♪ and though i dream in vain ♪ in my heart you will remain ♪ my stardust melody ♪ a memory of love's refrain >> larry: love you, willie. >> thank you. love you, too. love you, too. >> larry: willie nelson. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com it was terrifying. i mean, scared me to death. i've never been in anything like this before in my life. >> sudden death in the american south. the state of mississippi is especially hard hit by a massive tornado. the slow task of building a national institution. cnn's michael holmes takes us on an inside look at police training in afghanistan. i am petrified of suffering. >> and choosing to die. we'll hear from one u.s. man who wants to choose the time of his own passing.

thank you for joining us on "world report." i'm natalie allen. welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. our top story, we begin with a developing story out of the u.s. severe storms in the south produced tornados in at least four states. and the system is still moving east. the hardest-hit area, central mississippi. at least ten people were killed by a tornado that was about 1 1/2 kilometers wide. i spoke earlier with correspondent ed lavandera, who had just toured the damage zone there. >> reporter: we've driven around this community here this afternoon. we have sensed the many people who are simply stunned by how quickly this storm just ravaged the city here of yazoo city. one family in particular that we met as we arrived here, a couple by the name of robin ashley

saxon. they were driving on a road right by here. their family owns this restaurant. there's a restaurant you see here behind me. they were trying to race to get to this restaurant because their family had taken cover in the freezer in this restaurant. but as you'll hear right now, they didn't make it on time. >> i get the sense from what you guys were describing to me you that were right in the middle, it was right on top of you lirlly. >> it was. it was glass, debris flying. when i got out of the car, thinking she was going to get out behind me, i looked back and she didn't even get out of the car. she was so scared. and i was standing against the building and debris was just flying by me, and it was hitting my legs, and glass was flying, and i said -- debris can kill me. i dove back in the car and said come on, we've got to go. we've got to go. >> ashley, what was it like for you? >> it was terrifying. scared me to death. i've never been in anything like this before in my life. >> reporter: the road that brings you into the hardest hit part of yazoo city, which is called old highway 16, is mostly impassabl

impassable. hundreds of these trees snapped along the way, and in the last few hours they've been able to clear the roadway to a pretty decent extent but we had to find a couple of guys here who were kind enough to bring us in on four-wheelers to navigate through most of this area to try to see the extent of the damage and to talk to people who survived this. >> we've been here 15 years. my wife and i have been in the house for five years. believe it or not, it was pretty at one time. and me and my wife and my daughter was out in the front yard, and we set out there, and the weather kept getting bad, and i thought i heard something back over sxheerks my wife heard something coming out of the southwest. and it sounded like a freight train whistle. my wife and my daughter and i were down here. and we were just balled up. and you could -- being the house was off the ground, you could just -- the wind was like it was trying to suck you out from under the house. >> reporter: this blue truck you

see right here along the road, we're told it was driven by a name whose name is ricky shivers, he was in that car when it flipped and rolled three times. he was able to get out of the car, but we understand right now he's one of the injured in the hospital. >> reporter: and natalie, dozens of people being treated this saturday evening here in yazoo city in hospitals across the area. this was a massive tornado that spent a great deal of time on the ground here throughout parts of mississippi. a devastating scene tonight. hundreds of people essentially left homeless as they had begun the cleanup process but will continue to do so into sunday as well. natalie? >> well, the trees alone tell the story as you were driving down the road there, ed. truly amazing as far as the family that was hunkered in the freezer in the restaurant behind you, had these people heard sirens? were they warned? or did they just know from the wind that the folks describe and the rain that something bad was about to happen? >> well, you know what i've heard repeatedly here from

people over the last few hours is that this is a rather hilly portion of mississippi. and they knew the storm was coming. the sirens. they had been warned throughout the day that the weather was becoming quite treacherous here. but it's a very hilly area. so it's kind of hard to see over the tree lines. so they didn't really get a sense of how quickly this tornado was approaching them. and the size of it. because of the huge trees in the area. so many people that i've spoken with say it wasn't until the tornado, or they felt the tornado was right upon them, that they realize just how bad and how dangerous of a situation they were in. >> ed lavandera for us live from yazoo city, mississippi. what a day and what a night. thank you, ed. well, mississippi's governor has a home in one of the hardest-hit counties. he says a number of people could still be trapped in their homes but help is on the way. >> several of these areas we anticipate will qualify for federal disaster assistance. we will begin in earnest monday putting together the figures

that are required for the federal government to make that determinati determination. we already have people who've arrived in mississippi from fema, the federal government. so right now we're still on the search and rescue effort your listeners may not know it but the areas you talked about, many of those counties were the same tornado in one line, but then desoto, jasper, we had other parts of the state that were hit by other tornados. we had a big, big swath of bad weather that went through here and spawned a lot of tornados, not only in mississippi but probably in arkansas, louisiana, and alabama as well. but we've got the resources to help our people. we're putting the national guard on the ground tonight for security. >> the governor of mississippi there. one of the buildings heavily damaged was a church. it had been damaged by fire some time ago and rebuilt.

