-- captions by vitac -- good evening, anderson is off. i'm wolf blitzer. we're following breaking news right now. deadly weather hitting parts of the country. this funnel cloud caught on camera just outside clarksdale, mississippi. >> i can see debris. >> the same cell devastated a town of holly springs. authorities reporting one fatality, a 7-year-old little boy as well as at least 40 people hurt and homes destroyed across the state. damage in at least six counties we'll be following the stories there and throughout the south and midwest throughout the hour. stand by for that. in the meantime, we begin with presidential politics. polling that says a lot about donald trump's growing lead, the rise of ted cruz and how each might do in a head-to-head match-up with democratic presidential front runner hillary clinton. our chief political correspondent dana bash is here with numbers, numbers that will bring a smile to donald trump's face no doubt about that. dana, what are they? >> no doubt. he's going to have a merry

christmas with the new numbers. he leads his closest opponent, senator ted cruz by more than 20 points in this latest cnn orc poll. the rest of the field is way back. jeb bush in fact is down not only in single digits, he actually trails rand paul now but one point. we have the usual caveats, this is a national poll. they are won state by state and when you look at polling in iowa, there are indications it's much tighter between ted cruz and donald trump but this is a temperature of republicans nationwide and as we said, good news for donald trump. >> very good news for him. dana, this poll comes shortly after the most recent republican presidential debate that you and hugh hewitt and i that we all moderated out in las vegas. who do republican voters think, among the candidates, did the best job on that stage? >> this is really fascinating not only because when we're on the stage, we can't tell who is

really penetrating back home but i want to put the numbers from the debate last week and those from back in september side by side to give our viewers a sense. 33% of republicans thought donald trump won this most recent debate and that's up from just 11% who thought he had the best performance in the first debate and also when you look at ted cruz a big improvement. 28% thought he did the best this time around and as you can see, maybe the most stunning drop is carly fiorina. she had a very strong showing back in september. 52% down to 4% just now and then of course, there is jeb bush, he got a lot of kudos for having the best debate he had so far in our debate last week but the people who told us they watched it thought that he just did about 1%. >> yeah. only 1% thought he would do the best job. a lot of good news for donald trump but not all good news especially when you broaden out beyond republicans. isn't that right, dana. >> that's right. this is what the trump campaign

certainly should be watching for because winning a primary is one thing but then you got to win a general election and it's quite different and when you ask republican voters if donald trump has the right experience to be president. the majority say yes but when you expand that to include the voters outside the gop, a majority say no. having said that, trump's future is in the short term in the hands of republican voters and the number of republicans who think that they have a better chance in 2016 with trump than without he is still under water a bit there you can see but he's doing much better on this, up eight points from august. it's kind of amazing when you think about how many so-called main stream republicans that we talked to who say that it's the worst nightmare to have donald trump. it's not playing out in our poll among the voters. >> among republicans. dana, we have now polling on the democrats running for president. what are we seeing there? >> good news for hillary clinton. i say good, not great because if

you look at the number, she is still far ahead nationally but her support is down since last month and bernie sanders ticked up just a bit. she's at 50% down from 58% in november and sanders is at 34% just up from 30%, wolf. >> obviously, a lot of interest about how hillary clinton might do against specific republican candidates next fall. what does this latest polling tell us about that? >> up in brooklyn, the clinton campaign headquarters shouldn't be so thrilled with the idea of a potential donald trump nomination. never mind trump, also rubio and cruz, she isn't matching up very well against any of them for, you see for rubio she would lose by three points, cruz by two points and trump ahead also by two. but all of those are kind of within the margin of error. so what does this tell us? it tells us that it is anyone's game right now and that there is a very big divide in the nation

when it comes to politics no matter who is at the top of the ticket. >> fascinating numbers. dana, hold your thoughts for a moment. i want to bring in the rest of our panel, our cnn political commentator, new yorker, washington correspondent ryan lizza. nationally, donald trump with a staggering lead right now over ted cruz. it's a national poll, once individual states start voting things can change and in a hurry. do you think trump could actually be the republican presidential nominee? >> oh, absolutely and just yesterday we were talking about it seemed to be in a poll he was only ahead by four. but if you go back to the last ser seven polls, his lead has been very substantial. double digits in every other poll and this big lead in cnn. now, in years past, wolf, when you and i first got involved in

