i saw my son running, and i saw the policeman behind him, i couldn't take it. >> the damning video and a mother's anguish. new details about the cop who pulled the trigger. guilty on all counts. we will look at the next phase in the boston bombing trial. punishing winds and tornado touch downs. extreme weather slams the american midwest. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm rosemary church. this is cnn newsroom.

thanks for joining us, everyone. the man whose cell phone video got a south carolina police officer charged with murder is speaking out. he told nbc news what he saw just before the white officer shot an unarmed black man in the back. >> was there a struggle? >> there was. they were down on the floor, they were down on the floor before -- before the -- i started recording, they were down on the floor. i remember the police had control of the situation. he had control of scott. and scott was trying to just get away from the taser. you could hear the sound of the taser. >> he had been tased at that point? >> yeah, i heard the sound before i started recording. >> and like so many similarly

tragic incidents before it, saturday's shooting has sparked outrage. north charleston's officials answered questions from angry citizens on wednesday. they announced that officer michael slager was fired from the police force, and that all officers will soon be outfitted with body cameras. the investigation has been moving quickly since that video surfaced, and it's raising some critical questions about how the shooting was first reported. brian todd has the latest, and his report contains some graphic video. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: authorities are crediting this cell phone video for the shift charge of former north charleston police officer michael slager with the murder of michael scott. >> i can tell you that, as a result of that video, and the bad decision made by our officer, he will be charged with

murder. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: the shooting occurred on saturday morning, after slager pulled the 50-year-old scott over for a traffic violation. scott's mercedes had a broken taillight according to police reports. scott ran from the scene. slager pursued on foot. slager said he fired his weapon after scott took his taser. >> 220, shots fired, subject is down. he grabbed my taser. >> shots fired. he grabbed your taser, subject is down. >> reporter: it's unclear from this video which man was actually in possession of the taser at the time of the shooting. but you can see the chord from the stun gun between the two men. another point of contention, whether officers on the scene tried to save scott's life after the shooting. the video shows another officer standing next to scott. that officer was identified by the police chief as officer haberhsam. the chief told reporters he

wasn't sure what took place. >> i have watched the video. and i was sickened by what i saw. and i have not watched it since, but in the end of it, what i saw was a, i believe to be a police officer removing the shirt of the individual. and performing some type of life-saving. but i'm not sure what took place. >> reporter: slager was the subject of two civilian complaints during his five years on the north charleston police force, including one in 2013 for improper use of force against an african-american male. the individual in that case, mario givens, claims that slager used his taser on him when responding to a burglary call. slager was cleared of that charge. the family of walter scott says with this charge, there will these be some accountability. >> we can't get my brother back

and my family is in deep mourning for that. but through the process, justice has been served. >> reporter: some critical questions still haven't been answered. why did walter scott exit his vehicle? was there really a scuffle as officer slager claimed? the mayor and police chief would not answer those questions, saying they are not subject to the investigation. brian todd, cnn, north charleston, south carolina. >> and while the victim's family dprooefs their loss, they're also calling for calm, as public anger runs high. walter scott's mother judy spoke about this horrific experience with our anderson cooper. >> when you were told that the police were saying there had been a scuffle, that your son had fought for the taser, did that sound believable? >> i knew that was not true, because he knows how -- especially the north charleston

policemen conduct themselves. he would never jeopardize his life. >> he would not have done something like that? >> no, he would not have done it. >> so when did you learn that there was a videotape? >> it was the next day. >> so when you saw it, i can't imagine what you thought. >> i couldn't really watch the whole tape. when i saw my son running, and i saw the policeman behind him, i couldn't take it. i had to turn away. i couldn't handle it. >> knowing what you know now, not only what happened to your son the way it happened that it was all captured on tape, even what seems to be pictures of the policeman picking up something, maybe the taser, placing it near

your son's body, what do you think about what happened? >> that was not right. the policeman is supposed to protect the people, not try to frame them or get out of what they've done wrong. they're supposed to be honest people, protecting us. >> do you believe something like this has happened before here but nobody knows about it because there's not a videotape? >> yes, i do believe that. >> is that something you've always felt? >> well, there are -- i hate to say it, but that's some dirty cops. >> i know the chief of police i understand came by with a member of the clergy. the mayor came by, as well. >> yes. >> what did you feel about their visit?