now it will have to be rebuilt again. >> i went in the sanctuary and got on the pulpit table, and the whole building fell around me. three little scratches. lord blessed. and he put me under that table. because if you'll see this right here, it's the kitchen, and i started to go in there, and the lord directed me in that sanctuary. >> amazing people lived through that. where is the storm now? where is it headed? meteorologist ivan cabrera standing by at the international weather center with a look at it. ivan. >> yeah, and unfortunately, some folks did not live through it as we've been reporting, up to ten fatalities. but without warnings, we would have had a lot more with this extraordinary event across the southeastern u.s. natalie-a cross seven states we've had 52 reports of tornado, and the threat is not over. it is ongoing. for our viewers in the united states what i want to do is pass along active tornado warnings that are in effect at this hour. if you're watching us from northwest georgia, whitfield county and southeastern walker

county, you are under a tornado warning. a tornado has been spotted on the ground from this super cell. it has been moving northeast at 45 miles per hour. if you're in those counties, southeastern walker and widfield county, you want to take cover and take cover immediately. again, this is he astorm system that has had a history of producing violent and those long track tornados that can go for miles or kilometers long. and we continue with that threat over the next several hours. we're certainly not done with it yet. in fact, tornado watches, i'll pass those along to you. they continue in effect until 2:00 a.m. central and 3:00 a.m. eastern from about kentucky all the way down into georgia. and then a newly issued one here for parts of southern georgia and southern alabama. and that one goes until 7:00 a.m. eastern, 6:00 a.m. central. so again, the threat is ongoing. and some of the pictures have been quite impressive. in fact, some of our i reporters have been out and about, and they've been providing us with some images as well. if we can go to that as well. take a look at some of the funnel clouds being captured

here. this ireporter camera, sending this video to us from olive branch there in mississippi. took the video outside his home by his garage. 18 folks there gathered around taking a look at the storm. of course, when there is that kind of violent weather coming, we encourage folks to of course safety first, and if you're able to capture those, obviously, we want to see them. there you see the wind and rain and the devastation, of course, that we were able to show you after the storms hit. and some of the video as well coming out of olive branch. and this is from cathy cozad of south haven, mississippi, capturing hail. because again, this is not only a tornadic storm zone. you usually get tornados. you get hail and sometimes you get it about an inch in diameter. and that's certainly what we've been seeing over the last several hours. where is this storm going? right now it is pushing toward the east. i don't think we're going to

have as many tornado outbreaks as we head through the day on sunday. the storm system is just not going to have the dynamics for that. but that said, i still think it's going to be a rough weather kind of day across the 95 corridor. if you're watching us from there, that is where the severe weather threat moves. and by the way, we had that long track tornado in mississippi. as you saw in ed's piece there, sunny skies, clear weather, now moving in. natalie. >> all right. ivan, thanks very much. our viewers in the united states will now return to regular programming. as you can imagine, in the area where the storm hit has really been overwhelming, especially for emergency and medical workers. more and more people hurt by the tornado are arriving at the university of mississippi tonight, the hospital where doctors and nurses are scrambling to meet the need. the medical center is 45 minutes from yazoo city and is at least -- at latest word, i should say, treating 27 people injured by the severe weather. dr. sichd summers is chairman of

the emergency medical depart there at the hospital, and he joins us by phone. 27 people. how are they doing? >> we have eight in critical condition. a large number of others have minor injuries that we're treating and we're looking at that. >> we're saying that people have been showing up and it's been a very busy night for you. in your years as an emergency professional, how do you qualify this? >> well, this has been pretty busy. we of course went through the katrina disaster also. so we have a little bit of experience in this. but none since this time. >> you haven't seen anything -- this many people come in from a natural disaster like this since katrina? is that what you are saying? >> that's right. we sent a helicopter out to stage in a grocery store parking lot up in yazoo county and have sent some medical personnel up there to triage some of the patients and disperse them from the local hospitals into the more serious patients to the

trauma center here. >> doctor, tell us about the injuries. what type of injuries? >> well, we've had a number of serious fractures and pelvic injuries and a significant eye wound and some other things like that. >> and again, you 15id eight people in critical condition tonight and their wounds, i would imagine there are probably some head injuries? >> yes. head injuries in particular for a pediatric patient. >> listen, dr. richard summers, chairman of emergency medicine at the university of mississippi medical center, we appreciate it. listen, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people there, especially everyone you're treating and everyone who has been affected by this. thank you. >> thank you very much. the president is hundreds of miles from the situation room, but he is staying on top of this disaster. we are told -- our reporter tells us how president barack obama is staying in the loop. and we'll get reaction from the president and from our very own ed henry, our white house correspondent, coming up.

