you the house. the swedish company disputes business bloggers who predicted it intends to join with an oregon company who wants to produce prefab homes. i know a lot of people who want to pick those up. >> i had my allen wrench. "erin burnett out front" starts "erin burnett out front" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking news, tornadoes killing five people in the past few hours and are striking more towns at this hour. we go live. and also the case against a rutgers student charged following his roommate's suicide. the other man in the romantic encounter took the stand today. you'll hear from him. and our other top story, the escalating wharf words between iran and israel and why one word president obama used today may make all the difference. let's go out front.

i'm erin burnett. out front tonight we have breaking news. there are powerful tornadoes now ripping apart the midwest and southern states at this hour, and it's a very rapidly changing situation as the storms are touching down. five are dead at this hour in indiana. more than two dozen tornadoes have been reported in six states. we've got tornado warnings right now in effect for 50 counties through this evening. all right. this is pretty frightening thing. some of these storms have been incredibly powerful. we've been talking about storms with winds up to 170, 180-mile-per-hour. they could be hitting heavily populated areas. we start with gary tuchman who is in nashville, tennessee, tonight. gary, what have you seen and heard? >> reporter: earin, this is one of those heavily populated areas. music city, tennessee. 1.7 million people are in the metropolitan area.

one hour ago it was very scary for a lot of people who live here. that's when the winds came tearing through. hail the size of marbles started falling. we were standing outside our hotel up the street there. people were being yelled at to get out of the lobby because there was so much glass to go down in the basement. the glass did not break. the damage appears to be limited. right here now in nashville the worst appears to be over, however, about 30 miles south of us there are still some serious problems. as you were saying, five people have died, at least five people in the southeastern united states, and 50 counties with tornado warnings. it's a much different animal when you have a tornado warning in a big city like nashville. a tornado whipped through atlanta a few years ago. right now it appears they escaped here in nashville. it's been a rough couple of days. usually we see a lot of tornadoes in the springtime. we're still three weeks away from spring but it's been a very bad couple of days in the united states in the midwest and the southeast. erin? >> it's amazing looking at the track, gary, as we can see.

we have two screens up. one of them has the storms as they continue to move east. it has incredible violence. tell me a little bit more about what it was like when the winds actually came through. for some people who aren't from the midwest it's hard to understand what it's like to just suddenly have winds come through at 80, 90 miles an hour. >> reporter: this is peculiar. we cover hurricanes. for much of the day it felt like there was a hurricane coming because there was 40, 50, 60 miles an hour winds. 15 minutes it was very violent. they were whipping 70, 80 miles an hour. the hail was coming down. the hail was up to my ankles. you saw that. they were the size of marbles. cold, frozen hail. people, you're not used to seeing that in cities. people were panicked. you heard sirens in the city of nashville. people were expecting the worst. there was a tornado spotted to our west coming in this

direction. it appears here in the city of nashville, music city u.s.a., they're relatively lucky. >> and up to your -- you said the hail was actually up to your ankles, gary? >> reporter: yeah. for a time. what's amazing about hail is that it melts so quickly. you saw it, it was piling up. it looked like a snowstorm and then five minutes later it was all gone except for a couple of hail balls that were sitting around. for lots of people in the city, they've never seen that. people were quite scared. the sirens were going off p. people were in the basements. now it's calmed down and the radar shows that at least for now the city of nashville looks okay. 30 miles to our south the bad weather is still going through there. that's what's amazing about the situation, erin. you have so many tornado warnings in 50 counties, so many different states. such an unusual occurrence, particularly it's still wintertime. this is not the peak of tornado season. very difficult time for a lot of people throughout the united states. >> gary tuchman, thank you very much. we were going to go to our

meteorologist, rob marciano. the reason we're not able to go to him, it appears that there are storms and tornadoes exactly where he is. we'll be checking in with him in a moment as soon as we can get that shot up for you. to give you a sense of how developing this story is and how violent these storms are, we can't even get that shot for you. let's go to chad myers right now who is at our weather center here at cnn. you had been talking about this traipse eastward of all of these storms. now we have warnings in 50 counties or so. >> yes. >> as they move. is this worse than you had expected? >> no, this is really what we thought. we said yesterday 50 to 100 tornadoes on the ground today and right now our count is 61. we're somewhere in the middle there. there are still many more hours, erin, of this could to come. every storm that you see that is all by itself. every storm that's been all by itself all day has been rotating and tornadoes have been on the ground. that's the storm our rob montpeli