>> i thanked them for coming. i mean, i'm supposed to be really angry and upset and raging and all that, but i keep -- because of the love of god in me, i can't be like that. >> you don't feel that in your heart? >> no, i don't. i feel forgiveness in my heart. even for the guy that shot and killed my son. >> the loss in his family runs deep, clearly. most people have camera phones these days. and eyewitness videos like the one in this case are proving to be invaluable pieces of evidence. atika scubert looks at some interactions between police and bystanders captured on cameras. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: the video is shaky, taken on a cell phone. but it clearly shows walter scott running, his back turned

to officer michael slager who fires eight shots. scott's family lawyers says he was hit five times, four in the back, one in the ear. this video is the crucial piece of evidence. without it, officer slager may never have been charged with murder. camera phones are everywhere these days. just by recording an event that you're witnessing, any citizen could potentially gathering evidence. but do you hand this over without a warrant? >> it's absolutely a choice. the police do not have the right to take people's cell phones away randomly. >> i'll need your information and take your phone. >> reporter: last week, this officer demanded a witness hand over his video. it's unclear how the video was released. it shows an officer who appears to sit and punch an unarmed man, phillip white, before a police dog clearly bites his arm. shortly after this video, white

died in police custody, after officers reported he was in respiratory distress. white's death in police custody is now under investigation. >> they're going to be subject to scrutiny. >> get your phone out and videotape this. >> i'm already doing this. >> reporter: this video is evidence in an indiana family's excessive lawsuit. >> damn! >> the fbi investigation into the incident concluded no criminal or civil rights violations occurred and the two officers involved returned to duty. still, the police department says it will purchase body cameras. >> oh, my gosh, why? >> reporter: this cell phone video led to a $1.5 million settlement for marlene, beaten on the side of a highway last summer by a california high washington patrol officer. he resigned. this video made all the

difference. >> thank you for the footage, for the video. >> reporter: she survived. eric garner did not. in his case, the video shows the unarmed man being placed in a chokehold by a new york city police officer, but the grand jury decided not to indict the officer. in so many cases of alleged police abuse of power, videos like this are proving to be key pieces of evidence. atika scubert, cnn, new york. coming up in our next half hour, our gary tuchman compares the video evidence of the shooting of walter scott to the initial reports of the other officers on the scene and there are quite a few discrepancies. satisfaction, a step forward, those are just some of the feelings boston marathon bombing survivors say they have, now that a jury found dzhokhar tsarnaev guilty of all 30 counts he faced. but the case isn't closed just yet. chris welsch reports.

>> it's not a day to celebrate. you could call it a bittersweet victory. i'm not out there cheering for what happened but i'm satisfied. >> reporter: bittersweet with you not over. t the question now becomes will dzhokhar tsarnaev face death? the start date on the penalty phase has not been set, but the same jury will thrive e deliver sentence. it's been nearly two years since the terrorist attack rocked the finish line of the iconic boston marathon and shook the city to the core. survivors of the bombing say they were relieved by wednesday's verdict. >> i'm grateful to have him off the street. >> reporter: no matter what happens next, survivors say they'll focus on their lives, while a jury deliberates death. >> i may be standing on one fake leg, but i'm standing here, stronger than ever, because someone tried to destroy me and

he failed. >> reporter: in boston, i'm chris welsch. >> coming up later in the show, we will speak to a legal analyst about the possibility of a death sentence. and hear more from boston bombing survivors on how they feel about the verdict. the united nations is urging an end to air strikes targeting people forced from their homes in yemen. the u.n. says 100,000 people have been displaced by the recent fighting there, and more than 300 civilians killed. there is street-to-street fighting in the port city of aden, and residents in the capital say saudi led air strikes hit two residential buildings wednesday, injuring many people. some see the fighting in yemen as a proxy war with saudi arabia backing the current president, and u.s. secretary of state john kerry says it's no secret that iran is backing the houthi rebels. >> there are obviously supplies that have been coming from iran.

there are a number of fights every single week that have been coming in. we trace those flights and we know this. we're well aware of the support iran has been giving to yemen. iran needs to recognize that the united states is not going to stand by while the region is destabilize or while people engage, you know, in overt warfare across lines, international boundaries and other countries. >> we need to work together many order to put an end to the crisis in yemen. people of yemen should not suffer from aerial bombardment. we need to find a political solution in yemen, a comprehensive political solution leading to an inclusive dialogue, and we need to put an end to the fighting and to what is happening today in yemen.