♪ this is onstar. i've received a signal you've been in a crash. i'll contact emergency services.

listen, you are watching cnn's extended coverage of the stormy weather sweeping across the south tonight including deadly tornados that have killed at least nine people in mississippi. you know, the governor of mississippi, hailey barbour, he called in to cnn earlier to help guide us through this. it was perhaps the most emotional and really revealing and transparent conversations i've seen anyone have with him in quite a while. he was calling from yazoo city, his hometown and one of the hardest hit areas. i started by asking him where he was when the storm hit. listen to this. >> we were on the road between jackson and yazoo city trying to get to yazoo city. soon after the storm hit. the storm hit about ten minutes after 12:00 central time and we

got there about 30 minutes later. but this is a gigantic storm. this tornado in places appears to be several miles wide. it set down on the ground in madison parish, louisiana and crossed the river into mississippi, hit eagle lake. by the time it got to yazoo city it had been on the ground about 70 miles and looks like it was on the ground at least another 80 miles when it hit choctaw county, mississippi. yazoo city, it skimmed the edge of town but hit a lost neighborhoods just outside the city limits, went through a shopping center, absolutely obliterated a church. it's a very, very bad storm. and regrettably, we have some fate always. reportedly five at this point. that's not official. but the other side of this is the outpouring of volunteers in

the community who went out in these areas that are on state roads and county roads and some of them even on dirt roads, rode four-wheelers, took a chainsaw to help cut out their neighbor. was very powerful to see the community come together and people just immediately within the hour were out trying to get roads open and save people from their entrapment. >> i know you guys do plan for this. when something like this happens especially during tough economic times, it costs a lot of money. do you have the resources to deal with this? and are you reaching out to anyone in washington for maybe some federal funds? >> we do have the resources to deal with it. however, several of these areas we anticipate will qualify for federal disaster assistance. we will begin in earnest monday putting together the figures required for the federal government to make that determination. we already have people who've arrived in mississippi from fema, the federal government.

so right now we're still on the search and rescue effort. you may not -- your listeners may not know it, but the areas you talked about, many of those counties were the same tornado in one line. but then desota, jasper, we had other parts of the state that were hit by other tornados. we had a big, big swath of bad weather that went through here and spawned a lot of tornados not only in mississippi but probably in arkansas, louisiana, and alabama as well. but, yeah, we've got the resources to help our people. we're putting national guard on the ground tonight for security. there won't be any looting here. and then hopefully some of these people will qualify for the federal programs. because they're very beneficial. >> so governor, let's continue real quickly and talk about the people of mississippi and beyond. if people are watching, especially in areas that are in the path of this storm, your

advice? >> well, this storm system spun off some powerful, powerful tornadoes. the one that -- we live in a part of the country where we have tornadoes. but the one that hit yazoo city, mississippi, and stayed on the ground for about 150 miles was a huge tornado in width and extremely powerful. it went through some very hilly land. we don't have mountains in our state, but it went through a lot of changes in elevation and never got up off the ground for any appreciable length of time. it is a bad -- or it was a bad, bad, devastating tornado. worse than we are used to. i would say. >> people looking for loved ones or information on loved ones, governor? >> the red cross is setting up, as is the salvation army. the red cross has two centers in the state that they have set up. one in yazoo city.

and one at vikz vicksburg. i suspect there will be others, particularly around choctaw county where there seems to have been an extremely large amount of damage. what we are seeing here, don, is a lot of damage in nonmetropolitan areas but areas that have healthy populations. neighborhoods and lots of people who live on this county road or that county road and so you're seeing a lot of these areas are hard to get to. particularly if you've got 100 trees down every mile. and you've got to clear them. and that's the case in many places. we do have lots of resources that have been applied here including, as i mentioned earlier, tons of volunteers who are just pouring out to help their neighbors. >> governor, listen, thank you very much. one quick question before we let you go.

