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. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ [siri] i found 12 musical tinstrument stores.ar.re. how do i play london calling? whole lotta love? a b minor 9th? [siri] i found this for you. add migraine headache to my list of band names. tell julie and kate our band is playing at the garage tonight. [siri] here's your message to julie and kate. call me rock god. [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 social issue use are all the rage. we're talking to our political panel about it next. you think you take off all your make-up before bed. but do you really? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. can your makeup remover do that? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover. only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey. this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. well, when the 2012 election season started it was all about the economy. now it seems that social issues are all the rage. conan o'brien noticed it. >> it's being reported that snookie is pregnant. have you heard this? yeah. yeah. when rick santorum heard the news he immediately came out in favor of birth control. yeah. >> that's the word from conan land. but in real washington today the senate is actually expected to vote on the amendment to let employers opt out of health care coverage that conflicts with moral or religious beliefs. republicans say this conscious amendment is all about protecting religious freedom. democrats say it's an assault on women's health. robert zimmerman and will cain, the last time we talked about it, they decided to go off on contraception. here we go, we're back. we're going to talk about the issue because it's on the hill today. you know there was push back guys, negotiation, compromise. why doesn't that just settle the issue right there? why do we need an amendment? will? >> well, because most people find the suggested compromise totally inadequate. for these two reasons. listen, the point of this conversation, i hope, is one of understanding. how we can understand each other's perspective on this. i don't want to do spin and win. here's the deal. there are two main objections to this compromise. what do you do about self-insured employ jeers. the catholic institutions, religious institutions don't outsource it. how will they be treated? number two, this is more important, you have to suspend the laws of economics to think this compromise is workable. insurance companies don't have magic money. they don't conjure up things out of nowhere. if you tell them they must offer certain product for free. they're going to back source that on to their employers that they charge through premiums. so everyone that understands any sense of economics, you squeeze the balloon here, it inflates over here. the catholic churches are still paying for the birth control. >> will, i don't want to burst your balloon. the reason insurance companies are expecting the accommodation, it's been endorsed by catholic organization, by catholics united and the catholic health association of the united states founded in 1915 it's because when insurance companies provide health care coverage and contraceptive coverage for women, it saves the insurance companies money because contraceptive coverage is a preventive cost. it helps prevent the diseases spreading. it helps prevent the flow of cervical cancer. it also helps prevent unwanted pregnancies and therefore reduces abortions. so that's why this is an important initiative that, in fact, is really not a controversial issue amongst the american people. every poll shows that. the bigger issue is why the extreme right wing want to hijack this issue and want to engage in just this assault to galvanize the republican base. >> robert and will, guys, hold on a second. we're getting word now that andrew brightbart, that well known conservative blogger, has died. 43 years old. we're being told his website is saying that he died of natural causes. our political director mark preston -- not ready yet? okay. mark preston -- let me ask you, will, and robert, are you still with me while i'm waiting forg mark preston. you might want to weigh in. we're getting word about this. we learned a lot about andrew brightbart with the whole videotape release if you'll remember with sha rad and the alleged allegations that she was making racist comments and that's how we really came to know brightbart. what we're seeing now though is from anthony weiner and that press conference when those pictures were released that he was sending out via e-mail. will, robert, hang with me for a second. mark preston is ready to go. mark, what do you know about brightbart's death? the website, his website, saying he died of natural causes? >> reporter: 43 years old died in los angeles. story that is just breaking right now, kyra. we're really trying to find out more of the details. we do know about andrew brightbart, as you said, very controversial, larger than life in the conservative movement. he was one of the figures who was not necessarily the old guard. i remember talking to andrew just a couple of years ago at the cpac conference, the big gathering of conservatives in washington. we were talking about social issues. he seemed so frustrated by the fact that the republican party was not the big ten party and, in fact, he was kind of scoffed at those that were not embracing of the idea of same-sex marriage and what have you. andrew brightbart was one of these folks who was helping bring the republican party in some ways into the 21st century trying to bring younger folks in and he really made his name as being a conservative blogger before he started his big government websites which are very popular among conservatives. he made his way on the dredge report which is a huge, huge outlet on the web. kyra? >> there was a lot of controversy when we first really heard his name and got to 2340e him around the shirley sharad incident. he was the one that had released those clips of a talk that she had made and it was only snippets that were released. and, of course, later on we found out the whole entire story of what had happened and what she had said. a lots of people said because of him and choosing to release those clips the way he did, it made such an impact on her life, her job. we were talking about it for months. >> reporter: became a huge story, not only for us here at cnn but it was a huge story nationally and really was a scar in andrew breitbart, the fact that those clips were edited and released. she had to leave her job and of course that wasn't great for andrew breitbart. let's take a look at the statement that has been put out by the president of his company. breitbart confirming his death. a terrible feeling of pap and loss. we announce the passing of andrew breitbart. this is going to be something that is going to reverberate throughout the blog sphere throughout the day and throughout the conservative movement. andrew breitbart was very influential in republican politics. >> we will stay on the story, bring you details as we get them. we'll be right back. and annoyi. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ and making the tom cat famous. what's better than the movie "top gun?" . a.j. hammer, host of "showbiz tonight" has that scoop from new york. a.j., fill us in. >> it's pretty exciting, kyra. looks like tom cruise who played maverick in the original top gun will fly again. top gun ii will be written by peter craig. he's writing the town. you remember now the first top gun came out 26 years ago. it was in 1986. that film grossed more than 350 million bucks. the sequel has been talked about for more than a year now. cruise has been telling people he was interested in doing the project if the right script came along. the pressure is on for mr. craig. kyra, it is one of those movies i still love. i'd be flipping around the television on a weekend. i'd come upon it, you can't tear yourself away. kenny loggins theme song. >> it's so incredibly cheesy. 26 years later we still think it's cool. all right. something else, i don't know, cool, not so cool, lindsay lohan. i guess she's making a bit of a comeback here? >> yeah. she is poking a little bit of fun at herself for what's coming up on "saturday night live" this weekend. she's making fun of our obsession with her tubls. she is hosting snl. take a look at this. >> hi, i'm lindsay lohan and i'm hoetsing snl this week. >> it must feel good to be back in the spotlight. >> people are wondering what i'm up to. >> it's so unfortunate people had not been paying attention to you. >> i would have liked to know about your personal life and what you've been mixed up in. >> definitely. america could have used more information about me and maybe a picture or two. >> pretty funny. >> it is pretty funny. >> certainly peekispeaking of we can expect this weekend. we'd rather not be talking about your court appearances and what you're getting mixed up in. it's going to be fun to watch her this weekend. we wish her all the best. >> i'm sure you'll follow it. a.j., thanks so much. a.j. will be back with us next hour with more showbiz headlines. sequels are a hollywood staple these days and "showbiz tonight" has learned you better get ready for the hangover iii. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! [siri] i found 12 musical instrument stores.ar. how do i play london calling? whole lotta love? a b minor 9th? [siri] i found this for you. add migraine headache to my list of band names. tell julie and kate our band is playing at the garage tonight. [siri] here's your message to julie and kate. call me rock god. [siri] from now on, i'll call you 'rock god'. ok? with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. taking a hard look at the challenges of infertility. it's a problem that impacts millions of couples around the world. but a lot of getting help and becoming parents in nontraditional ways. here's cnn's chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta. >> reporter: michelle and mike hearing now have the family they've always wanted. it wasn't easy. at 30 she had to use hormone therapy to get pregnant. the result was their son levi who's now seven years old. two years later they again had a hard time conceiving a second child so they tried hormone therapy and ivf, in vitro fertilization. >> by the third time i sort of knew, okay, it was becoming -- it was stressful. >> reporter: but after rounds of unsuccessful treatments she learned she had premature ovarian failure. she couldn't produce any viable eggs so she chose to use an egg donor. and may was born. >> it was just an emotionally taxing journey. i knew that one day i would look back and forget struggle, and i did. i mean, it's hard for me to think about it now, but you know, i mean, we have a wonderful family. i can't imagine it being any other way. >> reporter: the decision to use sperm or egg donation is a personal one. em bring ol low gist dr. peter nazi says it's the best solution often since donor egg and sperm can offer higher success rate. >> the donations are coming from women who are 21 to 28, 29. >> reporter: so a 40-year-old woman says i'm not making eggs, good quality eggs anymore, i'll take a donor egg from a 25-year-old. has that 25-year-old woman's genetic material. >> correct. >> reporter: you combine it with sperm from -- >> from her husband or that person's partner. is this something that happens a lot? >> oh, yes. absolutely. here in the united states, about 10 to 15% of all ivf involves egg donation. >> reporter: reproductive specialist dr. mitchell leaf says more and more families are choosing this route to have a family. >> they have a baby picture to choose from. they know most of their background history, what their genetic makeup is, their interests, maybe their education. >> reporter: they get to choods their eggs? >> yes. >> reporter: how much does that process cost? >> it is $16,500 and that includes everything. >> reporter: if a woman in her mid 40s is pregnant, has a baby, is it almost assumed that woman had an egg donor? >> i think i had five women overall in 30 years that got a pregnancy at 45 with their own eggs. that's not a lot. >> reporter: michelle an mike say they plan to share their conception stories with both their children. >> it needs to be okay to -- and not be looked at as some weird thing, to use alternate method, nontraditional ways to have a family. >> if we're describing it in ten years, hopefully it's like describing, you know, a visit to the doctor, that it's become so prevalent that the stigma is gone so that'll help too. it's nothing we've worried about. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. you can join me and san gentleman gupta this weekend for an in depth look at the amazing break through enabling infertile couples to have parenthood. baby quest airs this saturday afternoon 2:30 eastern time. [ jennifer garner ] there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there. but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics. does your makeup do that? in the works package, we change the oil we change the filter... tire rotation, suspension, we make suspension checks... what we have here is the multi-point inspection. every time a vehicle comes into a ford dealership you'll be presented with one of these. we check the belts, hoses... brakes. tires and the pressures... battery, all your fluids... exhaust system, transmission... we inspect your air filter... it gets done,it gets done quickly and it gets done correctly. the works. oil change, tire rotation and more: $29.95 or less after rebate - at your ford dealer. you're a doctor... you're a car doctor. maybe a car doctor... that's going to have to be done by a certain date. you always have homework, okay? i don't have homework today. it's what's right here is what is most important to me. it's beautiful. ♪ ♪ counselors today. that's following monday's deadly shooting on campus. you're looking at brand new pictures we're getting in from our affiliate here. a prosecutor says student t.j. lane has admitted to the shootings which killed three students, wounded two others. classes are scheduled to resume at the school tomorrow. i have some stories we're working on for later today in the cnn newsroom. at 11:15 a.m. even, john boehner will hold his weekly news conference. one likely topic the battle over birth control and whether the obama administration can face religious-based organizations to cover contraception in insurance plans. at 1:15 obama will give a speech on energy in new hampshire. at 5:00, maryland governor martin o'malley will sign the bill legalizing same-sex marriages in maryland. don lemon has more on what's coming up. >> we'll talk to some of the families who once lived here and owned these homes effected by that tornado. i'm dan rivers in the seychelles where finally more than 600 passengers of the "costa allegra" are on dry land after three days adrift in the indian ocean. i'm paul steinhauser, president obama makes fund-raising history later today. he won't be touting it but republicans will be highlighting it. also, a rare look inside iran on the eve of that country's parliamentary elections. a live report from tehran coming up. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ [ male announcer ] for our town. [ dog barks ] for our country. ♪ for our future. ♪ this isn't just the car we wanted to build. it's the car america had to build. ♪ the extended range electric chevy volt. from the heart of detroit to the health of the country, chevy runs deep. jeff fischel, who was that masked man. >> the other night kobe bryant gets a broken nose. he to leave for the rest of the all-star game, but a chop from dwayne wade. kobe is not upset. he knows it was just an accident. but now look at kobe. looking like jason or michael myers, the mask protected his nose. one problem, the mask fogged up. kobe said afterwards it felt like a sauna on his face. kobe said "i was drinking my own sweat." his nickname is the mamba, now his nickname is the masked mamba. last night, jeremy lin got hit in the nose. he was still fantastic, 13 points, 19 assists. how about the u.s. men's soccer team. one of their greatest wins ever yesterday against italy. this is the only goal. clint dempsey, goal! after the first win in decades ever against italy. we will see this if the u.s. can use this as a spring board for the u.s. world cup qualifying. tiger woods, at a tournament news conference he was asked to comment on a claim in a new book by his swing coach, hank haney, who said tiger was considering leaving golf to become a navy s.e.a.l. check out an exchange with a reporter. >> is that in the book? >> i don't know. >> i haven't seen the book. >> let's move on, brian. >> you're a beauty, you know that? >> that's a fair question, you guys are suggesting there's something wrong with the excerpts in the book. i'm just trying to find out if that's true or not. >> i don't know. >> brian? >> have a good day. >> that's the polite way of saying something else, i think. >> read between the lines. >> yeah. >> i had to finish in our last sports together on the 9:55 hit, had to finish with tiger woods story for you, because i know you love talking tiger woods. >> yes. thank you, jeff fischel. have a fabulous day. >> thank you. welcome back. thank you for joining us at the top of the hour. we are talking about the fact that we learned that conservative blogger andrew breitbart died this morning. he was 43 years old. he was an influential and controversial voice in politics. he was on cnn's piers morgan two nights ago talking about the presidential race. we will talk about rick santorum also weighing in on this well. first, do we want to listen to it or not? we don't have it or we do? here is rick santorum reacts to the news a short time ago. >> obviously for his family, it's a big shock. what a colorful force. almost -- you think of anybody out there who has more energy, just out there constantly, you know, driving and pushing, he would be it. what a huge loss, in my opinion, for our country and certainly for the conservative movement. my prayers to his family. sorry to hear it. >> that's rick santorum just moments ago. cnn political director mark preston joining us now. we mentioned the influence and controversy surrounding breitbart. do we have any of the details about circumstances of his death. >> we don't have any of the details. rick santorum was caught off guard there learning of andrew breitbart's death. we got to learn of him by his willingness to put himself out there and attack the left and democrats. in many ways he was a bridge for the republican party, the old republican party into the 21st century. he stuck close by his conservative views. he tried to have some fun with it. but on social issues he was not as staunch as some conservatives would be. he did, as i said, build a bridge for the republican parties in many ways to younger voters, that's really where he had a strong following. he was one of the pioneers, i think you could say, on the internet as far as it comes to conservative causes. i got to tell you, certainly in this presidential year, the death of andrew breitbart will be felt. tleefrnlg . >> three stories i remember covering about breitbart and the controversies, acorn, chershirl sherrod and the anthony weiner story. maybe you can