marciano was under. another tornado not far from south of huntsville, alabama. i'll pan you a little farther up. there's a lot more to come huntsville, birmingham, back into parts of mississippi, louisiana. all of these states, if you ever see a storm that's all by itself, it's coming to you, it's probably rotating. it's one of those days that they're called super cells. this err' all by themselves. they don't line up in a line. when you get a line of weather, it's called a squall line, you get wind and it's over. when storms don't line up, erin, they go out i all by themselves and use all of the energy and become the big dog. they start to rotate. when they do, they can put tornadoes down, we know at least 50 to 60 on the ground already today. still more to come. as it gets dark things will cool off. the storms will calm down. it may take a few hours before that happens, erin. >> thank you very much. chad myers. we appreciate it. chad is giving you a sense of the storm. as we said, our rob marciano

appears to be in one of those incredibly severe weather cells right now where he is standing in tennessee. when we are able to get that shot available, we'll see if he can tell us exactly what happened. as you can hear from gary tuchman, you get hail up to your ankless. they're dramatic, sudden situations. kentucky is also affected. there's been an enormous outbreak of tornadoes there. we have the governor on the phone. governor, thank you very much. we appreciate your taking the time. how bad is it in kentucky tonight? >> well, the storm system hasn't cleared kentucky yet, but we obviously already have reports of some heavy damage in several areas of the state. i just declared a statewide emergency to allow local officials immediate access to state resources to assist in public safety and recovery efforts. this will allow them to have our national guard out and everything else that we need without delay. >> and, governor, is this

something that is worse than you expect, worse than it normally is? it seems like last year we heard about joplin and now we're hearing about this incredible surge in tornado activity? is it unusual or not? >> kentucky gets some tornado activity. not nearly as much as sort of the tornado alley, you know, out west of us. but, you know, on wednesday we had a storm system come through and we were very fortunate then. we had some damage but we didn't have any loss of life. i'm very concerned that we already have some unconfirmed reports of some fatalities and some pretty hard hit areas, so this one will be more difficult, i think, on all of us. but we were as prepared as you can be for these things, and then you've got to respond as quickly as possible, and that's what we're doing. >> governor, good luck. i hope that some of those missing do not end up fatalities. let's go to rob marciano, as

we said, he was in the midst of tough weather. hamilton county, tennessee, is where he is. one of the worst hit counties in that state. on the phone because of the possible tornado action there. rob, tell us what's happening. >> reporter: we just had an intense thunderstorm move through. hail about up to an inch in diameter and rotation with a reported tornado about two to four miles directly to our south. thankfully that rotation missed up and this area that's already been devastated by a tornado today earlier around 1:00. we are just a few miles north and east of chattanooga in a town of oodowa which is a nice suburb of the city. they had a strong tornado come through here about 1:00, 200 yards wide, tore through a number of subdivisions, at least 40 or 50 homes damaged if not destroyed. those people are seeking shelter tonight. they had to do so quickly. they had to clear the roads quickly because they knew another round of storms was

coming and we experienced that in the last 45 minutes. zero fatalities, but a number of serious injuries. up to ten hospitalized. 15 or so treated at the scene. we're hoping that the zero fatality number remains. search and rescue operations, erin, have been halted for this storm to pass, but i suspect that now that it has they'll get at it again until the entire system makes its way through later tonight. >> we've been looking at video, rob frrks your location. this was taped a few moments ago because your video wasn't able to come through because of the weather that you are in, but for viewers, just so you know, everything you've been seeing while rob was speaking is something about where he is. did you see, rob, the actual twisters? did you see how they formed or how it happens as they moved through today? >> reporter: on radar, but this particular -- we were in the hail core when this came through which meant it was down to our south. the rain and hail was coming down so grossly that there was no way to see, you know, more than 1/10 mile in front of us. i saw certainly some rotation of

the clouds. beyond that between the rain and hail, and now it's getting dark. it's a whole other ball game with night fall and the storms rolling through. it's going to be a scary next few hours. >> rob, thank you very much. would he appreciate it. rob was reporting from tennessee tonight. still out front, israel's leader threw down the gauntlet today. the lover of the rutgers student who killed himself after being shown on video following a romantic encounter testified in court today. and later a man wins a grammy just last week, but he is keeping his day job at shop right and he shares his story. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers.