you've got a lot of people who are homeless, without homes. what are you doing for those folks? >> as i say, we have red cross shelters that are set up. i will be very surprised if tonight in many areas of mississippi you don't have many families who are taking in family members or people that go to their church or people whose kids go to school with their kids, whose kids play little league with their kids. this is a very, very giving state. and our people, particularly because of katrina, bend over backwards to help their neighbors and even to help people they don't know, as was the case so often today in mississippi. so i don't think we're going to be finding people that don't have a place to be tonight. but we will have a lot of people tonight who are not where they slept last night. >> that was the governor of mississippi, hailey barbour, talking about the nine people who died in his state and how the state is really picking up the pieces after this devastating tragedy.

guess what? the white house is keeping abreast of this. president barack obama keeping abreast of the situation of what is happening there. we will have a live report from our reporter, who's traveling with the president in north carolina tonight. ♪ could open a world of wonder ? ♪ ♪ so sensory ♪ so satisfying ♪ the discovery ♪ never seems to stop ♪ ♪ it's the magic friskies ♪ ♪ makes happen ♪ every day ♪ in so many ways ♪ friskies ♪ feed the senses your p.a.d. isn't just poor circulation in your legs causing you pain. ok. what is it? dad, it more than doubles your risk of a heart attack or stroke. you'd better read about plavix. if you have p.a.d., plavix can help protect you from a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots-

the cause of most heart attacks and strokes. talk with your doctor about plavix? i'll do it. promise. (announcer) people with stomach ulcers or other conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines, including aspirin, may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. certain genetic factors and some medicines, such as prilosec, may affect how plavix works. tell your doctor all the medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you've had a stroke. if fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. these may be signs of ttp, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, reported sometimes less than two weeks after starting plavix. other rare but serious side effects may occur.

okay, we're going to get going right away. [ announcer ] he's never met an appendix he couldn't fix! the abdomen-ator dr. bob bergowitz! yeah, woo! [ announcer ] she's the queen of clean! the 2009 surgeon of the year, dr. nancy mendelsohn! [ male announcer ] doctors and nurses are true heroes. at ge, we're working to give them the innovation, fresh thinking, and advanced technology they need to keep bringing better health to more people. are you ready, mr. randall? let's do this! [ crowd cheering ] ♪

listen, breaking news into cnn. you're watching our extended coverage here. we want to tell you, sadly, we have some new information regarding the death toll in mississippi, including some heartbreaking information about one of the victims. joining me is jeff rent, from the mississippi emergency management agency. what can you report to us, sir? >> well, right now our death toll is up to ten people officially. those ten fatalities were reported to the state emergency operations center in pearl. tragically, the youngest victim has been reported to be 3 months old, and that was in choctaw county from that same super cell thunderstorm that moved all the way across the state really from louisiana, moved across the

mississippi river, and that same storm system pushed well off to the east. major impacts in probably about six of our counties. we've had damages reported in 12 or 13 of our counties. warren county, which is to the west right along the river, they reported as many as 30 homes with heavy damage. and then yazoo county where many of the reports are coming, the damage is so widespread right now and we are in a response mode, we haven't been able to even come up with any damage estimates yet. we have three -- i'm sorry, four fatalities which were reported from yazoo county, and another fatality reported in holmes county. this is again that same super cell thunderstorm that spawned that tornado. there have been eyewitness accounts of the storm on the ground. some photographic evidence and trained storm spotters saw the storm. as a large wedge-shaped tornado, and it was estimated to be anywhere from about 3/4 of a

mile wide to even up to a mile wide. that's a devastating storm. you know, many people in mississippi tonight are mourning the loss of these souls but really pulling together and working on the response and recovery right now. search and rescue operations are also under way. we're still looking for any unaccounted people right now, and we have first responders on the ground in all the affected communities. and those first responders of course doing their best to make sure that everybody is provided for. two shelters have opened so that people who are homeless this evening will not have to do without shelter. and those shelters will remain open until needed. >> hey, jeff, listen, we want to let you get back to work because we know you're very busy. jeff rent is with the mississippi emergency management agency. and sadly, as jeff has said, the death toll has now risen to ten. and a 3-month-old among the fatalities there in mississippi. this area is very, very badly damaged. folks are going to need some help. and who knows once the sun comes

up tomorrow what morning will bring. we'll be here on cnn reporting it to you. we'll check in throughout the evening with the mississippi emergency management agency and whomever we have to check with to get to the information you that need here. so listen, let's move on now. as mississippi authorities try to get a grip on the damage left behind by the storm, the white house is also keeping tabs on the aftermath. president barack obama following the events from asheville, north carolina tonight, where he is on vacation. and joining us now is cnn's ed henry from asheville, north carolina tonight. ed, update us on what the president -- how the president is being updated. >> reporter: well, don, you're right. the president and first lady just wrapped up a dinner here in asheville. they're in for the night, but i spoke a short time ago to white house spokesman bill burton, who told me the president has been briefed on the situation in mississippi and at the white house is closely monitoring it to see -- because as you're noting this tragedy still unfoldi unfolding, still more loss of life. also, of course, the federal emergency management agency keeping a close eye on this to

