begin this hour, with the rising death toll from the tornado outbreak that has ripped across much of the south and midwest just minutes ago, officials in illinois confirmed for more storm related deaths, the overall death toll over the last 24 hours now jumps to 21 lives lost more than 50. tornadoes have been reported in seven states. in the south and the midwest. the state of emergency now blankets, much of arkansas and the national guard is rolling into devastated communities. there are reports of at least a dozen tornadoes touching down in the state. these images are of the hard hit town of wynne, arkansas, and that s where we find cnn s derek van dam. jim i was just talking to my crew a moment ago, and the scene behind us reminds us of being on the set of a major blockbuster movie. i mean, just look at what we have with this destruction coming out of wynne, arkansas, that is a church steeple that was blown off by this tornado. look at the incredible damage in front of tha
Student athletes huge moment for the players and universities. millions of people tuning in. there were thousands of fans just in the practice yesterday, jim and maybe the wildest men s final four ever for the first time, there is not a 12 or three seeds. and in the men s national semifinal after tonight, we ll find out who will be dancing their way into the final, jim calling. my bracket is a shambles. i don t even want to put i don t even want to tell the american people where i had these teams in the final four, whose teams i had in the final four because it s just embarrassing, but coy. i m sure i m not alone in that category. thanks so much. we look forward to tonight. appreciate it. ah severe weather is slamming several states this afternoon, the latest on what s happening now and on the recovery from last night s powerful storms that s coming up to live in the cnn newsroom. vanda mononje broughght to you by real steel. find yours at ststeel usa .com.