give us some of those and the context breitbart had on them. >> sure. the whole acorn scandal, he was able to push these videos of acorn workers engaging in funding, so to speak, for sex workers, pimps, they caught it on video acorn says it was a misrepresentati misrepresentation, it did take down the organization. sherry sh sher sherry sharrord, it was said the speech she gave was -- and as far as the anthony weiner scandal, probably the next mayor of new york city, and he was able to use his website to promote these tweets that the congressman was putting out that were scandalous and salacious at best and it forced him to leave congress and try to rebuild his own image as we think anthony weiner is trying to do now. along the way breitbart noted he gained some friends and lost some friends. let's look at what he said in his most recent book "righteous indignation" about his popularity. he wrote i love my job, i love fighting for what i believe in. i love having fun while doing it. i love reporting. i love finding allyies and famously i enjoy making enemies. he was a guest, as you said, frequently here on cnn. he was a pretty lively fellow, an interesting person and somebody that i think the conservative movement will greatly miss. >> andrew breitbart, dead at the age of 43 by natural causes. we will follow the story throughout the morning. thank you very much. a monster storm plows through the heartland and spawns a number of tornadoes. at least a dozen people have been killed. almost 200 people injured. the damage stretches from kansas to kentucky. half of the death toll coming from one small town. 9,000 people live in harrisburg, illinois. six people died there. as many as 300 homes were damaged or destroyed. a lot of residents work up to the terrifying sound of winds ripping apart their homes. >> well, we woke up, half the roof was coming off the house. we managed to get the small children in the closet and about the time the small children were in the closet, my wife and i noticed the walls separating from the house. it wasn't just a couple of seconds later was quiet and it was obvious there was utter devastation around there. >> i started feeling the trailer shaking. and that's all i can remember. next thing i knew, he was hollering. i was hollering. i crawled out. >> i'm praying. i'm really hoping and praying to god that everything will be cool. i was -- i was really thinking for a second is that we were going to die. i was scared. i really thought my dad and i were going to die or get thrown from our trailer and die. it was scary. and our don lemon is part of the cnn team there in harrisburg. don, let's talk about how widespread the damage is. >> it's unbelievable. you talk about how big it was. this is the reality this is a 91-year-old mom. >> i'm not 91. >> your mother was 91. she lived here in this community, but she lived here in this community for most of her married life. you were here with us. >> yes. i was. i was here and i put her in the bathtub. i woke up about ten minutes after 4:00, i heard the sirens, i could hear a locomotive sound coming straight at us. i went ahead and put her in the bathtub, made her squat down, i laid on top of her. we held on to each other in that tub. luckily got saw just this middle to be destroyed, but i had to hold on to her. i could feel all the forces pulling on my body trying to take us out of here. then shortly after it blew over, then we got up, got a couple of our purses and stuff, went out with the neighbors and took off in a four-wheel drive and went to safety against the gas lines and stuff. >> pat, her name is thelma? >> thelma wiley, they told us we have 12 hours to get her things out. this is her life, everything she owns. what we're trying to do is take what we can. they told us we don't have that much time and we need more time to get it out. just today. but they told us we can't. >> i want you to take a deep breath. >> okay. >> all right? it's going to be all right. they're going to give you as much time as you need. >> we'll see. >> you guys go out there and tell them that. >> all of her stuff? >> some of it we're throwing away because it's no good. it was damaged and destroyed. but what we're trying to take is her good bedroom suite, the things on this side of the middle is good. >> is this the bathtub where you were? >> yes, here. we hunkered down right there. she was in the back. i was over here. we had all this apparatus to help us out. we just ducked and i -- i think i put towels and stuff over our heads. that is the only time we had. the warnings -- the sirens weapon off. we had about two minutes to get into the bathtub and get covered. let's walk out here and show everybody else what you're doing. this is reality, kyra, you hear about numbers and injuries. but these are lives, and people had to scramble. >> we tried to -- we tried to get a lot of this out yesterday, but we didn't have a lot of equipment. you know, we needed -- we needed trucks, we needed people to wrap things. there's china, there's crystal, there's things that are a part of her life. >> and everything is going in here. >> we had another one that was coming. we were going to try to put the furniture on flatbeds since it's not raining, use that for breakable stuff. but they -- the landlord that owned these just came in and told us they'll run some kind of electric cable down the middle of water street for other people that need electric, so they're going to push us out. >> thank you. >> thank you. so glad you're okay. >> okay. so am i. i'm just not sure if i'm okay right now. >> all right. you can see she's nervous and a bit flabbergasted because they're giving her 12 hours to get out. that's not enough for a whole life. i want to show you where we are. then back to you. there you go. this was once a vibrant neighborhood. what the tornado didn't take away, the bulldozers will take away. that's it. these folks will have to rebuild. as i said to you all morning, the people who are here who lost things are saying i can't believe only six people died when you consider the strength of an ef4 tornado. now we are getting reports that it was higher than 170 miles per hour. >> wow, don lemon there for us in harrisburg. thanks. that was the hardest-hit town. the devastation has gone far and wide. look at this damage from branson, missouri, the resort city for country music fans. about 10% of the show venues are said to be damaged there. the cost of repairs estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. in tennessee, three people were killed when the storm struck just before dark this morning crews are there launching a search for anyone who might be trapped in that wreckage. rob marciano is here following how powerful these storms were. you can see it there by the pictures. >> so spread out. for the month of february, this is an intense outbreak. i want to focus on the ef 4 that don was showing us. this like a lot of larger ones doesn't have to be super wide to be a strong storm. here is the track from the national weather service. at this point they think it's about seven miles long. but they stopped surveying it yesterday. they will go back out there. likely it was more than that. 250 yards wide. so, you know, you think of an ef 4, you're thinking, has to be a quarter mile wide, half mile wide, this wasn't. this came through at 5:00 in the morning local time and then when it got to evansville, just south, it decreased in intensity from an ef4 to an ef1. today we have a threat in the midsection. tomorrow is a greater threat. areas that are very similar to yesterday. st. louis, soufrn illinois, louisville, back to nashville, moderate risk of tornadoes again tomorrow. kyra? >> rob, thank you very much. let's head overseas. iranians are about to do something they haven't done in nearly three years -- vote. parliamentary elections are tomorrow. it's the country's first vote since mahmoud ahmadinejad's controversial re-election in 2009. our ivan watson is getting a rare look inside that country as iranians prepare to cast ballots. he joins us live from tehran what are people concerned about in this election? >> there's a lot of concerns here. one of the -- one of the serious issues is the economy. the iranian currency has lost by some estimates half of its value against the dollar in just the last four months. people have seen their savings lose value in the banks. they've seen also dramatic inflation when they try to go out and shop, for instance now before the persian new year. we were in the bazaars that were jam packed full of people complaining about high prices. also people are concerned about the intense international pressure against iran now. there's been an awful lot of talk and speculation coming from government officials and israel and in the u.s., the arch rivals of iran. talk of the possibility of military action against iran. that's something that people are concerned about. and economic sanctions as well led by the u.s. and its european allies, that have really limited, for example, international trade, bank transactions between iran and its international trading partners. all of these things are concerns for iranians. the government has a massive publicity campaign to get out the vote because it sees big voter participation as proof that it enjoys the support of the iranian population, some 33 years after the islamic revolution here. kyra? >> we'll be following it, that's for sure. ivan watson with rare access inside tehran. coming up, a judge gives prosecutors a deadline in the ohio school shooting case. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. we're continuing our coverage of the shocking death of andrew breitbart, the conservative blogger. he was found dead this morning in los angeles. he was 43 years old. we're hearing he died of natural causes. breitbart made his name with breitbart.com, big government and big journal. and helped launch the huffington post. he stirred up a lot of controversy as well. eric ericsson is also a conservative blogger and a cnn contributor. he is joining me on the phone. let's get to what you're hearing. we were reporting that he was found dead early this morning in los angeles. you're saying that you talked with some friends that had dinner with him last night and possibly he died of a heart attack? >> that's what i'm hearing. it appears to be a heart attack. it hasn't been confirmed yet. everyone is still in such shock. i'm stunned by the news. dana lash, one of our cnn contributors, she worked for him, she was the editor of one of his big sites. my first thought this morning, i thought it had to be a twitter hoax. he's so aggressive on twitter, has a following on twitter, i assumed it was one of the typical hoaxes. when it was confirmed -- he really is like a super nova who has gone dark. in any room i saw him in, he was the brilliant ball of energy. people gravitated to him. he was willing to use himself as a lightning rod and get criticism from the left and the right. but use that attention to focus everyone like a laser on the story he wanted told or shown. he was quite successful at it. i really do think -- he would be quite happy being called a conservative actionist or blogger. he was one of the unheralded dotcom people. he got this brilliant idea of starting breitbart.com and a lot of sites came after him doing what he did. but very few did it as well as he did. >> let's -- we'll talk more about his career, but you saw him just -- i guess a couple weeks ago. did he ever mention anything to you? did his family ever mention anything to you about heart problems or health problems? high blood pressure? anything like that? do you know of any health issues that he's had? >> no, i don't. he just -- he was -- andrew, i don't think he slept. more than once i would receive a phone call from him. i'm on the east coast, he on the west coast. i remember one time in particular i got a 3:00 a.m. phone call from him. he was headed home from a late dinner to see the wife and kids. he got pulled over for a police officer for use his cell phone on the freeway, at 4:30 called back to apologize. he had not realized it was so late when he called the first time. you mentioned his family. he's a father of four, right? >> yes, yes he is. i remember distinctly on occasion we had lunch together out in california when i was there for a meeting. he spoke so highly of his kids. so fascinated by other peoples kids. to a degree he was a big kid himself. so much energy and liveliness. it's so sad. i feel -- my heart breaks for his family and friends. probably one of the most loyal contingent of friends of anyone i know. >> you talked about his influence in politics, that also came with controversy, erick, as we well know. the and think weiner scandal and those pictures, already shirley sherrod and what led to her losing her job. but he really -- we really got to know him first off through the a.c.o.r.n. story that broke, right? >> yeah. it