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says iran can't cross or else, well, netanyahu is not so interested in talking to president obama about that either. >> translator: i have no intention of establishing red lines with the united states. we would like to maintain the freedom of action of the state of israel against threats to eliminate us from the map. >> the iranians have actually threatened to do just that. just last week iranian defense minister reiterated it saying, quote, irans warriors are ready and willing to wipe israel off the map. now as much as phrases like wiping off the map make you shake your head and ask whether this is all just playground taunts, we could be near a very serious tipping point. would israel really strike iran unilaterally? today president obama in advance of this crucial visit with mr. netanyahu upped his rhetoric

telling jeffrey goldberg, quote, as president of the united states, i don't bluff. when the united states says it is unacceptable for iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say. israeli deputy foreign minister danny ialon used surprisingly similar language saying to sky news saying the one who's bluffing is iran which is trying to play with cards they don't have. so who is bluffing? the united states? israel? iran? frankly all three. even if they're all talking tough, tough, and tougher every day, in order to ever prevent actually having to have a conflict, does racheting up the rhetoric help or hurt. rudy giuliani believes it helps. >> instead what he should be doing is convincing the iranians that he's serious, that if he had to, he'd bomb the hell out of them. they should believe this. in fact, the best way he's going to avoid bombing them is

convincing them in their heads that he's capable of doing it. >> physically capable of doing is is not in question. but after 11 years and over $1 trillion that was based on wars, the you u.s. appetite for conflict is unsurprisingly ploe and iran knows it. what will the u.s. really do? we'll get to that in a moment. first to tehran where today was the first election since the 2009 disputed presidential election. cnn's ivan watson is there. i spoke to him right before the program and asked him what turnout was like. >> reporter: well, what's pretty incredible is watching the state media here. it is just wall to wall coverage, patriotic music, video of lines of people voting and government officials celebrating this calling this everything short of a divine victory. the interior minister, he came out and said that the massive turnout infuriated and

disappointed iran's enemies and their anti-iran propaganda failed. so there's a fair amount of celebration going right now in establishment circles. now i went to polling stations, a few, and there i spoke with voters, some of whom were very enthusiastic. they said, yes, it's my patriotic duty to vote. outside one i talked to two old men. one said, no, i'm not voting, i voted for ak ma din ne jad a few years ago and i'm disappointed how he did. so we got a split how he walked around. different opinions. you'd expect that in an election. >> what was your sense of how free the election was and also, i guess, as part of that, how free was social media around the election time? >> reporter: well, if you consider that the candidates ran in the 2009 presidential election, the two leading opposition candidates under house arrest and a lot of their

party leaders and campaign activists had to flee into exile to escape jail and allegations of torture as well, maybe not the most free election. >> i want to ask you, ivan, with prime minister netanyahu of israel coming to washington to meet with president obama, here as you're well aware the iranian nuclear issue is a topic of conversation across the united states. it's in every single newspaper. it's going to be a big issue of discussion. is it in iran? >> reporter: of course it's an issue that comes up in the iranian media all the time. the iranian government is standing by what it says is its right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. within the last two weeks, in fact, the supreme leader here, he came out and said it's a sin against islam to develop a nuclear bomb. pretty much uniformly across the board iranians said we should have a right to develop nuclear technology. if israel, for instance, in the

region has nuclear bombs and is not a signatory to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and we are, why shouldn't we be allowed to have peaceful nuclear technology? >> all right. ivan watson, thank you very much. reporting from tehran tonight. joining me now, jamie rubin, former assistant secretary of state for public affairs, michael ma could be ski. great to see both of you. jamie, let me start with you. today prime minister netanyahu saying time to negotiate with iran is over. all they will do is deceive and delay and run up the clock and that they don't even want to define the red line with the united states. they want freedom of action. are they hinting at a preemptive strike without the united states? >> i do think both the israelis and the united states are talking up the military option because to the extent as mayor giuliani said to you i guess last night, the iranians believe that's a possibility. it increases the pressure on