politics the person who was ahead at this time in the republican party generally went on to win the nomination, not so true in the last eight years. eight years ago it was rudy giuliani who was ahead at this point at the end of the year poll. and four years ago it was newt gingrich, neither one went on to win the nomination. while you have to say that trump is the favorite, a lot of things can happen between now and the election. >> which is february 1st and february 9th in new hampshire. ryan, it's important to point out polls can be all over the place there as david just mentioned. the national poll the other day had trump leading cruz by four points so who really knows what is going on in the cnn orc poll on specific issues, when asked who can handle the economy, immigration, isis, trump is by far their number one choice despite reality checks on his

proposals that don't necessarily always play in his favor. how do you explain most republicans think he can do the best job? >> look, i'm going to be a little bit of the grinch on these polls in terms of donald trump. i'm really -- i think at this point in the cycle, national polls are just not that important. they tell you about who is in the news and who has high name i.d. but they don't have a lot of predictive value. i personally would look at the polling averages in iowa and new hampshire and the story in iowa is that ted cruz has taken the lead if you look at the polling averages. he has surged into the lead. he has taken most of the support that had been going to carson. and he is the guy to watch. and trump versus cruz is now the race to watch in iowa and cruz is surging at the right time. granted, there is more than a month before the iowa caucuses. look at the polling in new hampshire. donald trump still the leader there but he is on a very, very gradual downward slope and you have three people on his heels

rubio, cruz, and christie who just watched those guys over the month and see if they pop. the second thing is as dana pointed out, this is a sequential process. we don't have a national primary we don't all vote on the same day. it's one race after another and what happens in iowa is going to have a huge influence on what happened in new hampshire and that's going to have a huge influence on what happens in south carolina. and then finally, you know, to continue being the grinch here, the head-to-head polls, those don't -- the head-to-head general election polls, those don't really tell you -- don't have a lot of predictive value until a little bit later in the cycle. and then the final thing is, remember the caucuses are on february 1st. in previous cycles, i was in iowa on new years eve. we have an extra month compared to some of the previous cycles. so a long way to go. i would not be preparing my victory speech in cleveland if i were donald trump just yet.

>> the increasingly heated personal battle -- >> back -- >> hold on, david -- >> there are a couple people -- >> hold on david, one second. david, hold on one second because i want to get to this increasingly heeded battle between donald trump and hillary clinton unfolding as well. he said some ugly things about her in the past couple days, today she said he's demonstrated a, quote, penchant for sexism, now just a little while ago, trump tweeted, quote, hillary, when you complain about a penchant for sexism, who are you referring to? i have a great respect for women. be careful. let me ask dana, what does he mean by that, be careful? >> you're asking me to be the trump whisperer. i'll give it a try. look at what some of the trump campaign aids said. they talked specifically about bill clinton and his escapades shall we say, with women, during

his presidency. that seems to be what he is suggesting there. and you know, who knows what that means in the future. what we do know about what this all means in the present is that it is very good for both of their campaigns. for hillary clinton to go at it with donald trump right now at least in the short term, not a bad thing for shoring up and exciting the democratic base, same goes for trump. >> what do you think, david? >> only a couple days ago, people were speculating that trump was trying to set a trap for hillary clinton that he intentionally made those is exist remarks to have her attack him as being sexist and in order to make the bill clinton point in response. and that seems to be what played out. i don't think there is any question he's dragging bill clinton into this and he's playing with fire. he went way over the line and secondly, bill clinton is one of the most popular people in the country now and ended up with very high approval ratings. i don't think that's going to

get trump very far. >> and be clinton will go out in january and start campaigning. among that democratic base, very popular. should be a huge asset. dana, ryan, david, thank you. ben carson is said to be weighing a major campaign shakeup. are children ever fair game in presidential politics? and later on the line ready to take off on a family trip to disneyland when authorities on the ground in london said no way. the family says it because they are muslim. we have new information coming in on just what might have kept them off that flight.