see whether or not they will have to jump on the scene, whether they'll have to send emergency funds, as you were talking to governor hailey barbour in mississippi about. we got a quote from a fema spokesman in washington telling cnn, "fema continues to closely monitor the tornado activity in and across the southern united states. fema is in contact and coordination with our state and local partners and stand ready to help if a request is made." that from brad carroll, fema spokesman. now, as governor barbour told you, they have not made a specific request from the federal government yet. they're still of course assessing the situation. they expect that request to come as early as monday as they get on the ground tomorrow when light comes back on sunday and fully assess the situation. i can tell you here in north carolina i just ran into an off-duty police officer here in asheville who was telling me that they're expecting -- there's rain behind me now but they're expecting high winds tonight. and he said he's even getting some unconfirmed reports of the possibility, and i stress the possibility of tornados here in

western north carolina as well. so as you've been noting throughout the south tonight, some heavy storms, a lot of people keeping a close eye on it, including the president of the united states, don. >> and ed henry, you're exactly correct. the governor said they wanted it try to rescue as many people as possible, find out what the damage is, and then by monday he hoped that whomever in the counties he saw fit would submit the paperwork so if there was a state of emergency of any type or if they needed to get fema out there that would happen. i'm sure the white house is aware of that as well. >> reporter: they are. and of course the federal government in this kind of situation, the white house, last thing they want to do is interfere, you know, hurt the state agencies as they try to assess the situation, rescue people, save people's lives. but as soon as the governor makes that call, as you noted, don, the white house is ready to act. >> ed henry, our white house correspondent, traveling with the president tonight, asheville, north carolina where the president is on vacation. thank you very much, ed henry. the storm threat is far from over in the south. far from over in the south. at 7:00 we told you that it was

seven people that had died. that went up to nine. now it has gone up to ten just within this broadcast. since we have been on the air for about 30 minutes. we're going to tell you what might be heading your way tonight and into tomorrow. cnn's meteorologist, who's on duty right now, jacqui jeras, will update us. so we earned a tropical vacation in half the time. we earn double miles every time we use our card. ( shouts ) double miles add up fast so we can bring the whole gang. ( grunting ) awesome! it's hard to beat double miles. everyone knows two is better than one. introducing the venture card from capital one... with double miles on every purchase every day. go to capitalone.com. ( gasps ) what's in your wallet? wait up! i think i'll go with the preferred package.

good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. breaking news as we track deadly weather throughout the south tonight. so far ten people have died, and sadly, among them a 3-month-old. our meteorologist jacqui jeras joins us now. jacqui, this was a pretty big tornado, almost a mile wide, we are hearing. and it took a very long track across a couple of states. where is it now? where do we stand? >> yeah.

well, that particular cell itself is now dissipated, and it's out of there. and the risk is gone across the state of mississippi. but still extends from missouri stretching down into the panhandle of florida. i want to show you what the radar image looked like when we got the first report of the touchdown in northeastern parts of louisiana. this is the cell right here. i'm going to advance this. and you can watch this thing track across central mississippi all the way up into the northeastern part of the state and then move into alabama. it stopped producing a tornado on the ground somewhere right in this neighborhood but was still producing some heavy downpours as well as some wind damage as it moved into parts of alabama. so this is what we call those long-tracked, long-lived violent tornados. when we talk about a high-risk day, this is exactly what we're talking about. we want to take you through the steps of this tornado as it was that one parent cell but that one parent cell likely put down a tornado from time to time. the overall path was between 150 to 200 miles long. but it wasn't necessarily on the

ground the entire time. we probably saw a few hops and skips and jumps. so we start out here, and this is in omega, louisiana. there was some damage here to anlds plant, a couple of injuries reported here. and a small chemical spill as a result. moved over the mississippi river, pushed into the state of mississippi, and then we had that touchdown, the big one we've been talking about all night, in yazoo city, where up to five fatalities now confirmed with this one. 15 people injured. and there is potential that we could get a little bit higher numbers before all is said and done. we still haven't gotten word on everything coming out of yazoo city just yet. then it moves over into holmes county. the town of ebenezer, 50 homes sustained some damage here. it crossed i-55. numerous cars were reported blown off the road and a few injuries. headed over toward french camp. extensive damage to buildings in this area. and we're hearing several fatalities there. and then it continued on up toward sturgis and into the