>> the saudi-led coalition is fighting to restore yemen's president and drive out the houthi rebels. in afghanistan, a u.s. soldier was killed wednesday in an insider attack. officials say an afghan national army soldier opened fire with a machine gun on u.s. troops as they were leaving a meeting with a prgovernor. a local police official says the attacker was killed in a subsequent exchange of gunfire. several other americans and two other afghan soldiers were wounded in that attack. it's not immediately clear why, but isis has released scores of captives in northern iraq. these emotional reunions took place in kircut, after more than 200 members of the yuzidi

religious order were freed. they spent eight months in isis hands. a tornado touches down in kansas. ahead, a look at that report and other storms sweeping across parts of the united states. plus, in london, thieves make off with millions of dollars in jewels and cash. a look at how they pulled off the heist straight ahead here on cnn newsroom.

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for those of you that don't live in the united states, that is the chilling sound of a tornado siren blaring in farmington, missouri. farmington appears to have avoided a twister, but a tornado did touchdown near the small town of goddard in kansas. we're joined with more on this. it appears there's not a lot of damage from the one in goddard, but there are more of these to come. >> it is a terrifying time of year, and we talk about the climatology of this time of year, typically how many tornadoes you would see in the

united states. 155 in the month of april. but look at the numbers. you put this all together. that's about 1100 tornadoes we see every single year across the united states, easily 70% of the world's tornadoes come out of the united states. this is easily the only place in the world you see this high number of tornadoes. canada comes in with 60 to 100 tornadoes. and bangladesh, about 50 tornadoes per year. canada, 60 to 100. just the month of april in the united states exceeds that. peak is in may, june and july. this is a very dangerous time of year when it comes to storms and the severity could have been far worse on wednesday, the potential is there for greater storms on thursday. at this hour, storms are dying down. the sun has set for more than seven, eight hours in spots, so thunderstorms not going to blossom much. but still seeing active areas across the i-35 corridor.

hail reports, damaging hail in st. louis, much of missouri dealing with strong thunderstorms that produce large, damaging hail. in fact, look at the images. we saw some it in the video. about $50 billion in insurance claims have gone out from hailstorms since 2000. nebraska, texas and kansas are the top three for hail damage in the u.s. but in missouri, this was the scene with strong thunderstorms, flash flooding, as well. these sort of storms not going anywhere the next couple of days for the state of missouri and areas in its vicinity. here's the perspective as far as what we saw on wednesday. nine reports of tornadoes. one within 15 miles of the city of wichita. another one about 70 miles south of st. louis. so certainly got close to an area with a high population density. think of the atmosphere as a

boiling pot of water. if you keep the lid on, the energy is trapped inside. if you remove it, that energy escapes. we had heat building up across the rocky mountain states. that warm air, around 7,000 feet high above the lower elevation plains states, so it puts that cap in the atmosphere, so these thunderstorms were not able to become stronger. it looked like they had the potential to get stronger, and you look at some of the forecasts over the next 24 hours, nearly 100 million people in the path of dangerous weather. including tornadoes for areas around st. louis, chicago, detroit, all of these storms on thursday will have the potential to produce dangerous weather. so we'll be watching this over the next couple of days. >> we know you shall. many thanks for doing that. a jewelry and cash heist from a safe deposit company has

londoners scratching hair heads in amazement. it's estimated the haul is worth millions, even $300 million according to a former police official. the burglars are thought to have entered the building from the roof, repelled down the elevator shaft and cut their way through a reinforced door to reach the bounty and it happened in the heart of london's diamond district. >> reporter: a major heist that has an entire district of london on edge. the city's jewelry trading area. julian bowls evaluates diamonds here and issues certificates detailing the stone's properties. >> this is a basic gem certificate. it if has this, we can tell the exact weight, the grade, the purity, and even the length, breadth, and depth of the stone

resis. >> reporter: virtually everyone here works in the jewelry and diamond business. this has been britain's center for gems since medieval times. nick bick owns a diamond trading business. >> it's a very small community here. many of the brokers deal amongst themselves. >> reporter: julian says he believes security in this district has to improve. >> it's horrific. for some people, they may have their entire worldly wealth inside one of those boxes. >> reporter: so many in britain's diamond district are desperately seeking information, hoping the damage is not as bad as some project.