ted cruz may only be a freshman senator and newcomer to the presidential campaigns, but he's just become a part of a long-running political tradition involving candidates, their children and controversy. senator cruz made a christmas theme campaign video with their wife heidi and caroline and

katherine, then a washington post cartoonist mocked it in this item showing the senator as a orr gab grinder with monkeys for daughters. the post later pulled the cartoon but not before senator cruz took very public umbridge which continued on the stump today. >> i have to admit, not much ticks me off. but making fun of my girls that will do it. everyone expects the main stream media to be liberal, to be biassed. folks, you want to attack me, knock yourself out. that's part of the process, that's fine. but my girls didn't sign up for that. >> other candidates joined him and condemning "the washington post" and said senator cruz saying exploiting his kids making him for satire. as for the senator he is now raising money off the controversy, sending out this e-mail blast to supporters asking for emergency donations hoping to raise $1 million in 24 hours to send the post a message. as we said, this is just the latest in a long line of stories

involving families and politics. 360's randi kaye has more. >> reporter: they smiled a lot and waved a lot but barely spoke. that was the norm on the obama campaign trail for his two daughters, but in those rare moments they did speak, it was priceless. >> love for daddy! >> reporter: remember this from the 2008 democratic convention. >> daddy, what city are you in? >> reporter: still not all candidates subscribe to the seen but rarely heard rule when it comes to children on the campaign trail. remember, it was donald trump's daughter evan ka -- ivanka who introduced him when he first announced his campaign for president. >> i have the honor of introducing a man who needs no introduction. >> reporter: on the trail, she's been reaching out to women on behalf of her father. >> he'd be amazing for women in this country. he would be incredible for women in this country. >> reporter: another candidate's daughter meghan mccain was a fixture at her father's side in

2008 and the keeper of the mccain bloggette.com. she appeared on "larry king" weeks before the election. >> i have a really great relationship with my dad. we've always been kindred spirits. my mom calls me john mccain in a dress. >> reporter: yet, she was reportedly banished from the campaign trail before the election. the blog she hoped would widen her father's appeal with the younger generation was mocked instead. john huntsman's daughter made a big push for dad even taking on rival campaigns. in this campaign ad, the huntsman girls poke fun at herman cane herman cain's campaign manager. >> tomorrow is friday. one day closer to the weekend. >> we strongly believe that our dad has the experience and proven track record to revive america's economy and create jobs. >> reporter: mitt romney had the support of five sons. during two presidential campaigns. in 2012 his son craig was the

standout, flupt in -- fluent in spanish and often heard appealing to latino voters. [ speaking foreign language ]. >> reporter: and yes, even ted cruz' daughters have been featured by his campaign. >> imagine the greatest -- >> reporter: this iowa ad put out by the cruz campaign what was what inspired the controversial "washington post" cartoon. the 90-second spot shows the family reading from a fictional hole day theme children's book and one of cruz' daughters slamming hillary clinton. >> i know just what i'll do, she said with a snicker, i'll use my own server and no one will be the wiser. >> reporter: running for office truly a family affair. randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> digging deeper now to the controversial side of candidates and their kids with our cnn political commentator amanda carpenter, a former communications analyst for

senator ted cruz. and cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin and media analyst bill carder. jeff, you say there is a double standard in political coverage that you happily abide by, politics can make their kid as focus but the media shouldn't be focussing in on them explain. >> there is a long tradition of politicians having a tableau with their children and they walk out when they accept the nomination of their party and they appear in public with their children. but we have always given children a wide berth. we don't report on their activities. we don't investigate their lives. and so politicians can in effect brag about their kids but we don't investigate them. and i think that's fine. i really do think children are off limits and that system, i think, has worked pretty well for all concerned. >> i agree. senator cruz is using the incident to fund raise. that's fair game in your book because his critics say you can't have it both ways, you can't say keep the kids out of

it but i'll use the incident involving them to true to raise some campaign cash. >> sure, i think ted cruz has a right to tell his supporters what his family is up against and also show by pushing back he was successful in getting that post taken down. this is not only a victory for him but it shows a way that he has worked together with his supporters. keep in mind, it wasn't just him. he posted one tweet complaining about this. it was the flood of other people expressing outrage and so i think it's perfectly fine to say this happened and this is why i need your support in fighting back against more items like this. >> bill, you see this public outrage over this as pure politics when it comes to fundraising. is that right? >> i wouldn't say pure politics but certainly a calculations saying, you know, i can probably take advantage. i'm so outraged, you should spend money on my campaign. i mean, there's a little bit of that. i do think it's legitimate.

