i couldn't move. it was really rough. >> what was going through your mind? >> i swore we were going to die. all i could do was pray. >> half of the death toll centers in one small town. 9,000 people live in harrisburg, illinois, six people died there. don lemon is there. the national weather service says the tornado was the second most powerful on the rating scale. how widespread is the damage this morning? >> reporter: ef-4. it's huge. pan around here and look. this is a neighborhood, a fairly new neighborhood. go left here to show. if this had happened in the afternoon when it was full of people, there would have been probably many more injuries, many more deaths here. luckily there were only six and i'm saying luckily because every single person we've spoken to, even the person who lost his mom said he can't believe at that only six people died in all of this. they say they're going to pick up the pieces. the red cross is here. they have lots of help. this he could use more help, more water, more supplies. of course, they could always use more money. let me tell you about where i'm standing now. this is sort of the end of the street here. this guy's name is jeff street. he was here with his wife, his youngest daughter, and his two grandkids. he said he was about to run for county board. getting ready in his bathroom. he's in the green sweater right here. hey, jeff. raise your hand so our viewers can see. he's at home. he survived. he was in the bathroom. he kicked in the door getting ready for work. he kicked in the door to get out and then to help all of his family and then he said, you know, it was horrific. he was in his bare feet. he tried to help other people. listen to what he said about his experience. >> just look at this and wonder how you ever got out. a bedroom on this side, a bedroom on that side completely destroyed and the bathroom right there in the middle and that's where i was. and how the bathroom got left good enough for me to survive, only god knows. >> so when you ran out you had to come around on the street? >> yes. i came out of that bathroom door that's facing on that side. you can see where i busted it to get out and i crawled over all this stuff and came out to here hollering for anybody. >> when they started coming out one by one, were you like, oh, thank god. >> yes. yeah. tears of joy. i didn't -- didn't want to let none of them go, but i knew i had to let the five-year-old go because he needed medical attention. >> you were holding on to him. >> i was holding on tight. i don't know -- i don't even want to think about it. i don't know what i would have done if i -- if he would have said they didn't make it. i don't know what i would have done. i've got another younger daughter and a granddaughter that i could have leaned on, but if i'd of lost my middle daughter and those two boys, i mean, i don't know what i would have done. >> so this is what jeff's family and friends are helping him do, pack everything that they can in the back of pickup trucks. their toys. you see some of the clothing. he's a cardinals fan, of course close to st. louis here. there's a box with paperwork, some bills. i'm sure information that he's going to need. but that's it, kyra. he said he was lucky enough to get out in his bare feet to save his family. some guy, he doesn't know who he is, some guy with long hair came out and helped him not only get his family out but to get other people out as well. it's devastating but if you talk to the people here, they will say the ones who sur veefd, they're lucky to be alive. they're sad for the ones that did pass but they cannot believe that only six people died in this horrific tornado. >> don, thanks so much. we're hearing so many of these harrowing tales of survival and heart breaking stories of loss. soledad o'brien also has had some pretty gut wrenching conversations with folks there in harrisburg. hi, soledad. >> reporter: hey, kyra. you're absolutely right. it absolutely breaks your heart. i want to show you something behind me. you saw don lemon's debris field that he was referring to, all the sort of pieces of homes that have kind of gathered up. look here where i am across the street from where he is. there's nothing. it's pretty clean. the homes have been wiped off their foundations. the force of the storm, what it did, it came from this direction kind of blew this way, the tornado. you see here where the homes ended up? there. that's another home pinned against another home. so when you see sort of nothing there, it undercuts how devastating. the people who died died in those homes where they were wiped off of their foundations. one woman who died was 75-year-old mary osmond. they found her alive, conscious, talking, but eventually when she got to the hospital she did not survive. we talked to her son, darryl, about what happened to his mom. listen. >> the only thing that's getting me through this is knowing she's in heaven with god and jesus christ has given me the strength. >> i can't imagine. so sad to see. >> forgive me. >> i'm sorry. i'm sorry. we appreciate you talking to us this morning. the house is -- there's nothing there. what will you do today? i don't even think there's things to gather. >> well, we -- yesterday we came out here during the day hours and we were able to find some pictures, some of her children, some of my children. some actually of each of us, believe it or not. of all things, i found my birth certificate that she had. i found her marriage license. >> reporter: it's pretty remarkable when you realize there is nothing left on these foundations. sometimes sort of little pieces of things, but they've been finding, kyra, photographs and some of these pieces of paper that are critical, marriage license, 100 yards more down the way. sometimes pinned in other people's backyards just to give an indication of just how devastating and how power flg this tornado was with winds estimated at 170 miles an hour. kyra? >> soledad o brian, we'll continue to talk to you obviously throughout the morning and afternoon. thanks. our crews are fanning out across harrisburg gathering information, collecting people's stories. we will have live reports throughout the day with soledad and don lemon. there's more deadly violence in afghanistan