been talking to say that they need to oncome out especially at this critical junction and make sure that their voices are heard. the crowds have just started moving to their next destination

and there have already been various unconfirmed reports at this stage that the pro-russian camp, a few hundred of them, might be moving in this direction as well. the situation is rapidly escalating out of control. on that side, you have the pro-russian camp with batons, possibly even some weapons in their hands. the police are trying to maintain a certain level of control over the situation, but they don't seem to be able to. a few of the wounded were treated on site. the pro-russians victorious as they marched back to the main administration building they control. with the riot police staying well away. "we're just waiting until people's patience wears out, watching the sceptical by a

minority" he says. no sign of lets up. wolf, the vast majority of people we're talking to say they simply want stability. osk of course the big question at this stage is how that's going to come about. >> a good question. arwa damon as always on the front lines for us. let's bring in some experts to discuss what's going on. former u.s. ambassador to ukraine steven pifer is with us and retired u.s. general james marks and jim schiutto is with us as well. doe you think the ratcheted up u.s.-led sanctions, ambassador, are really going to impact putin? >> i think the sanctions will have some effect, but the expectation was that the sanctions were going to be more substantial. certainly when you look at what was being said by the administration last week, you would have expected maybe some sanctions on major russian financial institutions and some other key individual. >> you don't think these financial institutions that have been sanctions, these cronies of

putin are powerful voices in russia? >> it has an impact and certainly you're going after somebody very close to mr. putin, but the banks that have been sanctioned earlier are small pocket banks mind guess is that the administration ratcheted back its plans because it doesn't want to get too far out in front of the europeans. the europeans have to find consensus among 28 countries so they're more cautious. >> they're going to be impacted if the russians stop selling gas or oil to europe, germany, or other countries, the price per gallon is going to go way up over there. >> they're the ones who have the most to lose. as the ambassador indicated, they're the ones that are most cautious. the united states and other nations can't gear up quickly enough to be an alternative to gas and oil that's coming out of russia. >> the administration, though, does say they don't want to shoot all of their bullets right now. they're holding out for more if putin doesn't back down. >> that's right. they're saying really the sector sanctions that are going to be most punishing that the red line for that, excuse me for using the term, is using russian

forces in numbers across the border in eastern ukraine. i spoke to senator bob corker today, is that the red line moves. used to be the demand was to move the troops back from the border. now the new one is just don't come in. you also hear criticism that by trying to seek so much unity with this group of 28 nations, that, in fact, the administration is negotiating down. negotiating its leverage down and there's some who say, you know, the europeans want to be led here. they want to be led rather than follow. >> what do you say to that? >> i think it's very clear if you had a russian military intervention with tens of thousands of troops in the eastern ukraine, those circumstance s you'd have major sanctions applied by washington and europe. no question. you have a situation of a stealth invasion, russian special forces operating and that makes it more difficult to mobilize the europeans. >> any indication how many of these stealth forces, paramilitary russian if you will, russian citizens coming into ukraine may be involved? we know some ukrainians are

sympathetic to the russians obviously. >> sure. i don't have a sense of the numbers. i would hazard to guess that our intelligence community does and has a pretty good sense of it. let's not call them stealth. this is a form of and the fact that we have so many russian forces just across the border is really the provocation. i don't think we should, and i would hope that there's agreement here, i don't think we should wait for on invasion before we really get tough. >> general, thanks very much for joining us. ambassador, thanks to you. jim, we're going to continue to monitor, obviously, this crisis, and it is a real crisis that's escalating in ukraine. just ahead, more of our breaking news coverage on the dangerous new tornado outbreak. a storm system is on the move right now. get this, not 45 million, but we're now told 50 million americans could be at risk.

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let's get back to the breaking news. these tornados impacting not only arkansas, but now mississippi. tares is joining us from pearl, mississippi. she's a reporter from the clarion ledger. what's the latest from there, what are you seeing and hearing? >> today is the most active day for tornados in mississippi history. we've had at least 23 tornado watches around the state and six confirmed tornados. there's tons of homes destroyed in the tupelo area, including the winston medical center.

it's got walls down and some gas leaks, so throughout the state right now, especially with more tornados coming, i'd say everybody's pretty shook up at this point. >> i understand completely. any word from the governor or others and you're there at pearl, of the emergency center, any word on causalities? >> at this point they are saying both winston county and tupelo have mass causalities, however, they have not confirmed any fatalities at this point. we have heard things through the grapevine, but nothing confirmed to this point as to whether or not there's been deaths. >> tupelo was the hardest hit, that's what you've been hearing? >> at this point i think that's where the bulk of the damage is supposed to be. they said there are homes destroyed, as well as businesses and multiple injuries there, and like i said, winston county is also, i think, priority wise, tupelo and winston county. >> a hospital in louisville, mississippi, that was badly

damaged, as well? >> yes, from what i understand, it's got walls down and gas leaks. at this point, that's what they know from where we sit here in pearl at the state emergency operations center. >> it's called louisville, not louisville. >> louisville in mississippi. >> had they evacuated that hospital before the tornado hit the area, or was the hospital full of patients? >> at this point i don't know the answer to that. i would assume they would have been evacuating if they could. we've been talking about this weather system coming in since, well, last week. so i would hope they did, but i don't have confirmation of that. >> all right, joining us from pearl, mississippi, good luck to everyone in mississippi. what an awful, awful situation. it's not just mississippi or arkansas, it's also alabama, that ferocious storm system now heading east. parts of alabama clearly are at risk. our own brian todd is hunkered down in birmingham, alabama. what's the latest there, brian? >> reporter: wolf, we are directly in the track of storms that just hit northeastern

mississippi. it's moving into alabama. already moved into alabama. here in birmingham, the weather's getting worse, trees are starting to blow here, light skies behind me. in contrast, streets are almost abandoned. skies getting darker here and darker still to the north as this storm moves to the northeast of us, sweeping past the birmingham area, probably within the next few minutes. one official with the national weather service told me some of these storms could be long-track tornados, meaning they could be on the ground 30 minutes or longer. people here in birmingham are told get off the streets, hunker down. if you live in a manufactured home, get out of it, get to sturdy shelter. the streets here, not many people moving around. and those who do are advised to get inside pretty soon. as you can see, the wind is starting to kick up here. we're feeling some rain a little bit. a tornado warning just north of here in athens, alabama, a short time ago. it is moving toward us very,

very fast, wolf. >> do you have a safe area for you and the crew, brian? >> reporter: we do. there's a parking garage here to my right. we can actually show this to you, we can hunker down here if we have to. the emergency management agency underground facility is right there. we can bang on the door and we think they'll let us in. we have a place to go. we're going to stay safe, but will also be out here monitoring the storms. >> brian todd watching the situation for us, and it is an awful situation. a major, major city like birmingham, alabama, potentially at risk right now. as we've been reporting, up to 50 million americans potentially at risk in many of these southern states, not only arkansas, mississippi, alabama, but also kentucky, illinois, as far north as iowa itself. so we'll watch this story throughout the night unfolding here on cnn. remember, you can always follow us on twitter, you can tweet me, tweet the show. be sure to join us again tomorrow in "the situation

room." you can always watch us live. you can certainly dvr the show so you won't miss a moment if that's what you want to do. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. . violent, extremely dangerous, we are live at the scene. plus, president obama punishing russia with more sanctions, but is he hitting putin where it hurts? and a billionaire accused of a racial rant caught on tape. we'll play you the racy audio recording. let's go "outfront." good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett, "outfront" tonight, millions of americans on alert, warned to take shelter right now as violent tornados ripped through the southwest and southeastern united states. at this moment we are watching four deadly stormst