he's not complaining about something that is illegitimate. but he is using a very practiced means, now going after the media and that works extremely well and he's very shrewd for doing it. i think it's very shrewd. >> jeff, what is your take? >> i think the ability to be outraged and essentially to fake being outraged is a key attribute in american politics. hillary clinton is outraged about what donald trump said about her going to the bathroom and ted cruz is outraged about this cartoon in the washington post. are they really outraged? are their feelings really hurt? i sort of doubt it. but you know, it's part of the game. >> he posted -- >> i'm sorry. >> i was going to say, he posted one tweet. i think he showed an incredible amount of restraint. he said hey, washington post come after me, not my girls. you know, as somebody who did that to my children, i'm not sure i could have been so concise in such a remark. >> no, but his campaign then put

out a message saying look what they're doing, look what the media's doing. they pounded that message. he was taking advantage of the situation i think and i'm not saying -- >> they certainly gave -- yeah. >> of course -- >> the washington post gave him plenty to work with. >> hillary clinton is trying to mobilize women for her campaign because of this silly thing that donald trump said. you know, this is not inappropriate, it's not wrong that these politicians do it. but let's not from tend that this outrage is coming from some sort of deep feeling of hurt. you know, this is their taking advantage of the opportunities in front of them. >> amanda, we heard senator cruz use this as an opportunity to swipe at hillary clinton. so it seems like his outrage isn't so great that he missed this opportunity to sneak in a bit of a dig at the former secretary, the democratic presidential front runner. >> sure, i think it would be in the interest of all the people running for president to say hey this kind of stuff is over the line.

certainly, i remember last cycle, you know, david chuter over at msnbc said unflattering things about chelsea clinton and he ended up being suspended. i think there is a line all candidates abide by and it would have been a good move for hillary clinton to show unity in the ability to agree within the republican. so i'm surprised she passed up on the opportunity. it would have been a nice moment but she declined. >> bill, is there ever a time when a politician's children are fair game for criticism or satire? >> well i guess -- chelsea is now aer surrogate for her moth. she's an adult and out there in front supporting her mother. that makes her i think more fair game than when she was a child and rush limbaugh was comparing her to the white house dog. i mean, that was way over the line and everyone understood that. >> bill carter, amanda, jeff, guys, thank you very much. a lot more ahead as "360" continues including the latest on the dangerous weather system hitting the south and midwest.

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we just learned about guidelines from the tsa making some passengers go through a body scanning machine instead of opting out and requesting a pat down instead. the scanners do a better job of catching nonmetallic bombs than people do. and new reports on the british family that was kept off

a flight for a western journey with stops at the grand canyon and disneyland. they say they were denied boarding because they were muslim. three officials said religion had nothing to do with it but checking names against the u.k. voter roll reveals one of the concerns namely an e-mail address associated with the 18-year-old son. the address links to a facebook page belonging to a resident of birmingham with a similar name whose occupation is listed as supervisor at taliban and leader at al qaeda which sounds like it is clearly tongue in cheek. but in any case the family says the e-mail listed is wrong and their son lives in london, not birmingham. here is rene marsh. >> reporter: nine members of a british muslim family were denied boarding of a flight to california. they captured cell phone video of the moment. >> i know.

>> reporter: norwegian airlines tells cnn it acted on instructions from u.s. homeland security. >> even though you haven't done anything wrong, you feel like you've done something wrong. >> traveling with his family and seven children were waiting to board when they were stopped. >> no one gave us an explanation what was the problem. the kids asked what is the problem? why are we not going? so we had to ask them, what should we tell our kids what is going on? >> reporter: the family says they had valid u.s. immigration documents and planning and saving for a trip to disneyland with their children for months. the more than $13,000 they say they spent will not be refunded. british government officials are now fighting on their behalf. >> the family was simply told to go home, no further contact has been made with them, no explanation has been provided. i have to also say this is not the only case i have had raised with me of somebody traveling to america being stopped at the last minute. >> reporter: his wife who asked we not show her face thinks their religion played a role. >> my 10-year-old daughter said

to my husband, is it because we're muslim and my husband said why would you say that? and she goes, well, because we were the only muslim pop in that line. >> reporter: u.s. customs and boarder protection said quote, the religion faith or spiritual beliefs of an international traveller are not determining factors. for flights in or out of the united states, passenger security checks happen long before travelers get to the airport, even before the airline accepts payment, names are run against the government's no-fly list. if there is a hit, the sale is denied. for those who've bought a ticket, names are continuously checked against other government databases searching everything from past itineraries to law enforcement and intelligence information. if there is a problem, the airlines deny boarding at the airport. but it's not just terrorism. there are other reasons a passenger could be denied boarding like incomplete documents or health-related issues. >> that was cnn's rene marsh reporting.

