0 >> wolf, i have good news for you before i hand the show over to you. we have survived. it passed by. we made it. it's okay. >> we're relieved. >> yes. i will now leave nu the hands of wolf blitzer who is standing and surviving and -- >> it was only 65 million years or so ago. >> you are not that old. i'm telling people. wolf blitzer, over to you. >> thank you very much. we're watching what is going on over at the jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena. we can laugh and joke. 3.6 million miles, an asteroid hit 65 million years ago but where you are these nasa scientists are taking this pretty seriously aren't they? >> they're actually enjoying it. yes. they're taking it very seriously. did you know there are about a thousand what they call near earth objects, large, large asteroids that are out there that they are watching and they've been able to basically see about 95% of those. they know where they are. the scientists here did calculations years in advance. this particular one, the 1998 qe-2 as it is called was discovered 15 years ago and they knew then because of their calculations, calculus by the way, that it would not hit earth. they've known it for a very long time. what they are excited about is it is coming very close in scientific terms and they will be able to see it using radar, which means they'll be able to see the properties of this. they'll be able to see the spin. what they discovered that they didn't know is that there is a moon that is actually orbiting this 1.7 mile wide asteroid. and so that was really interesting because they didn't know that. this is really all about science. all about being able to see these things. but certainly the scientists here say there are a lot of asteroids out there. in fact, we were just talking to one of the scientists and he said basically that he discovered there were three more with the team that had come in to view that they discovered just today. let me let you hear what he said about this particular asteroid in comparison with the one that hit us in russia. >> how come you couldn't track the one that actually did hit russia? nobody knew that was coming. >> welsh twell, the big ones arr to see because they're bright and can be seen further away. that one over russia came from the direction of the sun so we can't even look in that direction to find asteroids and it didn't really pass close enough to the earth any time in recent history to have been discovered earlier. >> so there you go. that is the scary part, wolf, that there are a lot of smaller asteroids. you saw what this did in russia. it was scary. broke windows. people were injured. they couldn't see it and they can't see a lot of the smaller ones and don't know exactly where some of the medium ones are. they can do some serious damage just out of the blue. no one knew it was coming. >> an opportunity for nasa scientists to study this, learn from it, and deal with it down the road. thanks very much reporting for us. we'll get to breaking news we're following right now. what are some pretty alarming weather conditions right now in most of oklahoma of all places including the already tornado ravaged city of moore, oklahoma right outside of oklahoma city. the storm prediction center has just issued what it is calling a, quote, particularly dangerous situation tornado watch until at least midnight. that means enhanced risk of a major tornado outbreak and it could be very bad. cnn meteorologist and severe weather expert chad myers is not that far away in norman, oklahoma right now. he is actually chasing these latest storms. he is joining us. chad, what can you tell us? >> what we are doing now is watching the storms start to fire to our west near i think landry, even further to the west. the towers that are going up in this very hot atmosphere. we've been out here for three and a half days watching these cells. this is the latest the cells have fired all week which means it is the hottest that it's been. we are looking at 88 degrees right now. the last couple days we've seen storms fire up at 78 degrees. how does that make a difference? the hotter it is the high ert storms will go. if it fires early in the day, if the storms go up at noon they're not going to be too bad because it's not going to get too warm before it rains. today it hasn't rained yet. we are going to see the hottest day of the week with the biggest storms of the week today. that squall is over but this is a very dangerous day for the people of central oklahoma. we'll be out here keeping awed vised warning people at home if we see something on the ground. >> i never heard this phrase particularly dangerous situation. that is a technical term that they're using. we've heard of tornado warnings, tornado watches. of course real tornadoes. what exactly do they mean when they say there is now what they call a pds, particularly dangerous situation tornado watch? >> i think this is something the weather service has done very wisely. we have different categories of even tornado warnings. you hear the word tornado emergency. you'll hear of this particularly dangerous situation. which means they believe there will be large and dangerous tornadoes, ef-3s and possibly even bigger up to the 200-mile-per-hour ef-5 tornado potential in any one of these cells that decides to rotate by itself and not link up to another cell. and the potential, the pds watch is the one step above a normal tornado watch and you really need to pay attention because there will be not only tornadoes but large and deadly tornadoes out there. if you hear the word "tornado warning" that means we've already seen them or doppler radar has indicated them. if you hear tornado emergency, another word, that means a large tornado is on the ground headed to a city or town. that's the next step up from tornado warning. i think this added verbage is going to help people understand what is out there. >> chad, thanks very much. we'll stay in close touch with you. chad is in norman, oklahoma. our meteorologist samantha mohr is standing by at the cnn severe weather center tracking the storms not just oklahoma. i understand in missouri there are some actual tornadoes warnings right now. what is going on? >> well, missouri we've had the most activity so far today. but we do ek pekt that area to expand as the evening progresses and cool air moves in from the northwest. very moist air. dew points here. that major moisture in the atmosphere into