straight from the movies there, and big heists like that are not that rare. a few other recent examples. in july 2013, a lone gunman walked into the carlton hotel in france and stole jewels on display in the lobby worth around $136 million. in february, the same year, eight heavily armed men drove their vehicles through the security fence of brussels airport. they sped towards a plane on the tarmac that was being loaded with $50 million worth of diamonds, took the lot and drove away. and back in december of 2008, four gun agamen made off with m than $100 million in jewels in paris, france. the store was just around the corner from a police station. very bold. let's take a very short

break now. through all their pain and grief, walter scott's family is speaking out. how his mother says she knows her son did not jeopardize his own life. plus, the boston bomber has been found guilty on all counts. now a jury must decide whether he lives or dies. [sfx: bell] but the more you learn about insurancyour coverage,bout it. the more gaps you may find. [burke] like how you thought you were covered for this... [man] it's a profound statement. [burke] but you're not even covered for this... [man] it's a profound statement. [burke] or how you may be covered for this... [burke] but not for something like this... [burke] talk to farmers and see what gaps could be hiding in your coverage. [sfx: yeti noise] ♪ we are farmers bum - pa - dum, bum - bum - bum - bum ♪ when it comes to vaping, vuse has changed the game.

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fired. michael slager, you see him there, was charged after video surfaced tuesday. it shows him shoot walter scott in the back. the man who made that video says slager tased scott before he started recording. dzhokhar tsarnaev has been found guilty on all of the 30 counts he faced in the boston marathon bombing trial. jurors must decide whether the 21-year-old will face life in prison or the death penalty. he was convicted of killing four people, three in the bombing and a police officer during the manhunt that followed. the u.n. says more than 300 civilians have been killed in the fighting in yemen. it is urging an end to air strikes that target people forced from their homes. saudi arabia is leading a coalition of countries trying to drive out houthi rebels and restore the country's president to power. the family of the victim in that fatal police shooting is

grieving as they search for answers as to why he ended up dead. walter scott's mother judy spoke with our anderson cooper about accusations her son struggled over the officer's taser and how she knows in her heart that can't be true. >> when you were told that the police were saying there had been a scuffle, that your son had fought for the taser, did that sound believable to you? >> i knew that was not true, because he know how -- especially the north charleston policemen conduct themselves. he would they have jeopardize his life. >> he would not have done something like that? >> no, he would not have done it. >> the mother of walter scott there, and public outrage keeps growing over this case. mostly because the video evidence tells a very different story to the one that was reported from first responders. one big question, whether police gave walter scott life saving

aid on the scene. gary tuchman walks us through some of the discrepancies. >> reporter: questions about officer michael slager came hard and fast. eddie driggers is the chief of the north charleston police. >> to my knowledge, nobody was witness to anything but slager. >> reporter: slager handcuffed walter scott after he shot him. but at least on video did not appear to aid him. shortly after the shooting, another officer shows up, identified by the police department as sergeant haberhsam. in incident report, haberhsam declared he rendered first aid. ultimately several police officers are seen on site. one says haberhsam did perform cpr despite haberhsam not mentioning it. stating, i exited my vehicle and assisted officer haberhsam with first aid and cpr. we continued to perform first

aid and cpr until ems arrived. still another officer declared, i observed haberhsam administer chest compressions. >> was cpr ever performed on this man as far as you know? >> i'm going to be totally honest with you. >> do that. >> i am. and give me just a second. the honesty comes from my heart. i have watched the video, and i was sickened by what i saw. >> reporter: part of what the chief saw was no cpr. >> the end of it what i saw was a -- i believe to be a police officer removing the shirt of the individual and performing some type of life saving. but i'm not shower what took

place there. >> but you don't know if cpr was performed? >> i do not know -- i was told that life saving -- that they tried to save his life. >> reporter: the investigation has been handed off to the south carolina law enforcement division, known as s.l.e.d., but the north charleston police department does say there may be more video to examine. so did any of the officers give inaccurate statements about the aftermath of the shooting? that's a possibility that will most certainly be examined by the state agency now conducting the investigation. at the end of the news conference, the north charleston mayor was asked one more question about cpr. >> not every officer is cpr certified. >> why? why not? >> reporter: and with that, the mayor and chief police left the podium. so many questions still unanswered. gary tuchman, cnn, north charleston, south carolina.