there is a lot more happening tonight. a 360 news and business bulletin. >> hi, there, wolf. the woman accused of killing one person and injuring dozens in a vegas hit and run made her first appearance in court today. lakeisha holloway faces murder and other charges. convicted child molester jerry sandusky is getting a big check in the mail. the former penn state assistant football coach serving time for molesting ten boys will get $211,000 in back payments from the pennsylvania state government after a judge ruled it wrongly cut off his retirement benefits. hyatt hotels has fallen victim to a data breach at their corporate manage locations. nearly 260 properties, the hotel chain says it found malware on their computers. and santa will have out of this world company on christmas eve. these are nasa photos of a massive astroid expected to zoom past us tomorrow night but fear not, neither santa nor the rest

of us will be in danger. the fly by takes place more than 6 million miles from earth so wolf, we can expect to survive this one. >> we certainly can. thanks for that. a lot more coming up tonight including part three of dr. sanjay gupta's series of heroin addiction. you'll meet a man that made the journey from rock bottom to back flips. now more than ever america's electricity comes from cleaner- burning natural gas. and no one produces more of it than exxonmobil. helping dramatically reduce u.s. emissions. because turning on the lights... isn't as simple as just flipping a switch. energy lives here. every auto insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands

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it's the untold story of the primary season and very important story, indeed, politics or not. according to a recent university of new hampshire poll, what worries granite state voters most is not isis, not the economy, not education, it's drug abuse, heroin to be exact. heroin addiction is at epidemic levels in towns across new england right now and elsewhere and it will continue to be a problem long after the last voter votes. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta has been investigating. tonight in part three of his series, one man's deeply challenging, long-running struggle on the road from heroin to hope. >> reporter: when he was just 8 years old, joe became obsessed with gymnastics.

he was so good that his dreams of going to the olympics seemed within reach. he couldn't have imagined that a dental procedure when he was 19 would derail those dreams and start a whole new obsession with prescription pain pills. >> it just worked. you know, it clicked. it was like the stars were aligned and i've never felt anything like it. >> reporter: this time, it was percocet but the high joe felt from all sorts of opiates led him to another opiate delivery system, heroin, one of the most dangerously addictive substances on the planet, nearly impossible to escape, as hard as he tried, joe was among of 78% of heroin addicts who relapse over and over again, a relapse he would encounter when he worked at "the new york times." >> i was 27 years old and "the new york times" sent me to rehab. i was so grateful. still am. and it was there that a

therapist suggested i go back to something i was passionate about, which was gymnastics. in my eyes, i was a failure. my only goal was to go to the olympics and i didn't. so to go back to that sport was to walk into humiliation. i went back to it. in rehab i started doing hand stands and pushups, just to see what it would feel like. and a fire -- i should say a spark ignited. >> reporter: no surprise, it felt pretty good and after rehab, joe caught a break and started performing on broadway. but the thing about heroin is that the possibility of a relapse was always waiting there for him in the wings. >> i managed to stay clean for a year and a half and i was on -- amazing my life changed. i was performing on broadway. couldn't believe it. as a heroin addict and here i am performing on broadway.

>> reporter: but it was another visit to the dentist, another prescription. this time for vicadin. and then -- >> i took it as prescribed and within four hours i was shooting heroin. >> reporter: four hours. >> yes. on broadway. >> reporter: you were clean for a year and a half and performing on broadway and get an fda approved medication from a doctor and within four hours. >> yeah, it woke up, it woke up something ancient in me. >> reporter: you took that vicodin, again, a year and a half clean. >> yeah. >> reporter: describe again what did you feel? >> like i came home. you know, like oh, i've missed you. >> reporter: stories about recovery are almost always messy. people move forward a little and then may slip back even more but for joe, each time it did become easier. >> these were all my emergency room overdoses and everything like that. i need to see a reminder, you know, of who i was.