northeast. last touchdown, some trees down into clay county. so we're talking 150 to 200 miles. start at 11:00 central time. and at about 3:30 or so with that one tornado. and then we had a little bit of what we call back building done, which is when we get thunderstorms that develop on the tail end of that line, and so they moved over the same area. so some of these towns got hit more than once tonight. >> jacqui, thank you very much again. we will check back with our meteorologist jacqui jeras. she's been tracking this all day for us here on cnn. our viewers are sending us video of the storm rumbling across the south as well. cameron scott sent us these pictures. from olive branch, mississippi, in the northern part the state. he took this video right outside his house. he told us the storm lasted 10 to 15 minutes with strong wind gusts and driving sheets of rain. a few hours later the skies were blue and the sun was out again. listen, we want to see your pictures as well or any video you might have from this devastating storm. make sure you send them to ireport.com.

our top stories making news tonight, other top stories, i should say, a deadly accident is turning into an environmental disaster. the oil rig that sank off louisiana is leaking big time. the uproar over a new immigration law. why the fight? when some say it's something washington should have done a long time ago. those stories and more straight ahead.

we're going to follow breaking news in just a moment. but first we want to update you on some other stories here on cnn. that oil rig explosion in the gulf of mexico tuesday is continuing to cause some serious problems. the coast guard says the sunken rig is leaking about 1,000

barrels of oil each day and a 20-square-mile section of water has been affected by the oil. 11 people are believed to have been killed by the blast. authorities are investigating what caused the explosion, which happened about 50 miles over the coast of louisiana. a white supremacist leader has been found killed inside his mississippi home, and a neighbor is charged with his murder. authorities say richard barrett was stabbed to death on thursday. residents reported smoke coming from barrett's house outside of jackson. the sheriff says a 22-year-old neighbor who had done yard work for barrett has been charged. no motive given. barrett was a lawyer and founder of a supremacist group called the national movement. want you to take a look at this. this surveillance video tells an incredible story. it is out of queens, new york. you see a woman being approached by an attacker and then a man stepping in to help her. the woman was able to get away, but the good samaritan was stabbed multiple times and fell bleeding on the sidewalk. incredibly, while many people looked at the man, they didn't do anything to help him as he

lay there dying. it was more than an hour before firefighters arrived on the scene and found the body. no arrests have been made. four people were killed and ten wounded in another deadly ambush in mexico just today. gunmen used assault rifles and grenades to attack a convoy carrying a top security official in the western state of michoacan. she survived the ambush and is expected to recover. two of her bodyguards and two bystanders were killed. this follows friday's ambush in the border city of juarez, where seven people were killed in a noon shoot jouout. six of them were police officers. seeing the aftermath is one thing, but it can't compare to being in the middle of it when it hit. that is what one couple faced as they were trying to escape this storm. and some of the most vulnerable patients in the hospital can be found in the neonatal intensive care unit. having a sick baby is a tremendous emotional strain.

we'll update you on that story. our cnn hero. >> i was in a coma for roughly six weeks. when i woke up my husband said we had to take out the baby. and i immediately clutched my stomach. but he settled me down and was like no, no, he's okay. he's down in the nicu. >> my daughter was born prematurely. and to see people hearing there's something wrong with their baby and then to have to worry about everything else around them, i mean, life doesn't stop. i'm dr. sean daneshmand. i start add a program that provides assistance to families with babies in the nicu. i wanted to take some of this suffering these women go through away from them so they can really focus on their baby. it's emotionally draining, and the way the economy is now people are suffering. >> i didn't think this was going to be hard. she's going to do it. she is going to be okay. >> they need extra money for clothing, diapers, medical expenses, rent. these are families that all of a sudden in a time of crisis now need extra help. and that's what we're about. >> they helped us with our mortgage, with gas. >> something as simple as gas

cards to be able to make it to the nicu every day. just helped tremendously. >> i can't think of any other time in one's life where you need someone to be there for you. >> you're good? you've got to stay strong right now. >> i've got a very special role in life. >> that's great. >> i never thought i'd be here. and by god, i'm having a great time. @k@k?ññññññ ♪ [ female announcer ] you choose the cutest outfits. are you choosing a detergent designed for her sensitive skin? tide free & gentle is. and unlike the leading free detergent, tide free & gentle removes more residue from dirt, food, and stains. so you can be confident about every outfit you put her in, even the ones...she chooses.