it took a jury just 11 1/2 hours to find dzhokhar tsarnaev guilty on all of the 30 counts he faced in the boston marathon bombing trial. jurors must now decide whether the 21-year-old will face life in prison or the death penalty. he was convicted of killing four people, three in the bombing and a police officer during a manhunt that followed. more than 250 others were wounded in the bombing. many losing limbs. for some of the survivors, the verdict came as a relief. >> it's not a day to celebrate. i guess you could call it bittersweet victory. i'm not cheering for what happened but i'm satisfied. >> i don't know what justice is. i'm grateful to have him off the street. i'm grateful to show everyone, the world that it's not tolerated. it's not something that you'll ever be over. you know, you'll feel it

forever. >> i don't believe there will ever be justice brought to this, no matter if he does get the death penalty or he remains in prison for the rest of his life. i do believe, however, that he should be held accountable for his actions, and i'm very thankful for each of the jury members that are making him do that, and i they be standing on one fake leg, but i'm standing here stronger than ever, because someone tried to destroy me and he failed. and they both failed. >> some thoughts there from the survivors. and for more on the penalty phase of the trial, i spoke with cnn national security analyst julia kayyem a little earlier. boston bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev was found guilty on all 30 counts and may face the death penalty. given the evidence and now the verdicts, of course, how likely

is it that the 12 jurors will decide he should die for his crime? >> well, it's likely only in the sense that here in boston where there's not tremendous support for the death penalty, this jury is on the jury because they believe or could impose the death penalty. so in some ways they're a minority in the state. but i have to say that it is hard to tell at this stage. the defense has clearly a they areally about dzhokhar tsarnaev that he was this innocent, scared, manipulated younger brother, and but for his older brother he would have just been a formal kid. that resonated throughout the guilty phase of the trial and clearly what the defense is going to go after in the next stage. >> what more would the defense need to do to try to push? because this is life or death, this decision right here, as it goes into the penalty phase, so

what would the defense need to do at this point to move it toward life? >> to be very blunt about it, they need one juror. in this country, you need a unanimous 12 jury agreement for the death penalty. what the defense attorney needs to do is focus on which jurors might be sympathetic to dzhokhar, at least in the context of some narrative about which him, his parts abandoned him, his brother is sociopathic, he's afraid of his brother, he's on lots of drugs and just convince one juror. if you get one holdout, he will not get the death penalty. >> dzhokhar was emotionless throughout wednesday's proceedings. apparently lacking any remorse for what he did. now that this moves to the penalty phase for the boston bomber, how much will his lack of remorse play into this? and what all has been learned throughout this ordeal in terms of homeland security, do you think? >> so i think a couple things.

one is, he clearly was just directed by his defense attorneys to show no emotion either way. no matter what he did, it would be viewed as sneering or not being sympathetic enough. the other thing that's clear, at least from what i can take away, is dzhokhar will not testify in the sentencing phase of this, that we will not hear his voice. he's a variable that's too hard for the defense attorneys to control. they can control his friends, his family, you know, a psychiatrist or doctors who might testify about him. he will not remain -- he will not go on the stand i can bet. it's a big deal here in the united states, not simply because this is closure for, you know, this terror event that happened. but also it was a real statement about our cell justice system, like in many european countries and elsewhere. there's constantly a debate whether terrorists should be put in the normal justice system or

separate judicial systems for them. this justice department decided we're going to put him like any other criminal, put him through the system, same rights to the defendant, and i think it was a real statement that this trial went sort of -- it was typical in many ways. i think it's a statement about what, at least america's court system can handle in terms of potential and future terrorists. >> juliette, thank you so much for joining us. and the jury in the murder trial of aaron hernandez begins their second day of deliberations in just a few hours from now, in fact. the former star with the new england patriots' football team is accused of killing semi pro football odin lloyd. before being dismissed wednesday, the jury asked for a list of the more than 400 exhibits presented during the trial. attorneys for hernandez say he was at the scene of the shooting, but was just a witness.

all flights in and out of france would be canceled today. the second day of an air traffic controller strike. the workers say part of the dispute is over plans to raise the retirement age, get this, from 57 to 59. they also claim staff members are declining, despite increasing national and european regulation. air traffic controllers are threatening more two-day strikes later this month and in may. a quick break here. but just ahead, iraqi forces are planning their next military mission against isis. the challenges they face trying to regain ground in anbar province. we're back in a moment. te to see rheumatoid arthritis like me, and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira giving me new perspective.