>> reporter: the same obsessions that fueled his addiction also fueled his dazzling performances like this one as the crystal man in cirque du soleil's "totem." tethered at the waist spinning, shoulders pinned back, twisting, turning, stunning to watch but also putting so much pressure on his upper body. for two years, his injuries mounted. joe would eventually need surgery, painful surgery. he knew one thing though, pain pills could not be allowed because the risk of relapse was too great. >> i know your goal to avoid anything that you had a problem with in the past. >> of course. >> reporter: you decided to let us follow you along for your shoulder operation. why did you do that? >> at first i didn't want to because it felt like a very private thing and then i remembered, you know, what i had gone through. this could actually help people. >> reporter: joe came through the operations with flying colors.

instead of opioids, he was given nerve blocks, anti-inflammatories and even acupuncture. it worked for him. back to school and exercising again but he needed another operation, this time his ankle. >> i was getting my ankle operated on. it was not nearly as severe as my shoulders. i had done everything we had in place for my shoulders. i told them what medications i can have, what i can't have and the day of surgery, there's a, like, a five-page document that you sign and on every single one where it says allergy it said no opiates in big letters. okay. no opiates, okay, awesome, they know. we've talked about it and waking up out of surgery and it feels like someone sawed my ankle in half because that's kind of what happened and the nurse said are you in pain? i said yes.

i wasn't even awake and all of a sudden i felt something, that thing, that ancient feeling like oh, my god. and i said what did you just give me? she says fentanyl. i said oh, my god. i freaked out because this felt good. it's like, i was eight years clean and i was like, this isn't fair. i was drugged. >> reporter: whether or not the nurse simply forgot or there is still a fundamental misunderstanding about the severity of addiction, joe was in trouble. again. but this time, the brutal years he had endured through recovery paid off. this time there were no more pills, no more heroin, no more relapse. >> so this is the old apartment i used to live in. >> reporter: literally across the hall. >> yeah, 18 years ago when i was a heroin addict, it was actually during 9/11 and my apartment was

full of syringes and it's interesting now living the life i do because it's like you make that one decision that changes your life. when i walk down the hall, i take a right and not a left. >> reporter: that was the old joe, this is the new joe. >> yeah. >> reporter: his first obsession, his first love really is still very much part of his life. >> is this a sanctuary for you now, a gym? >> yes, this is pretty much where i've done my recovery, not just from surgery but also where i come to when i have a lot of emotion in sobriety. >> reporter: the gym is a refuge, sort of place of safety far, far away from his addiction to heroin. >> addiction is the only cell where the key is on the inside and i don't live, i don't live in that cell anymore. >> sanjay, joe was so very careful with his surgeries, what are some of the ways someone who does have an addiction to opiates could manage their pain in alternative ways?

>> well, you know, there's lots of options other than going straight to narcotics. for example with his shoulder operation, he got a pain block ahead of time. you know, it was a numbing up the area of his shoulder and letting some of that medication last, linger, even after the operation. he had things like acupuncture which is becoming more widely used in opts especially for people who have a concern about using narcotics. but the real point, though, you know, wolf, the idea of giving narcotics in someone whose an addict, we go straight to them so quickly, 80% of the world's pain pills are consumed in the united states, we go to them so quickly we haven't evaluated some of these other options. joe teaches us what we can evaluate. >> what is next for joe, sanjay? >> it's interesting. he's a gymnast, professional one. he's going to go into the medical field. he's going into nursing. he wants to now -- he's going to school. he's going to help treat people who suffer from similar sorts of problems as he did including

addictions so he's really turned his life around. i mean, the relapse, the potential of a relapse is always waiting there for him potentially in the wings but he's free of it now and he wants to help. >> yeah, he's doing a great job. sanjay, thank you very much. >> thank you. just ahead, an update on the breaking news. the death toll rising from the rough weather hitting parties of the country. four people have lost their lives including three in mississippi. we have details next.

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more on the breaking news, the very dangerous weather hits parts of the south and midwest right now. the death toll now standing at four, including three in mississippi. one of the fatalities is 7-year-old little boy. in the town of holly springs and the area around clarksdale hit very hard. weather alerts are up across the region all evening. let's get more, jennifer gray in the cnn weather center. what's the latest, jennifer? >> wolf, we still have tornado warnings in effect. we did have one for the nashville area, that one luckily has expired. nashville in the clear now but that tornado warning has shifted a little farther to the north