over the burning of korans by the u.s. military. gun men have killed two more nato troops and we're now hearing that the victims were americans. cnn's anything payton walsh is in kabul. nick, what do you know about this afghan language instructor who was maybe one of the gunmen? >> reporter: we heard there were two gunman. one is an afghan soldier. the other, as you say, an afghan language instructor. civilian working on the fwas in kandahar. he had been there maybe teaching english to the afghan soldiers. that's pretty common. it was pretty early this morning afghan time when this incident did occur. one local afghan official we've spoken to, these details do change a lot from when you first hear the first reports, but the initial indications are that this man had, in fact, been there for a year. they believe he was a taliban plot. they fournnd documents that suggests that he had links to the insurgency. it suggests it was long planned. possibly not a response to the koran burning. many people are asking with the timing that's happened, perhaps there is some sort of link but really the key thing to remember here is regardless of the tragic details, there have now been six american soldiers shot dead by men in afghan uniform in the past week or so. there have been no other icac casualties during that period. facts american soldiers will be digesting. trust between them and the afghan soldiers they serve, train, and even live sometimes alongside so vital to the training. to hand oversecurity and then the withdrawal of american troops in the months and years ahead. >> nick, thanks so much. president obama had hoped his a poll will he gi would prevent more violence when he talked to americans and also afghan president hamid karzai. he apologized for those koran burns. then he had a chance to talk with abc news and here's what he said just before the latest attack. >> the reason that it was important is the same reason that the commander on the ground, general allen, apologized. that is to save lives and to make sure our troops who are there right now are not placed in further danger. >> it's hard to tell, do you think it has improved it? >> it calmed things down. we're not out of the woods yet. >> several dozen afghans have also died in those protests. mitt romney grabs another state with a win in wyoming last night. political director mark preston is in washington. what's the delegate count look like now, mark? >> reporter: you're right. mitt romney did score a win in the wyoming caucuses last night. he didn't get all the spoils of war. let's take a quick look at how the delegates were a, poed last night. mitt romney came out on top. he got ten delegates. even though he won the state, because of the way they're a, poing the delegates, rick santorum came in with nine, ron paul with six, and newt gingrich with one. very similar to what happened out in michigan. let's take a quick look at those numbers as well. mitt romney won this state but when the delegates were divided they came out even, 15/15 between mitt romney and rick santorum. rick santorum himself is saying that it was a vekt try for him out in michigan. let's take a look at the delegate count to date. we're a long way away from 1144, but mitt romney clearly in the lead with 181 delegates. rick santorum with 61. newt gingrich with 39. and ron paul with 33. heading into super tuesday, kyra, that's where the big enchilada is. that's where 40% of the deli gates will be spent out from ten states. kyra? >> and it happened again. mitt romney's campaign moving in fast to clean up after the candidate. >> reporter: yeah. again, one of these damage control situations in the afternoon yesterday for mitt romney. he was asked about this controversial amendment that congress is considering right now that would allow employers not to offer certain parts of health insurance on moral grounds. he was asked this question about this amendment being put forth by roy blunt, one of his big supporters, and this is what he had to say? >> mark rubio is being debated i believe later this week that deals with banning or allowing employers to ban providing female contraception. have you taken a position on it? he said he was for that. he'll talk about personhood in a secretary. have you taken a position? >> i'm not for the bill but, look, the idea of presidential candidates getting into questions about contraception within a relationship between a man and woman, husband and wife, i'm not going there. >> reporter: there you have it. that was jim heath from the ohio news network asking mitt romney that question in the very critical state of ohio which will be voting on tuesday. a short time after that though the romney campaign and the candidate himself had to clarify and say, in fact, that he did support that very controversial amendment. kyra? >> the question was a bit confusing, mark. >> reporter: it was a little bit confusing. that's what the push back is. this is an amendment that is supported by conservatives. it is, again, being put forth not only by roy blunt, but marco rubio, and that's what they said. they said he didn't quite understand the question and that's why he answered it that way. >> thanks so much. super tuesday is just five days away. we've got you covered. "john king u.s.a." at 6:00 and complete coverage at 7:00. illinois town is devastated by a tornado. a survivor tells us his story next. you know when i grow up, i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. 