the 70s. incredibly moist. in the heat that chad was talking about here. this is the area we expect to see for an enhanced risk of development of tornadic development today. there's that pds area over oklahoma. we have another tornado watch currently in place over southeastern kansas and then across much of missouri and that's where the severe thunderstorm warnings are right now. well to the north of springfield here. moving off to the east. these cells have been moving really quickly off to the northeast around 35 miles per hour. so a quick pace. tulsa, tornado last night. things fairly quiet for now. but as chad said you have breaks in the clouds. you get the solar radiation heating. that adds more lift, more con x convection to the atmosphere and we can see things explode here. right now the oklahoma city radar looking fairly benign but it'll change and change very quickly, wolf, once that cap in the atmosphere breaks. we could see a lot of rapid fire development with some very intense tornadoes. >> we'll stay in close touch obviously with you as well. thank you. let's go to the phones right now. greg carbon is joining us. he is a warning coordinating meteorologist with noaa's storm prediction center in norman, oklahoma. is that right? >> that's correct, wolf. >> so tell us about these latest threats that are out there. where are they most severe? >> well, i think samantha and chad have summarized the situation quite well. this afternoon we're seeing a very volatile air mass across central oklahoma. very hot conditions. but the cap as samantha just said is suppressing development which allows that instability to build so when you finally do break through that inhibition and the mid level of the atmosphere you can see explosive thunderstorm development. the pds or particularly dangerous situation watch stretches from the red river to the border with kansas and it is really anywhere in this broad section of central oklahoma over the next few hours where we expect to see explosive thunderstorms development and the potential for tornadoes. we're seeing that development maybe start to occur now just to the north of oklahoma city between oklahoma city and tulsa. right now in the short term that looks to be the area we'll probably see initial developments. >> how much warning will folks get? >> once the storms form about ten or 20 minutes before they begin to show character in terms of rotation. hopefully we won't see too much activity but there should be plenty of warning. people are in tune to what is going on out here. they know the atmosphere is going for this type of development through the evening and we'll keep a close eye on it. >> what is the best advice for those people who may be in the midst of a tornado in the next few hours? >> i think it is really important to emphasize may because tornadoes on a very small scale can be quite violent but not the whole state of oklahoma is going to be experiencing very severe weather overnight. just a few isolated locations. so the advice i have for people is to stay tuned to local tv and radio from the national weather service. if you get a warning that a tornado is in your location, take action, you have an action plan to take cover and take shelter. put as many walls between you and the tornado and get down low. >> you're actually worried about an ef-3 or ef-4? the one that hit moore, oklahoma was actually an ef-5 which was 200 miles an hour. >> a lot of this depends on what is struck. i mean, these ratings are based on damage that the tornado inflikts on structures. so many times we'll see tornadoes form in open country that cause very little in the way of damage. it is the unfortunate circumstances when people and structures come in the way of these tornadoes that you see the higher ef-ratings. you know, if we're lucky we'll get through this without much in the way of damage but the potential is going to exist through the evening hours especially across central and northern oklahoma. another threat overnight jus to emphasize this, very heavy rainfall will evolve from this system. flash flooding and flooding is quite likely as we go into the weekend especially for northeast oklahoma into parts of missouri. >> greg carbon with noaa's national weather service storm prediction center. thanks very much. we'll stay in close touch with you. obviously deep concern. we'll stay on top of the tornado threats right now. they're happening in the midwest especially in oklahoma, missouri, kansas. we'll remain on the ground. chad myers is actually chasing this storm right now. also coming up, an american woman killed in syria's civil war. her emotional family tells us how they found out and what she was doing there. i'm a conservative investor. i invest in what i know. i turned 65 last week. i'm getting married. planning a life. there are risks, sure. but, there's no reward without it. i want to be prepared for the long haul. i see a world bursting with opportunities. india, china, brazil, ishares, small-caps, large-caps, ishares. industrials. low cost. every dollar counts. ishares. income. dividends. bonds. i like bonds. ishares. commodities. diversification. choices. my own ideas. ishares. i want to use the same stuff the big guys use. ishares. 9 out of 10 large, professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. introducing the ishares core, etfs for the heart of your portfolio. tax efficient and low cost building blocks to help you keep more of what you earn. call your advisor. visit ishares.com. ishares. yeah, ishares. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. lets you connect up to 25 devices on one easy to manage plan. that means your smartphone, her blackberry, his laptop, mark's smartphone but i'm still on vacation. still on the plan. nice! so is his tablet, that guy's hotspot, the intern's tablet-- the intern gets a tablet? everyone's devices. his, hers-- oh, sorry. all easier to manage on the share everything plan for small business. connecting more so you can do more. that's powerful. verizon. get the blackberry z10 for $199.99. congestion, for it's smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment. a 10-year-old girl's fight to stay alive is reaching the highest levels of the obama administration. we'll get to that in a moment. we'll take a look at these pictures just in from oklahoma. there is a tornado warning in effect in parts of oklahoma and between oklahoma city and tulsa we just heard also in kansas and missouri. we'll have much more on this dangerous situation coming up as well. stand by for that. there's other news we're following including this 10-year-old girl's fight to stay alive. she has only weeks to live unless she gets a lung transplant but under current rules her chances are very slim. the family talked to cnn's brooke baldwin. >> her lungs have deteriorated significantly. and we're saying a few weeks. if we don't receive a pair of lungs in the next few weeks she will die. >> i used to go to school before i got oxygen. i got to go to school and at least try and act like all the normal children. >> what a are stoy. senior medical student elizabeth cohen is working it for us. what are you finding out here? >> let's take a step back and talk about sarah's situation. the reason why as you said wolf she has a slim chance of getting a lung is that she is a child. there aren't a lot of pediatric lungs out there for transplants. and so what her parents want is to put her on a list for an adult transplant and that lung would be modified to fit her smaller frame. that's possible but here's the hitch. she will be at the bottom of the list so that adults who are healthier than her and aren't near death the way she is would get those lungs before she would. so today the news is that secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius sent a letter to the organ procurement and transplantation network and asked them to review this policy. asked them to take a look at it. let me quote exactly from her letter. she said, i ask that you pay particular attention to the age categories currently used in lung allocation and review the policy with the intent of identifying any potential improvements to this policy that would make more transplants available to children. so she is reaching out and saying, review this policy. let's see if it makes sense. >> what does it mean for sarah in the immediate future? >> you know, i wish i could say this will mean a lung for her quickly but, unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. the organ transplantation network, they don't have to do what she is asking them to do. they can choose to say no we don't want to review this policy. we reached out to this group and they said they would have a response. they haven't sent it to us yet. even if they do choose to review it sometimes the reviews can take a while. and as we heard from her father she doesn't have long to live. >> what a story. let's wish her the best. hopefully she'll get this transplant. appreciate it very much. elizabeth, a bullet riddled car shown on syrian state television and we now know a michigan woman was inside fighting along side rebels. that according to the regime. her death is bringing syria's bloody civil war closer to home for the white house as well. our national political correspondent jim acosta is joining us. what are you picking up over there? frnls wolf, white house officials are being very cautious about the death of this american woman who was killed in syria but as one important player in any potential military conflict in syria told cnn, that is nato secretary general, president obama is looking at all of the options on how to deal with the crisis. >> secretary of nato. >> when the president offered brief remarks about his meeting with nato secretary general mr. obama made no mention of syria. as the secretary general told cnn the ongoing crisis was very much on the agenda. >> we discussed syria and agreed the best way forward is a political solution. >> reporter: rasmussen says that could get complicated if russia follows through with its plans to provide the syrian regime of bashar al assad with new antiaircraft weaponry. >> i would urge all actors to reframe from steps that could be a potential obstacle to finding a political solution. >> reporter: another troubling development the death of an american woman nicole lynn mansfield who was apparently killed in syria by forces loyal to assad. >> loved her dearly. dearly. >> reporter: reacting to the heart breaking news mansfield's family says she had converted to islam in the last few years and was lured to syria by militants in the conflict. >> there are people calling her a terrorist. there are people calling her a cia agent. she was neither. she was just an american woman misguided by people who had bad intentions. >> reporter: both the white house and state department reacted with extreme caution. >> what would the white house say to other americans who are thinking about getting involved in that conflict on either side of the equation? >> it's the state department's responsibility to offer advice to americans about travel to foreign countries. >> but another trip by an american to syria might actually have its benefits. nato's secretary general says arizona senator john mccain's surprise visit with the free syrian army this week could be helpful. >> i think it always helps to engage with the opposition. it is split. the extremist elements within the opposition. so to engage with moderate forces within the opposition might be very helpful. >> not necessarily a bad thing. >> no. >> might be helpful. >> it might be helpful. >> reporter: both sides could be digging in for a long fight as syria's leaders said in an interview. he may run for rere-election. >> translator: if there is a need for putting my name my candidacy for election if they want i will not hesitate to put my name. >> reporter: nato's secretary general also said u.n. inspectors must be allowed into syria to investigate whether that regime has crossed that red line outlined by president obama and used chemical weapons. for now, wolf, the secretary general says while the white house is saying all options are on the table fwle comes to dealing with syria it seems the political options are the ones gaining traction now. >> in our next hour we'll speak live with the daughter of that american woman from michigan killed in syria. all right. jim acosta, thanks very much. when we come back, most of oklahoma right now under what the national weather service is calling a particularly dangerous tornado watch at least until midnight. we're on the ground there tracking the storms. we'll bring you the latest. our own chad myers is in norman, oklahoma. also a small plane plunges right through an apartment roof here in suburban washington, d.c. we'll tell you how it happens. stay with us. 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