and east. tornado-warned area until about 8:00 central time. for the next ten minutes or so. we still have a couple of tornado warnings down to the south, lawrence, lewis counties including the city of mt. pleasant, that is still in effect. a lot of people on the roads tonight so it's been a very dangerous situation and in fact that one tornado watch that we have in effect until 8:00. the storm prediction center labeled it as a particularly dangerous situation and they got it spot on because that is where we saw that tornado in mississippi. we've had a couple of deaths unfortunately from this round of nasty weather and it is not over yet. so about half a million people still in that warned area that is set to expire in the next ten minutes. here is the path of that storm that pushed about 100 miles or more that hit that area just to the south of clarksdale and continued on into portions of

southern tennessee, leaving a path of destruction. we had so far 17 tornado reports, 143 wind reports and 27 hail reports. we've had hail the size of gobbles -- golf balls and in some areas tennis balls in eastern arkansas and this isn't a springtime pattern, wolf. we normally talk about this in the spring and fall and warm and humid air pumping in from the south. temperature wills stay well above normal for christmas eve. this could be one of the warmest christmas eves on record with temperatures running about 25 to 30 degrees warmer than they should be and so that's part of the reason that we saw these nasty storms. they will continue to push east through the night. in fact, the eastern seaboard throughout the overnight hours and tomorrow, not to mention, wolf, travel delays not only on the roads but also in the skies. we've seen delays all up and down the east coast today including new york city, d.c. we had a couple ground stops throughout the day. atlanta even delayed today. so expect those to trickle into

tomorrow, most likely. this affects everyone from the roads to the skies and it's not over yet, wolf. > not over yet. we'll stay in close touch with you, jennifer, thank you very much. let's take a look at this video, right now, it's from a storm chaser. he was in como, mississippi and no more than 200 yards from the tornado. that storm chaser is joining us on the phone. we're watching the incredible video of this tornado you shot right now. what did it feel like getting so close? >> well, you know, close to a safe degree. i saw a storm coming down i-55. and i intercepted and saw it on the horizon coming towards me. so i decided to park my car and get some shots from further away. i try to position myself where the tornado is basically crossing the road so i can get a good video that hopefully entertains some people.

and that's about it. >> we're showing this video that you shot while your car was moving and we see that tornado. literally right in front of you and as i said, you got to, what, about 200 yards away from the tornado. did you remain calm during the whole period? >> yeah, well, i'm a meteorologist by training. so i hope i know what i'm doing. when it comes to tornados close range, you kind of trust your eyes, to be honest. it wasn't that violent in this case. it's the same tornado that actually killed a couple people down the road in holly springs in that area. but at this stage it was kind of a weaker tornado where i could actually position pretty close to it and the motion of it was pretty predictable. so i could get as close as i really wanted to and still remain calm and shoot a video.

>> impressive. were you able, stas to survey the damage this tornado did because i know this tornado crossed a pretty large swath of land. >> yes, sir, i actually tried to keep up with the tornado. but the storm motion was 50 to 60 miles an hour. and trees many mississippi made it impossible. i i actually ran into a tree down the road. that ended my storm chasing today. >> how long have you been a %-p? a year. i moved to oklahoma from florida after i got a job in meteorologist and i want to continue doing it. i always wanted to chase storms since i was a little kid. so i got into it. hopefully i'm going to keep doing it. i love it and will do my best. >> how does this compare to others you've chased? >> this is probably my closest one and most, i guess, i was with it the longest. i have a video recorded about 15 minutes long i was in view of the tornado.

but it definitely wasn't the strongest but very, very photogenic. >> well, i'm glad you're okay. thank you very much and tlanks for sharing that video with us as well. stay safe over there. we'll take a quick break and be right back. when you've got a house full of guests on the way and a cold with sinus pressure, you need fast relief. alka-seltzer plus severe sinus congestion and cough liquid gels rush relief to your tough symptoms. to put you back in control. [doorbell] woman: coming! alka-seltzer plus sinus.

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that's all the time we have. for this edition of 360.

before we go a reminder, you can go to ac360.com to pick the best ridiculist of 2015. we'll air the top vote getters next week. merry christmas happy new year, anthony bourdain parts unknown starts right now. it's easily the most contentious piece of real estate in the world. and there's no hope, none, of ever talking about it without pissing somebody, if not everybody, off. maybe that's why it's taken me so long to come here, a place where even the names of ordinary things are ferociously disputed. where does falafel come from? who makes the best hummus? is it a fence or a wall? by the end of this hour, i'll be seen by many as a terrorist sympathizer, a zionist tool, a self-hating jew, an apologist