was actually a great teaching experience for conservative activists who for years wanted to be pundits. andrew was the vanguard for saying no, no be journalists. he used this as a lesson. james o'keefe went undercover, released some edited videos, making claims about a.c.o.r.n. that the organization denied. they said the video were edited. so they released the unedited video which didn't change the story, then a.c.o.r.n. changed their story again and released additional videos backing down on that a.c.o.r.n. defense. the drip drip drip. he became a real master at dribbling out stories, letting his opponents change their story and adding to the story in a way that their denial of the story had no merit. it was fascinating to watch. it got to the point where people andrew breitbart went after would typically be very, very quiet for a while, waiting to see what else he had. >> the shirley sherrod story. he caught a lot of flack for that because of the way he edited that, turned out he was editing it to take a certain angle, but when you had a chance to talk to shirley sherrod and see that entire speech she gave, she was portrayed unfairly. >> there were a number of people on the left and right who were critical of him. i was somewhat critical of him as well just having grown up in the south and heard what she said and then interpreted it as something else. ultimately, the purpose of that story, the breitbart site said it had been able to tell the story about the department of agriculture giving away farm subsidies inappropriately. and he got a lot of criticism, a lawsuit came from that story, but ultimately congressional republicans wound up having look into what the department of agriculture was doing. he was perfectly willing to be a lightning rod and get all the criticism, be sued. but inevitably every time he would still get people to focus on what he wanted them to focus in on. erick erickson, thank you very much. checking other stories across country now, prosecutors have a deadline today to file charges against t.j. lane. the alleged high school shooter in ohio. 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 cruise ship celebration docked in florida they searched the ship but couldn't find her. and a base jumper had to be rescued from a mountain after he realized his parachute was on backwards. rescuers say he's lucky to be alive. ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] purina one beyond. food for your cat or dog. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. did you know a park can prevent heart disease? a grocery store can stop diabetes? did you know how long you live depends on where you live? children born in neighborhoods with safe parks, fresh produce and clean drinking water can live up to 20 years longer than those born in places without them. we can do better. we have the power to give every child a longer, healthier life to build a stronger california. we can change the places where we live, work and play. because health doesn't only happen in a doctor's office, health happens here. bank of america is revamping its checking account fees. alison kosik what can you tell us? >> it depends on what kind of account you have. these fees range from 6 bucks to $25 if you take out a new bank of america checking account. at this point it's only a test. bank of america is testing the program in states including arizona, georgia and massachusetts. there are ways to avoid the fees if you meet certain requirements, if you maintain a minimum balance if you bank online, if you take out a mortgage with bank of america. i want to be clear about one thing. bank of america's nationwide checking accounts, they already have fees. what's happening here, they're trying to change the structure of their fees because bank of america like a lot of banking firms have been hit by a weak economy. there are new government rules that limit the fees they can take in, which essentially means the banks are making less money. so you look at boa's annual sells, they fell by double digits last year, and they said they would cut 30,000 workers. so bank of america is trying to find new ways to make money. >> alilisoison kosik, thanks. mitt romney says we don't need canadian oil, we deserve it our political buzz panel will weigh in on that next. as shipping it though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships, anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $5.15, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. all right. time for political buzz, your rapid fire look at the three best political topics of the day. playing today is dominic zimmerman, gene obadai, and tom blair, best-selling author of "poor richard's america." first up, olympia snow, surprise retirement now we hear from her. take a listen. >> people are just stunned by the debilitating partisanship, polarization and overall dysfunction, you know, of the institution and the political paralysis has become, you know, to the point of extreme when it comes to, you know, solving the problems this country is facing. >> stunned, dysfunction, what's your adjective for the polarized gop, robert? >> i guess you could say glacial gridlock. point simply is the republican senate is more frozen in position than walt disney. you can google that reference on your own. what made olympia snowe such a distinguished senator, she understood her mission in the senate was not to just take a position but reach a resolution, to move the agenda forward and her colleagues can take a lesson from that. >> tom? >> i think i might use the word suicidal to describe the gop. numbers of people in the republican party today are committing suicide because they fear death. if you look at the primaries, folks to get through the primaries are making statements, statements they don't believe, statements to many americans that are bizarre and many statements that will kill them in a general election if they're successful enough to get through the primaries. >> dean? >> look at it this way, she has been in the congress for over 30 years, now it's so shockingly polar sized she's quitting. the republican party needs to get their act together. maybe seek some help go on dr. phil or dr. oz or even dr. dolittle at this point. they have nothing in common other than "r." if we ever needed a third party now that's a moderate party, this is the time for it. >> keystone pipeline. mitt romney says we deserve canadian oil. deserve? tom? >> i don't like