tide free & gentle. style is an option. clean is not. ♪ [ monkey screeches ] ♪ [ male announcer ] a bath becomes even more pleasurable when you know that your water is being heated in an environmentally conscious way, while saving you hundreds of dollars on your water heating energy bill. introducing the geospring water heater from ge with advanced hybrid technology. heating the water in your home any other way

is just going to seem primitive. ♪ absolutely! i have a lot of stuffiness at night. it wakes me up. i have allergies. ♪ you're right. i'm getting more air. -oh, yeah. -oh, wow! [ female announcer ] for two free samples, go to breatheright.com. so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro.

a deadly day in mississippi and potentially dangerous night ahead for much of the south. ten people are dead in mississippi, four of them in yazoo county alone. and that's where we find cnn's ed lavandera. ed, you have had a chance really to talk to some people who have had a very close call. what are you seeing? >> reporter: you know, as you drive around town here tonight in yazoo city, don, you really get the sense that people have been stunned by what has transpired here today. as we pulled into yazoo city just a few hours ago, some of the first people we met was a couple by the name of rob and ashley saxton. they were trying to race into this restaurant. their family owns it. they wanted to hide in the freezer here. but they didn't make it in time. >> i get the sense from what you guys were describing to me that you were right in the middle of it, it was on top of you literally. >> it was. it was glass, debris flying. when i got out of the car thinking she was going to get

out behind me, i looked back and she wouldn't even get out of the car. she was so scared. and i was standing up against the building, and debris was just flying by me. and it was hitting my legs, and glass was flying, and i said debris could kill me. i dove back in the car and told her come on, come on, we've got to go. we've got to go. >> reporter: ashley, what was it like for you? >> it was terrifying. scared me to death. i've never been in anything like this before in my life. >> reporter: the road that brings you into the hardest-hit part of yazoo city which is called old highway 16 is mostly impassable. hundreds of these trees snapped and in the last few hours they have been able to clear the roadway to a pretty decent extent but we had to find a couple of guys who were kind enough to bring us in on four-wheelers to navigate through most of this area to try to see the extent of the damage and to talk to people who survived this. >> we've been here 15 years. my wife and i have been in the

house for five years. believe it or not, it was pretty at one time. me and my wife and my daughter was out in the front yard, and we set out there and the weather kept getting bad. i thought i heard something back over here. my wife heard something from the southwest. it sounded like a freight train whistle. my wife and my daughter and i were down here, and we were just balled up. and you could -- being the house is up off the ground, you could just -- the wind is like it was trying to suck you out from under the house. >> reporter: this blue truck you see right here along the road we're told was driven by a man whose name is ricky shivers. he was in that car when it flipped and rolled three times. he was able to get out of the car, but we understand right now he's one of the injured in the hospital. don, it really was a stunning scene as we took that ride on that four-wheeler into this neighborhood. really made up of a lot of traditional homes as well as mobile homes as well.

so the extent of the damage, we heard over and over about homes that had been moved dozens of feet. or a great distance. and that cleanup process has begun here tonight, although it is pitch black out in the darkness. many of these homes where hundreds of people essentially left homeless tonight as they scramble to find a place to find shelter tonight. don? >> it is amazing to see the pictures you captured on tape. ed, great work. continue the great work. be safe. and again, our hearts go out to the folks there. thanks again, ed. >> a witness to the storm. you saw some of them there. as our ed lavandera talked to them in yazoo city. we're going to talk to a woman who saw the 20r7bd thtornado th yazoo city today on its path of destruction. don't go anywhere. that she ruined with bbq sauce... or so i thought. see, my mom washed them with this tide stain release in-wash booster stuff. she's all, "you use it with your detergent to help get stains out the first time." are you kidding me? so now the stains are magically gone. and my sister passes on her jeans to me. what a life.

[ female announcer ] get your three dollar coupon at tidestainrelease.com today.

so gather around and listen to this.

because we are really hearing some amazing stories from people who survived today's tornados in mississippi. joining me tonight from yazoo city is stacy walker. she survived the funnel cloud tonight. stacy, i heard sadly you lost one of your good friends in this storm. >> yes, i did. >> who is your friend and how did you know her? >> her name is nikki bradshaw. we went to high school together. and she died today protecting her children in this storm. >> what did you witness? because we understand you that saw it and, again, that you survived it. tell us about your experience. >> i work at a salon that's right behind where we're speaking at right now. and i had been there working since about 8:00 this morning. we knew it was kind of a bad day. but about 12:00 we had heard reports that there was a tornado spotted in the county next to us. and i had called my mom to go and get my daughter from my home and take her somewhere safe. and within -- we were told that

it was going to hit within 15 or 20 minutes. we were all standing outside just kind of trying to play it by ear as to whether we should leave and try to go home or whether it was going to miss us. and unfortunately, we were standing outside, and within minutes we saw the funnel appear, and then debris started flying. our ears were all popping, and everyone just ran and took cover. and as you had someone else describe, it did. it sounded like a freight train coming through. and it felt like minutes and minutes, but i'm sure it was just seconds, the time that it lasted. we had children, and we hustled them to the ground. as i was telling someone else, it was like elementary education came into play and you automatically put your hands over your head and cover your extremities and do what you can do to block your face. and we just laid there, and you could feel the glass and debris flying in and cutting you. and it felt like minutes, but it literally was over probably within 30 seconds of time. but it -- >> there was a --