iran in combination with sanctions and maybe, just maybe this diplomacy will work that's going to take place perhaps in the coming weeks. i think where the united states and the israelis really are taking a very different view now is on the question of whether it's worth while to have the international community, the united states, the european union sit down with iranian representatives under intense pressure of sanctions and the threat of possible military action to see whether constraints can be placed on their program to ensure that it remains peaceful and the israelis don't seem to think even those discussions are worth while. that is a big difference with the united states and the europeans. >> and i want to ask you in just a moment, jamie, what the united states obligations would be if israel did something unilaterally. michael, first to you. you worked for the bush administration which obviously had to sell striking iraq based on intelligence that turned out

to be inaccurate and it became an unpopular war. it's an example. a lot of americans are very, very hesitant. is there a will in the united states to strike iran without 100% proof? >> well, i think you're right. there's clearly war weariness in the country, and we also have economic challenges. americans aren't eager for another military conflict, however, polls have consistently shown over the last couple of years that americans are supportive as using forces. even a recent poll by pew showed the same thing. majority of americans, 60%. i think the important thing is for the president and other american leaders have to explain is that the issue here is we can't wish this away and that the choices between paying now or perhaps more pain later. of course we don't want a military conflict and we have to do everything we can to resolve this peacefully of course. >> jamie, let me ask you this question though. the president continued in his

interview with jeffrey goldberg from the atlantic which came out this morning, quote, i think we in the united states instinctively sympathize with israel and political support is bipartisan. if israel acts militarily and goes and tries to do a strike, does the united states have an option? would the united states say, sorry, israel, we're not going to help you? >> i think it depends on the circumstances. i think if the israelis were to strike iranian military targets, were to destroy those targets, and the iranian response was limited, i don't think it would be necessary for the united states to enter this war militarily. i do think the administration has sent signals that it will try to stay on the sidelines. we have no obligation. legally there is no treaty with israel to that effect, however, over the years at various times when israel has faced military crises the united states has

been supportive. not every time, but on many occasions. >> right. >> i think it depends on what iran does. if iran were to respond with an attack, for example, in trying to attack shipping in the persian gulf and close down the straits of hormuz, i think that would trigger american naval involvement and potentially air attacks to support that naval involvement. i think if iran responded with terrorist attacks on american interests or american troops or something to that effect, again, i think the united states would respond. so i think it will depend on how a scenario unfolds, but i think we should keep in mind that most of these scenarios very quickly deteriorate into a really substantial regional military confrontation that nobody, as you said, would like to see. >> that's right. michael, jamie, thank you very much, both of you. of course, this weekend will be a big one. on monday when president obama meets with mr. netanyahu.

the man who had a sexual encounter with tyler clementi took the stand today. now known only as m.b. to protect his identity, the 32-year-old told the jury that he met clementi in his dorm room three times in september 2010. he testified that he felt uncomfortable after one encounter when he noticed a web cam pointed at the bed. clementi committed suicide just days after learning that others had been watching these encounters. ravi is accused of spying on him because he is gay. he's following the case for us. well, today's witness is obviously the man, he was at that point just 30 years old, significantly older than tyler clementi, testified. no one was allowed to hear him or see him in the court. is that unusual? >> it's very unusual. something really interesting

happens every day of this trial, and this is a very important trial with respect to privacy rights, surveillance issues. now we have this individual, m.b. the judge wouldn't allow his name to be publicly revealed, wouldn't allow audio of his testimony or video of his testimony to be broadcast by the press. very, very unusual. the only time you really see that happen is when an undercover police officer testifies sometimes in an organized crime case you might see it because somebody's life is in danger or occasionally a rape victim is protected but never, ever in a situation like this. after all, m.b. supposedly voluntarily had sex with tyler clementi so why would you be protecting his identity? >> right. he said they purposely met for this purpose so it was certainly consensual. i wanted to show you a picture of the dorm room. obviously mr. ravi's defense is he was an older man. i didn't know he was. he was in my room and i thought he'd steal my stuff. i'm not homophobe bik, not