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welcome back, everyone. barack obama landed in jamaica a few hours ago, making him the

first u.s. president to visit in decades. mr. obama is attending a caribbean summit with security and energy topping the agenda. there are agreeing concerns that caribbean countries could be producing radical islamists that go to night the middle east. from there, the president travels to panama for the summit of the americas. there, he is expected to see the cuban president raul castro for the first time since announcing plans to improve diplomatic ties between the nations. >> the iraqi army is fresh off its victory over isis in tikrit. they had occupied the since since last june. now they are planning their next move in anbar province. arwa damon reports. >> reporter: past the flattened farmhouses, amid the date palms, craters left by roadside bombs.

positions fortified with sandbags line the tranquil road. the isis fighters even dug trenches that lead all the way up to these fighting positions. since june, isis was only pushed back three miles, along this particular battle line in anbar province, just west of baghdad. and it to be months for a paramilitary force that is part of the shia volunteer army, to break through this line of defense. we tried to advance from the front, he says. but we couldn't. so we flanked them from behind. and that was only after a joint operation that included air support and iraq's conventional forces. but as is the isis tactic, buildings like this former school, wereooby trapped. one of the bomb disposal unit members killed when he tried to defuse the explosives in front of the gate. there's a home that you can see

in the distance. right behind that is where isis has its closest positions to this particular area. the road here leads into the town. still firmly under isis control. targeting, we are told, comes from imagery captured by drones, equipped with thermal cameras, provided to the fighters by iran. they were brought with the iranian advisers. they are the ones who taught us how to fly them, one of the commanders says. iran's role, he argues, has been positive. quick to respond while the u.s. and its allies hesitated to act. but, he says, coalition strikes can help them in anbar. the coalition can help ulgs by targeting the border areas that isis operates in. and in the desert, he says. iraqi army artillery batteries are scattered throughout the fields, scaring down the enemy.

watchtowers now line key roads, as forces await orders for what is expected to be a massive joint operation and the next phase of the battle against isis. arwa damon, cnn, anbar province, iraq. still to come here on cnn newsroom, china's main tv broadcaster says it will investigate one of its anchors after a video showed him insulting a former chinese leader. the details straight ahead here on cnn. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that parker. well... did you know auctioneers make bad grocery store clerks? that'll be $23.50. now .75, 23.75, hold 'em. hey now do i hear 23.75? 24! hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter, now half, 24 and a half and .75! 25! now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and a quarter- -sold to the man in the khaki jacket! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ♪ hi, tom.

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welcome back to our global viewers. this is an interesting story. a verbal lashing of the late chinese chairman mao has gone viral. it was captured on camera at a private event. in the video, c-tv's bijong performs an old opera song and he improvises the lyrics when he sings about mao. [ singing in chinese ]

[ laughter ] >> he's reportedly been suspended for four days. his employer says it will investigate the incident. we turn to weather now. powerful storms are rumbling across the mid western u.s. this early morning. some could still pose a life threatening situation for millions. how many people are in the way, in the path here? >> about 50 million today, almost 100 million come thursday afternoon. so early this morning, about 50 million, thursday afternoon, approaching 100 million. the severity of these storms into the overnight hours, even if they're weaker, far more dangerous at times because perhaps you're sleeping, you're by a window and you eastern not aware of a storm outside of your home. but by day, a large storm you hear about it and see it perhaps on tv because you're awake and

it becomes easier to get into the basement away from the storms. portions of waterloo, eastern iowa, milwaukee, chicago, thunderstorms abound. about 850 lightning strikes in the past hour across the united states. over 600 coming out of areas from milwaukee towards chicago. look at the southern tip of lake michigan, thunderstorms all over the place. the willis tower here struck by lightning a couple of times. on arm, they get struck 50 times per year. in boston, a wintry mix at this very hour. in manchester, new hampshire, a few snow flurries. it shows you the cold air locked in the northern tier of the country. 170 reports of damaging hail in and around portions of eastern missouri and st. louis. look at one storm giving you a slew of different hail sizes,

just based on the variety of the instability around the atmosphere. hail alley, as it's known, here in the central u.s. nebraska, kansas, colorado, that's where we see the highest frequency of hail. high pressure tries to build here, but the concern is this early morning and thursday afternoon, plevenlty of wet weather and the enhanced risk of damaging wind and hail including chicago, st. louis, nashville, memphis, these are big cities we're watching carefully. tornadoes are a possibility for these thursday afternoon. >> that is terrifying, the tornadoes and the hail is just gigantic. >> absolutely is. >> thanks so much. i'm rosemary church. thanks for watching. cnn newsroom continues with errol barnett next hour.

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walter scott's family is speaking out after his killing sparks outrage across the u.s. guilty on all counts. we'll look at the next phase in the boston bombing trial. new warning of a humanitarian disaster as