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[siri] from now on, i'll call you 'rock god'. ok? checking stories cross-country now. pros dutors have to file charges today against t.j. lane. he's accused of killing three students and wounding two others. classes at chardon high are scheduled to resume tomorrow. the fbi is investigating the case of a missing cruise ship passenger. a family member reported the woman missing after the ship's celebration docked in south florida. the cruiser chd the ship and couldn't find her. a face jumper had to be res skutd from an arizona mountain after he realized his parachute was on backwards. when he jumped it dragged him back into the mountain. rescuers say he's lucky to be alive. harrisburg, illinois, devastated. six people have lost their lives. it touched down just before dawn and blake wilson is a lifelong resident of harrisburg. he joins me now. blake, your business was actually spared. how close was it? >> that's correct. our business is located about a block or half a block south of the path of where the tornado really started ripping our town apart. >> i know you felt really lucky that your business was spared and now you are actually helping out as a volunteer. tell me what you're doing, what you've seen, and how you're trying to make things better right now for the folks that are truly suffering. >> well, right now i'm working with our church and local churches just trying to prepare meals and get all of the volunteers that are here fed. i mean, we're just doing what we can to accommodate all of the people who have come to town to help. the response from local communities and local churches, the surrounding community has been fantastic. >> now you and your family and the family business, you've been there for years. have your friends been impacted, your relatives? tell me just what you're hearing, what they're telling you. and how you're responding. >> well, i mean, in a community this size, you would be hard-pressed to find somebody that doesn't have a close friend or family member that hasn't been affected by yesterday's disaster. and like i said, the support and the rebuilding of this community is -- the response time was unbelievable. it started with being woken by the tornado sirens yesterday, which i don't think they had been installed in our community for that long. with the tornado hitting at 5:00 a.m., i think that really helped awake a lot of people and do the job, warning them. the sirens -- i'm sorry, i'm getting flustered here. >> it's all right. it's okay. go ahead. >> i think a lot of people are dealing with the survivor's guilt here and we live in a very strong community. there's a lot of support. there's no doubt that we won't rebuild and make what we had better, but right now i just thank god for the lives that were spared and pray for the souls and the family of those that weren't quite so fortunate. >> blake, i know it's easy for me to sit here and say, hey, don't feel guilty, because i'm definitely not in your shoes, but you are showing a lot of heart and a lot of love right now. you could have left that town. your business was spared, but you're staying and you're helping out and you're giving back, and that's the most important thing right now. and you should feel a lot of peace about that because you don't have to do that. you are. you're being dedicated to harrisburg. we appreciate that. i know everybody around you appreciates that as well, blake. thank you. >> thank you. >> you bet. blake wilson there in harrisburg, illinois, for us. you can also help those affected by the midwest tornadoes. go to cnn.com/impact. there you'll find all the organizations and ways you can help those in need. that's cnn.com/impact. ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] purina one beyond. food for your cat or dog. cost a cruise ship in trouble. this one making it to the port. zain verjee has the story. >> reporter: hey there, kyra. it could have been a lot worse but the biggest problem while a thousand people had on that vessel was a lot of them got sun burned, kyra. they were out there in the beautiful hot sun in the indian ocean. it was a harrowing experience for so many. there was no electricity. there had been that fire in the kitchen that set the mechanical systems haywire and the ship went totally adrift. it had to be pulled in by a french fishing vessel to port victoria. there was no electricity. they couldn't have any hot food. there wasn't enough water. they were using mineral water to wash themselves. listen to how one passenger put it. >> well, i mean, we were up on the deck and it was extremely black smoke. so we knew something was going to happen so -- excuse me. they sound the alarm. then we went out to our room to get our life jackets and then we went up to the master station, you know, where we all were standing there for quite a while. >> reporter: fortunately, kyra, there was no serious injuries for anyone. the costa group has offered everyone a reimbursement as well as one to two weeks' vacations in the seychelles. i was on the island a few weeks ago. it is absolutely fabulous. >> actually, yeah, great place to visit. i just am not quite sure if this is the way to go on this cruise ship. this company not having very much luck lately. >> reporter: no. i mean, it's a real major problem. in fact, about 35% of bookings were down for costa. they do have a major problem of image. this is the second time a company is going through something like this. what people are saying is they're offering a reimbursement to everyone in order that they don't have to deal with a lawsuit of any kind. but they refuse to comment on it. >> all right. zain, you and i will take a biking trip through ireland. i'll talk to you later. gas prices keep on rising. 23 straight increases and counting. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. alison, how bad are things looking? >> you know what, it feels like ground hog day all over again, doesn't it, with no end in sight. the national average for a gallon of regular sitting at $3.74. what we're seeing are these small sort of penny increases every day. you know what, it really adds up fast. gas prices are up 14% just this year and we're only two months into 2012. many areas are already seeing that $4 sticker price at the gas pump. in california and alaska, hawaii, around here in new york city as well. fed chief ben bernanke was on the hill and he mentioned it. gas prices could cut into spending. many consumer spending. he thinks that would only be temporary. the market is also seeing it that way, too. that's why you're seeing some of the gains limited as well. as for today, as for the broader market, it looks like stocks are going to start on a higher note, slightly higher today. first time jobless claims came in as expected. also china's mfrgs sector is expanding. little good news to give a little bump to stocks in three minutes. kyra? >> alison, thanks so much. well, remember when the economy and jobs were the biggest topics in the presidential race? now it seems that socia