antigay. i want to show you the positioning of the web cam. tyler clementi's bed on the left. ravi's desk is on the right. we can show you where the web cam is. how important is the positioning of the web cam? >> the positioning is very, very important because this defense that i was afraid he was stealing my stuff so that's why i was taping him, obviously you wouldn't want to be taping the bed if that was the case. you'd be concerned about other areas. >> it would be on your desk, your closet. >> exactly. so i think, erin, that that defense is not going to fly. and i understand why the judge tried to protect m.b.'s identity. the thought is you don't want to punish him by publicly outing him at this point in time. but there's a certain irony to all of this in that this law, this pie as intimidation law is meant to protect gays and to get americans to understand that gays are normal and they should be treated like every other american and yet this trial

we're having him testify without his name being revealed, are we stigmatizing him by treating him differently, m.b., than we treat normal victims? i don't know. >> fascinating case. >> we'll have to see how it plays zblout as a separate note, 30 is a lot older than these kids were. >> it's a lot older. some people wonder whether we're criminalizing adolescent stupidity at a time when a kid's in college and makes a dumb decision. jury has a really hard road to who he here, they really do. >> paul callan, thank you. still "out front", syria turns back trucks carrying aid into the horrifically punished neighborhood of baba amr in homs. the rush limbaugh slut controversy. our john avlon says the entire gop is at risk. he knows what they were saying behind closed doors today. sweet. actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber one.

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we start the second half of our show with stories we care about, where we focus on our reporting, do the work. in a preview to his meeting with president obama on monday, president benjamin netanyahu said negotiating with iran is a waste of time. president obama upped his read tore rick. he said, as president of the united states i don't bluff. when the united states says it is unacceptable for iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say. former state department spokesperson jamie rubin says if

we were to preemptively strike iran, the united states is not bound by any treaty to back israel if it doesn't want to. number two, syrian officials today turned away a convoy of aid trucks destined for homs. this comes as syrian forces executed 14 civilians in homs according to activists. the government had agreed to allow the red cross to deliver medical and food supplies to the opposition neighborhood of baba amr. the red cross told "out front" it is unacceptable that people who have been in need of emergency assistance for weeks have still not received any help. we will help them as soon as we possibly can. number three, students return to an ohio high school for the first time since a shooting left three dead. we're told the chardon high school cafeteria where the shooting happened on monday has been repainted, tables rearranged so that it won't look the same. the first funeral will be held tomorrow. the funerals for the other two victims will be next week. number four, general motors is halting production of the

struggling volt. it came with such high hopes. during the five week stoppage 1300 workers will be temporarily laid off. we looked at the numbers and the sales of the volt, it's very kind to say they have not met expectations since it went on sale. last month gm sold 1,000 volts. however 602 volts were sold in january. it's been 211 days since the u.s. lost its top credit rating. what are we doing it back? let's hope we don't end up like greece. another debt downgrade, greece's credit rating from moody's falling to the absolute lowest rating. tonight outrage over rush limbaugh's words about president obama's birth control policy. now this policy requires employers to provide free birth control coverage but exempts religious based institutions by making insurance companies pay instead. rush limbaugh has an issue with the free part.

here's what he said. >> what does it say about the college co-ed susan fluke who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? what does that make her? it makes her a slut, right? makes her a prostitute. she wants to be paid to have sex. she's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. she wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. >> that's not all. limbaugh went on to say this. >> so, miss fluke, and the rest of you feminazis, here's the deal. if we are going to pay for your contraceptives and pay for you to have sex weel want something for it and i'll tell you what it is. we want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.

>> sen susan fluke is not backing down. >> i know that i felt probably the way many women do when they are called those types of names, initially hurt and then very quickly upset and just outraged because someone is trying to silence you. >> john avlon is here. ryan and tim, democratic strategists. john, rick santorum came out and said rush limbaugh is being absurd. mitt romney has not said anything. we know the president of the united states called this woman, sandra fluke. is mitt romney going to weigh in? should everybody be weighing in? >> absurd is a kind word for what rush limbaugh did, but responsible republicans tear their hair out when he starts defining the terms of the debate. at the end of the day rush limbaugh is a talented entertainer. the problem is he's treated as a political leader, one without any sense of responsibility.