>> -- hit so fast we donate know it was coming. >> tell us about the school bus, what you witnessed with the school bus. >> as we've been out here throughout the day, we did notice there were three publish scho public school buss from a county adjacent to us that had come in. as we were watching we noticed they had put white curtains throughout the bus. it sat here for a couple hours and then it pulled out and one pulled out to the makeshift triage we had. and our understanding is it was a makeshift morgue to help transport those that were killed. >> well, stacey walker, thank you so much. we know what you're dealing with, can only empathize. sorry about your friend nikki bradshaw, or was nikki carpenter when you knew her in high school. take care of yourself. >> thank you. >> we're back in a moment. [ female announcer ] it's red lobster's festival of shrimp...

a chance to get everyone together for a night where everyone gets just what they want. combine two or three favorites, from new creations like crab-stuffed shrimp and pecan-crusted shrimp to classics like decadent shrimp scampi. it's everything you want in a night out. starting at just $11.99, during the festival of shrimp. [ woman ] mom was diagnosed with moderate alzheimer's.

it was tough news to hear. everything changed. mom. ♪ i didn't know what to do. that's when i asked my doctor about exelon patch. he said it releases medicine continuously for 24 hours. he said it could help with her cognition, which includes things like memory, reasoning, communicating and understanding. [ female announcer ] the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. the likelihood and severity of these side effects may increase as the dose increases. patients may experience loss of appetite or weight. patients who weigh less than 110 pounds may experience more side effects. people at risk for stomach ulcers or who take certain other medicine should talk to their doctor because serious stomach problems, such as bleeding, may worsen. [ woman ] mom's diagnosis was hard to hear, but there's something i can do. [ female announcer ] visit exelonpatch.com for free caregiving resources.

we are going to turn the corner here and try to end the evening on a high note. this year 255 athletes were drafted by the national football league. only 32 college students win rhodes scholarships each year. doing both makes winning powerball look like a piece of cake. myron rolle has both. he called in from new york. hello, sir, congratulations to you. >> thank you very much, don, i appreciate it. >> do you think that listen real quickly. i want to talk about education. skipping the last year's draft do you think that cost your millions or a higher spot in the draft? >> it certainly did, i believe. i think taking a year off raised questions about my commitment to football. it raised questions about my sharpness when i get back to the field, how i will be able to perform.

so last year i was projected as a first or second-round pick. this year i went in the sixth round to tennessee. i think it cost me a bit, but i'm just excited to have the opportunity to play. >> i want to read this quote and i want to get it right. in the from roger goodell, who is commissioner of the 23468. he says, "myron rolle is a modern example of what is right with nfl players." what do you think of that? >> it is an incredible honor to hear that from the commissioner of football, probably the most powerful man in sports. you know-e thinks highly of me, and i appreciate that. i just want to be the man i was going into florida state and a strong character kind of guy who does the right things, lives a righteous life on the field and off the field. i think we'll see more of that in the nfl. >> listen, there are a number of drafts, early draft picks who have gotten their education. one of them is right here in atlanta at morehouse. there are others. and it appears, and maybe we're just seeing this, it appears that the nfl may be putting more emphasis on education. is that correct, or no?

>> you know, i would think that being an educated player would, you know, be something that the nfl teams would look for. you have a lot to digest in the playbook. you have a lot to digest as far as assimilating to a locker room culture. and if you're studying and being able to prioritize and have the discipline to be a strong student and score good grades, you know you're doing the right things off the field to position yourself that way. so there are a lot of plus that's go with being a strong student. and i encourage anyone who's interested in being an nfl football player to really try hard in school because it can benefit you. >> and myron, you sat right here next to me because you've been on the show a number of times as a pundit, as they say. so we have to get out of here real quickly. yes or no? which is harder? one or the other. being a rhodes scholar or getting drafted in the nfl? >> tough question. tough question. i'd say getting drafted in the nfl. yeah. definitely. >> myron rolle, congratulations. make sure you tell mom i said hi. i'm sure she's very proud of you. >> i certainly will. thanks, man. >> thank you