the word deserve. america is a great country. we're a great country because people work extremely hard. we are what we are because of hard work, not because of what we got what we deserve. i would suggest to mitt the only thing this country deserves are politicians that day in and day outdo what's best for this country. i would also suggest that 40 years ago we put a bunch of men on the moon and brought them back safely. obviously it's within our capability to build a pipeline that doesn't leak. >> robert? >> when i read that comment, it reminds me that people like dean and his comedian comrades will retire off of this guy. he drove around michigan driving a canadian car. i think the point is that we deserve is for our presidential candidates to advocate our independence of foreign oil and move -- transition us off of oil into natural gas and then into alternate energy sources and new green jobs. that's the leadership we need. we deserve that from our candidates. >> dean? >> obviously we deserve it. it what we don't deserve from canada is justin bieber. the whole idea of this pipeline being the silver bullet or the next jeremy lin is not accurate it can raise prices in the midwest by 20 cents. we don't deserve it. we have to pay for the oil. >> you had to mention tim horton. buzzer beater time. 20 seconds each on this one. jimmy fallon, newt gingrich and ice cream therapy. roll the clip. >> last night mitt romney came in first place in the michigan primary, though he barely won. incidentally, barely won is also the total number of votes ron paul received. yesterday's michigan primary newt gingrich actually came in fourth place, or as the ice cream in his freezer put it, it's going to be a long night. >> so, is newt still going to make a comeback? what kind of ice cream goes with that? robert? >> let me put it this way, i think in order to get through his comeback, he has to go through a couple of gallons of rocky road ice cream from ben & jerry's. realistically, the reason i think he can't reposition himself is because he is still fighting with rick santorum to be the conservative alternative to mitt romney. mitt romney will get to that magic 1144 delegate count it will cost a lot to get there. >> tom? >> i think even though newt has had a wonderful career, he's the equivalent now of a beached whale. every once in a while the tail slaps the sand and makes noise, but no amount of super pac money will get him back to the ocean. he should lean back, enjoy the grandchildren and have a big bowl of vanilla cello ice cream. >> he says that with no expressi expression. dean. >> i love being on this panel. i agree with everyone. it's ridiculous. i want to say if newt gingrich makes a comeback, we'll all be eating ice cream and other frozen foods because that will mean hell has frozen over. if he starts eating any ice cream, i think in time he'll get bored with it and start eating a younger, more attractive ice cream. >> always a pleasure. >> thank you very much. stopping a woman's biological clock. fertility doctors are actually doing that with a relatively new medical technique. i'll show you how it's changing lives straight ahead. [ man ] predicting the future is hard. but i have this new smartphone. and now i can see everything more clearly. ♪ i can organize the analysis. sort through all the data. maybe even rattle some cages. i predict that i'm going to like the future. because the future is where i'll be serving up humble pie. a la mode. [ male announcer ] at&t introduces the samsung galaxy note. phone. tablet. both. ♪ since the news broke this morning we've been telling you about conservative blogger a andrew breitbart being found dead at the age of 43. on his website it says natural causes. we were talking to erick erickson who was told he could have died from a heart attack. the news is making its way across the country, conservative worlds. people like cnn contributor dana lash also having a hard time taking this news. dana joining us on the phone. a mentor and a friend to you, right? >> yes. andrew breitbart was a very dear friend. he was not just my employer over at the breitbart site. he was a mentor as well. just very difficult morning. it's just always difficult when you lose someone, especially someone who was such a voice for conservative politics. there were people who disagreed with andrew, sure. and he, to some, to many, seemed like a polarizing figure. once you got to know him, to know him was to like him regardless of what you thought about his politics. he had so much energy and was such a great, great man. >> dana, erick erickson called in about 20 minutes ago and heard he may have died from a heart attack. are you hearing what possibly may have caused his death? >> all i can say right now, is that it was natural and unexpected. i'm sure there will be more news from joel pollack, the counsel at breitbart. just unexpected and natural. it's a very sad loss today. >> i know this has been hard for you, because you were so close. what are the things you are going to remember? >> he inspired me in a lot of ways. he inspired me to look at journalism through new eyes. he inspired a lot of people like me who got through with new media, he inspired people to get out in politics and fight. i don't mean wivitriolic speechr anything, but there's battles that they engaged with the right as well, with republicans, he stood for truth. he was a very accessible person. he was a very fantastic speaker. i will say this, i never understood how he did this, he could go on stage with no notes at all, whatsoever, no idea of what he was going to speak about. he would give one of the greatest speeches, a 40-minute speech with nothing. just right there on the spot ad-lib. he was very gifted in that way and an inspirational figure. and a figurehead of conservative politics a figurehead of the tea party movement and a great void has been left in our movement. >> dana loesch, thank you very much for calling in. once again, conservative blogger andrew breitbart dead at the age of 43. carfirmation. only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey. this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. our machines help identify early stages of cancer and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life, matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn, and i'm a cancer survivor. [ mimi ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ erica ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ herb ] from the moment we walked in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been helped by their work. i was just blown away. life's been good to me. i feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world. ♪ checking stories across country now. the death toll from a massive storm system that slammed the midwest and south has climbed to 12. officials say three people were killed in tennessee last night. hours earlier the storm plowed through the midwest killing nine people, most of them in the city of harrisburg, illinois. a twister with 180-mile-per-hour winds destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses there. dozens of people were hurt. a smaller tornado touched down in the music resort city of branson, missouri. there were no fatalities but the state's governor says damage also total in the tens of millions of dollars. you can help those effected by the tornadoes, just go to cnn.com/impact, you'll find all the organizations and ways to help those in need. cnn.com/impact. postponing motherhood. a lot of us have had to do it for a variety of reasons, career, haven't found the right partner, divorce. that causes stress about our biological clock and having kids. but thanks to cutting edge technologies you now have options. freezing your eggs is one of them. >> just freeze the eggs. >> the ivf day starts with ultrasound monitoring. checking ovaries for development of eggs. blood tests, going upstairs and retrieving eggs, using surgery. getting those eggs into the lab. >> reporter: dr. jamie griffo may sound like an ordinary fertility doc. >> freeze the eggs. >> reporter: he's not. he's one of the world's leading scientists with the knowledge to stop a woman's reproductive clock. when you first discovered you could do this, what was your reaction? >> when we had our first baby from it it was very exciting. we knew this would help a lot of people. >> reporter: he uses a technique developed within the last decade called vitrification which freezes eggs about 100,000 times faster than the old method, it's still considered experimental. >> we weren't very good at freezing eggs. the ice crystal damage to the cell was the problem. using the vitrification process made it so like it was never frozen. >> grifo is the detector of nyu's fertility center. since using this new technique, he has seen a surge in new patients. there are now more than 900 frozen egg cycles safely secured in these liquid nitrogen tanks. he's made it his life's work to women when it comes to having children you have options. would it be fair to say you're actually stopping that biological clock from ticking for a moment. >> well, we're freezing that reproductive potential in time. so if a 30-year-old freezes her eggs, she freezes her 30-year-old potential. >> reporter: that's important, because as a woman gets older the quality of her eggs diminishes, making it harder to get pregnant. and many experts would suggest if you're a woman who wants to wait to have kids, you should freeze your eggs in your late 20s or early 30s. so how did i meet dr. grifo? he was 42 years old and wanted to get pregnant and it was under his watchful eyes i was blessed to have these beautiful twins through traditional ivf. it was during my pregnancy that dr. grifo told me about wi vittrification. >> it's a hope, not a promise. it allows women to be more thoughtful about how they conduct their lives and think about their fertility. >> reporter: women like 37-year-old kathleen cooper. >> the information that i'm look for -- >> reporter: who has a high-powered job in new york's frenetic banking industry. with two sisters and a really tight family, katherine knew she wanted a family. she also wanted a career. babies would have to wait. how do you balance your want for a baby but also your want to have a really successful career? >> the balance part is tricky. so obviously i really want to have a baby. i just don't want to have one right now. >> reporter: so her gynecologist sent her to dr. grifo, the leading specialist in the new york area. >> she brought up the fact that my fertility was going to decline rapidly over the next several years and that i should consider freezing my eggs. >> reporter: she decided to take the leap. but it took three months to get an appointment. then katherine started the process to harvest the most eggs she could. a daunting series of hormone shots. >> once i had everything all mixed up, i'm looking at this needle saying i know that's the wrong needle. it's so big. so i just decided to insert it halfway and hope for the best. >> bottom line, it wasn't easy. >> no. no. it wasn't easy. >> reporter: after two weeks of ramping up egg production, katherine's lucky number was 13. >> that's 13 chances at having a baby. >> sure. yes. the odds are pretty good if i choose to use them, plus it's not as if i'm doing this because i'm infertile. i don't know that i have fertility problems. i'm doing it to create options in my life. >> reporter: 13 options frozen in time until katherine says go. so considering the cost, the shots, what it felt like it was not an easy process. was it worth it? >> completely worth it. no doubt in my mind worth it. >> reporter: i was thinking about this you're like the ultimate ladies man. you have gotten so many women pregnant. >> well, you know -- >> reporter: have you ever thought of it that way? >> no. other people have. >> reporter: but actually dr. grifo is very old-fashioned. he hopes his patients like katherine can conceive naturally, but if they can't, he's at least been able to freeze a little bit of hope. and you can join me and dr. sanjay gupta this weekend for an in-depth look at the amazing medical breakthroughs enabling infertile couples to realize their dreams of parenthood. cnn's baby quest airs saturday afternoon at 2:30 eastern time. straight ahead, a look at neighborhoods destroyed and so many lives shattered. the people devastated by these tornadoes, how do they recover? suzanne malveaux will talk with the governor of one of the states hit hard by these storms. we want to protect the house. right. but... home security systems can be really expensive. to save money, we actually just adopted a rescue panther. i think i'm goin-... shhh! we find that we don't need to sleep that much. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. here's some stories we're working on for you today. at 11:15 eastern time, john boehner holding his weekly news conference. li