that's where republicans get in real trouble. this new front in the culture wars has erupted, contraception debate, that seems to many folks, independent women, that seems like it's coming from another decade. they're picking up independent women from it. it's bad news for republicans who have to bear the weight of rush limbaugh. >> this is a tough one. they're afraid of rush limbaugh. >> there's a huge tension here because basically rush limbaugh does well when his audience is very angry, when they're very active, when they're very energetic. that's not when conservatives are winning. actually, the election of president obama is actually a huge boon for rush limbaugh as an entertainer in terms of building audience, in terms of also building influence in the republican party. when there's an actual republican leader, an actual republican president, that person will drown out any entertainer. when president reagan was in office you didn't hear about

various talk radio hosts and what have you being huge inflew ensers on the political right. as the right shrinks, the bigger a voice you have if you're the kind of person who gets into this smash mouth tactic. >> tim, i have to say this has got to be a dream come true for the president, for democrats. senator christ continue gilley brand sent out a fundraising memo. this is haning it to them on a silver platter. >> it's very reflective of what's happened in the past several weeks. republicans have gone incredibly off message from talking about the separation of church and state, to whether or not you're a snob if you go to college. this whole republican nomination talked about jobs and the economy. now the economy's gotten better, santorum and gingrich have hung around the race. they're talking about whether or not we can engage in civil discourse and all of these issues that mainstream americans don't care about. they're in real trouble. it's also, you look at mitt romney today who can't even come

out and say anything about this issue because he's so nervous about alienating the hard core republican base. >> it could be that he intends to talk about economic policy issues, right? this conversation is not something that is controlled by any party, it is something that emerges organically as people say incendiary things and then you have a response. on the right a lot of people felt, wait a second, president obama really overreached, including a lot of folks who are president obama supporters. then you have a response to that. people were very much on the margins of this conversation. you say they're the ones who represent everything. >> hold on. hold on. hold on. ryan, the problem here is that what we have in this polarized environment is the two sides do drive the debate. the problem is the republican party or the tea party has allowed libertarian rhetoric, individual freedom, not focusing on social issues. the problem is when the republicans got in one of the first things they tried to do was defund planned parenthood.

>> look, there's a ton of push back there. there are a lot of opinions. the bedrock idea of small government conservatives are these are contentious issues and that's why they should be handled voluntarily, state and local governments, they should not be handled at the federal level. >> thanks very much to all three of you. appreciate your talking the time. let's check in with anderson cooper. >> we're covering the breaking news tonight. the powerful wall of storms that dropped tornado after tornado into the heart of the country the last couple of hours. this is henryville, indiana. we'll have a live report from a storm chaser who actually took shelter there. also keeping them honest tonight, more lies told by the syrian regime. my interview with photo journalist paul conroy. he was wounded in homs in the attack that killed marie colvin. he witnessed the carnage firsthand. here's part of what he told me. >> the world has once again

stood by and watched as this assault continued. i think now people have accepted the fact that they will probably end up hanged. >> he calls it slaughter. we'll have the full interview tonight. those stories and the ridiculist at the top of the hour. we do have new video coming in from the tornadoes. the powerful storms are touching down. we'll go there live. one of our reporters able to get to a spot. we'll come to him in a moment. yn at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. >> announcer: this is the day. the day that we say to the world of identity thieves "enough."

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this is cnn breaking news. well, we do have some new video that we want to show you just coming in from a cnn affiliate. this is a tornado, as you can see, gaining strength. you literally can see the twister there in the background of the shot. it's coming from a cnn affiliate. it then is gaining strength and heading into henryville, indiana. now population of henryville, indiana, is 2,000 people. the high school was completely demolished. this is part of the ongoing tornado outbreaks in the midwest. they've accelerated tonight. the weather map is getting increasingly severe as they move west. even now some warnings in the greater atlanta area. we talked to the governor of kentucky. he told youth front a few moments ago that there's no

confirmed fatalities in kentucky but there are people missing that he thinks will be confirmed dead. he has already declared a state of emergency in kentucky. we were live in nashville earlier in the hour. there have been 70, 80-mile-per-hour tornadoes that have touched down and hail that have come up to above people's ankles on the ground. we'll continue to follow this as they touch down. to be honest, we have trouble getting our reporter's shots up because they get disrupted by the violence of these storms. it's caused difficulties for our reporters. we'll take a break. we'll talk about a very big weekend here, ""the lorax."" what does that have to do with a man who is about to serve 13 years in prison. at the grammys there was rock stars and one person who felt right at home from stocking the shelves at the super market. his incredible story still to come.

