much more on the deadly tornado in joplin e. missouri. but lisa sylvester is it monitoring the top stories in the situation room. what is going on? air traffic controllers are bracing for a dense cloud of ash from a volcano in iceland. it s already reached london s heathrow s airport and is expected to engulf all of the area in a matter of hours. boxing great ali is calling for the release of the two american hikers jailed in iran and is appealing to the country. also on hand, the third hiker, sarah shourd, released in september. the two men are currently awaiting trial on spying charges. u.s. officials maintain that they are innocent. and the mastermind behind
relations. are the tensions of recent days any worse? any better? i m wolf blitzer and you re in the situation room. first, breaking news this hour. a large tornado has been spotted on the ground in oklahoma and storm-ravaged missouri is being hit by severe weather and possible in the coming hours, searchers in joplin have been taking advantage of the break in the bad weather for a few hours now. 17 people have been pulled alive from the rubble as of last night. but the death toll is far greater. up to 118 right now and that makes this the deadliest single tornado on record in the united states since the weather service began keeping records 60 years ago. almost 500 people have been killed by tornadoes in this country so far this year, including one in that storm and a security camera gives another look at the power of the twisters and how much damage they can do literally in an instant. now more on the twister reported on the ground in oklahoma just minutes ago. the danger