the cnn newsroom. i m jim acosta in washington. we begin this hour with the deadly outbreak of tornadoes that ripped across much of the south and midwest beginning yesterday afternoon. just over the last few hours, the death toll has more than doubled. 21 people are now confirmed killed by the storms and all more than 50. tornadoes have been reported in seven states, at least 12 of those tornadoes. were reported in arkansas state of emergency is in place in the hardest hit areas, including when the devastated arkansas town that you re seeing right there. cnn s derek van dam is with the latest from arkansas. jim. i was just talking to my crew a moment ago , and the scene behind us reminds us of being on the set of a major blockbuster movie. i mean, just look at what we have with this destruction coming out of wynne, arkansas, that is a church steeple that was blown off by this tornado. look at the incredible damage in front of that building just in front of us here. we have el
start around 12 30 eastern, they re going to go up and pears from split tees holds one and 10. all right. thank you so much. longoria continues her culinary adventure in a waka the new episode of the cnn original series. eva longoria, searching for mexico airs tonight at nine on cnn. the next hour of cnn this morning starts right now. good morning to you. welcome to cnn this morning. it s sunday. april 9th. i m victor blackwell walker. thank you. so much for spending a part of your easter morning with us. happy easter. if you celebrate. i ve got my easter egg hunt ready? i got the easter baskets ready? because the easter bunny came last night . so the kids are all excited for their goodies and ready to go only goody that i had, um, i picked up the kettle corn peeps . i saw that. yeah. did you really eat that? bit people head off, and that s all i had. yahoo commentary on the kettle corn peeps that good alright here is what we are watching this morning a weekend of religious c
good morning. hopefully you re awake. making breakfast having your coffee coffee? welcome to cnn this morning. it is sunday. i hope you re not drinking coffee? actually me just coffee it off because you don t drink coffee. you don t want anyone else to do it right. morning. tea would be nice, right? i don t like taste. there we are. i m victor blackwell. thanks so much for spending part of your easter sunday. what? what would you recommend? just a nice green tea. maybe an earl gray something with cinnamon. maybe. i ve got something. my office. maybe i ll swing by the wild. it s okay. it s all right. here s what we re watching this morning. top democrats are vowing to make abortion a central issue in the lead up to the 2024 election after a judge ordered the suspension of a drug used in medication abortions. what senate majority leader chuck schumer is telling his caucus about the fight ahead a weekend of religious celebrations and escalating tensions in the mideast. the israe
i had no idea at the time. what was going on? i didn t know if it was like a police chase that ended up in a shootout. it was when i saw the teacher come out of the woods and the kids find her that my heart sunk. that was jason hoffman. he was on with us last hour. talking about just happened to be driving by the school and soft kids running, he says. out of the woods into their parents arms. he stopped traffic to help facilitate the whole thing, and then took some video of it. i mean, just horrific all the way around, the more we hear, the worse it gets, but it is. it s nice to see someone like that. who did take a heroic action that day who got involved and tried to help, even if he was downplaying his own role. we have a lot to get to this morning. good morning, everyone. poppy is off. we have new video. that shows young children escaping and running across the street during the school shooting in nashville, and we re learning alarming new details about the shooter s past
after they took the house floor , demanding action in the wake of the nashville school massacre , plus more breaking news rockets fired into and from gaza tonight, tensions there at a breaking point. we ll take you there live and the district attorney who indicted former president trump tonight, taking on republicans, accusing them of attempting to undermine his criminal case. let s go, outfront. and good evening, everyone. i m bianna golodryga in for erin burnett outfront tonight, breaking news expelled . the republican led tennessee house has voted to expel one democrat and just moments ago it failed to expel a second and now the tennessee house is about to take action against the third. what is taking place is a dramatic act of political retaliation after the representatives justin jones, justin pearson and gloria johnson took to the floor last week to rally for stricter gun control after six people, including three children, were killed during a mass shooting at a nashvil