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i know a girl and a boy who's nicknames were push and shove. and between them both, there wasn't, wasn't, wasn't much love. >> taylor swift, lady gaga, rihanna and kevin mackey. today's guest is a regular guy who realized a huge dream. his idea to produce an album helping kids who don't fit in. all about bullies, big and small, won best children's album of the year at the grammy awards. when he isn't attending glamorous ceremonies, you can find him working at the shop-rite as a dairy manager

where he worked for the past 15 years. he came out front to tell us about his idea. >> as a team, we thought it was the best subject we can tackle because it's so important today because so many kids are dying. there's a cure for that, and it's just education. >> and you were bullied. this is a personal issue for you. >> i was bullied. one of the other producers was bullied as a kid. another producer is actually being bullied right now as an adult and she's in her 50s and it caused her to have a stroke. she was very lucky to make it to the grammys. >> and you are going to get your grammys soon, right? >> yes. >> what you're wearing is the nomination medal. >> this is the medallion that you get when you're nominated. you go to the grammy preparty and you get this. it's pretty cool. pretty heavy. >> i know this is a personal passion with you and your team and you do this, but then all of a sudden you win a grammy. i mean that's a really big deal. >> it was awesome, it really, really was awesome. just being out there with --

you're on a different plane. it's the best reward. we don't receive, you know, any money for this project. all money is being donated to pacer, bullying for kids. >> it's all going to the cause. >> right. so we work for free, all producers. >> how much time do you take -- do you and your team. >> hours and hours and hours and hours. >> so what's a regular day like when you're working on the album. you go to shop-rite in the morning. >> yes. work 8 to 10 hours, go home, work a couple more hours on the computer. sometimes the guys, steve and james would be actually in the studio doing things. we all had our different assignments at different times working as a group. you really have to fit in all the producers, steve, james of east coast recording, gloria domina, a woman in domestic violence, and pat -- excuse me, pat robinson. it's not just about me, it's

about a whole big group of people putting all their forces in together. so i'm just one little piece of the puzzle. altogether we have this wonderful team of ours. >> and tell me about your day shop at shop-rite. is that something that you love or are you saying now i'm a grammy award winning producer, i'm going to go be a big music producer? >> it's something that i enjoy. it pays the bills. i have great benefits. you know, the music business isn't what it used to be. so, you know, i'm quite content working there. hey, if someone offered me a million dollars to do something, let's talk. >> but you are someone, though, i think a lot of people look and say they do something like you do and you're saying, okay, i did that 8 to 10 hours a day, i spent hours working on this and you achieve this incredible dream. what would you say just inside you made you able to do it? >> anybody can do it. anybody can do it. if you put your heart to something, anybody can do it.

>> pretty inspiring words there. up next, dr. seuss's birthday. it's today. and so happens to be the "lorax" movie premiere. that's tonight's number. [ male announcer ] that. right there -- reminds you

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the p the buzz has already launched the book to number 18 on the best seller list, up 153 spots from two weeks ago where it languished at 171. pretty amazing for a book written in 1971. as part of this huge marketing push, there was a little junket outside the cnn building in columbus circle. this are the beautiful trees which the lorax protects. and the marketing is working. box office experts predict "the lorax" will pull in $47 million in its opening weekend. from children and grownups alike. which brings us to tonight's number. 13. that's how many years a university of alabama fan is facing. his crime, poisoning and possibly killing a 130-year-old land mark group of trees on arch rival auburn university's campus. now, to put this in perspective, former governor of illinois, rod

blagojevich, was found guilty of 18 counts of corruption, including trying to sell a u.s. senate seat, and he got just about the same sentence. 13 years for killing trees. the lesson, you don't mess with trees. now, this is not a political statement, it's a warning, because people are really passionate about trees. joyce kilmer said i think that i never shall see a poem as lovely as a tree. we all climbed trees as a kid. we had tree houses. trees are connected to us. family trees, christmas trees, tree huggers, tree climbers, the joshua tree and its park, neon trees. trees are in our dna and our lex con. don't believe me? >> i love the trees. >> she does and you know what, she does at that age, she will forever and so will we all. let us know if you see