uncovered video from one family as they run for their lives, in their own words. large tornado, guys. large tornado. >> caught on camera. funnel clouds bearing down on the midwest. the damage is heavy, and there's more to come with tornado warnings in effect as we go on the air tonight. i'm don lemon in the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. the news starts right now. and we begin with a developing story out of libya. there may be a breakthrough in the attempt to end a nearly two-month-old civil war. african leaders say moammar gadhafi has agreed in principal to a road map for peace, but the deal isn't done yet. the delegation is headed to benghazi tomorrow to talk to the opposition, a group very skeptical about gadhafi's ties to the au. cnn's fred pleitgen with our top story tonight from tripoli. >> reporter: a defiant moammar gadhafi waves to crowds of supporters at his compound in tripoli. the libyan leader trying to display confidence as many world leaders are calling for him to relinquish power. gadhafi met with african union leaders who are on a mission to stop the fighting between his forces and the rebels. it's been a very long time since we've been able to get this close to libyan leader moammar gadhafi. this is clearly a very important moment for him here with these leaders of the african union. they say they want to broker a cease-fire as fast as possible. late sunday night the au announced progress. gadhafi has allegedly agreed to terms for negotiations laid out by the african union, including an immediate cease-fire and the need for a force to monitor the truce according to south africa's president. >> i think it's efficient for me to say as the leader of the delegation they have accepted the road map as presented by the -- >> for more on this we're joined now by frederik pleitgen in tripoli. heard talk of a cease-fire before. any indications that this will work? >> reporter: well, there certainly are a lot of people who are very skeptical about whether or not this has any chance of working. one of the things that's clearly a big problem is that the gadhafi troops and gadhafi himself has announced unilateral cease-fires before, and yet nato keeps saying he still is shelling civilians in places like misrata and also in places like eastern libya and judging from the name of the past, doesn't seem to be very much hope there but sticks to a cease-fire. the other thing, yes, the libyan leaders are very, very skeptical of this by the african union because they are still very close to gadhafi. gadhafi has given a lot of money to this organization in the past to allow the countries who are members of the african union in the past, and clearly jacob zuma in particular, the head of south africa, and right now the leader of this initiative by the african union, is someone who from the get-go is very, very skeptical of the no-fly zone, of the u.n. resolution, so certainly it is a group that the rebels will see. we'll see tomorrow as to whether or not the rebels are willing to talk about this initiative. would i say the most positive thing about this, don, at least some group is making an effort to try and get these two sides to start talking, don. >> this will be the big story tomorrow. thank you, frederik pleitgen. this is a pretty strong looking elephant trunk nighttime tornado. two of them, dual funnels, look at that. >> look at that indeed. that's the voice of a very brave storm chaser, and this is the incredible nighttime video that he shot as two ferocious funnel clouds pummeled rural iowa. in total three tornadoes ripped through the state on saturday, but this was by far the worst. quarter mile long twister that levelled entire blocks of the tiny town of mapleton. miraculously though no one was killed. only minor injuries to report to you tonight. but it did live this behind. there's the damage so devastating that the governor declared it a disaster area. today shellshocked residents returned to see what, if anything, was still standing. red cross and the national guard are in the state right now. officials say utilities could be out for two weeks. more on this in just a moment here on cnn. want to go to north carolina right now. hail as large as baseballs. that's what people saw just outside of charlotte last night. hail so large it easily shattered car windows. a very nasty storm, and it swept through the carolinas causing quite a bit of damage. nine people were injured when they were hit by lightning at a dog show in burke county in western north carolina. you can hear the burning sound right there. that is wildfires. they continue to burn through tens of thousands of acres across north and west texas. bracing for what could have been one of the biggest outbreaks of wildfires in state history. the texas forest service now says fifth verse gotten the upper hand finally. six new fires that started today were quickly brought under control. and that is north of the texas border. that's in oklahoma today. the governor extended a state of emergency for seven counties to help battle wildfires. a prolonged drought isn't helping, and fire fighters on the ground and in the air battle hot spots for this enormous grass fire near the town of cleveland. more than 350 people were forced to flee the area. so far, there have been no reports of injuries. and folks in fargo, north dakota, are breathing a little easier tonight. that's because so far those dikes and sandbags holding back the bloated red river have worked. the river crested at near 40 feet earlier today. just under the 40-foot levee. lighter than expected rainstorms helped stave off massive flooding. more now from the cnn severe weather center, and as i said as we go on the air, still tornado warnings over parts of the country. bad weather all over. >> reporter: a large swath of real estate in the central united states that is engulfed by the severe weather extending all the way from wisconsin and michigan down towards dallas. take a look at this line, and along it we are seeing embedded thunderstorms. some of these embedded thunderstorms capable of producing heavy downpours, frequent lightning and the possibility of tornadoes. had a report just to the west of oshkosh, wisconsin. they are saying that could possibly be a tornado. doppler radar indicated some twisting in the atmosphere. here you see these purple-shaded areas. those indicate tornado warnings which expire over the next several minutes. green bay, you're just in line for the storms to move in your direction as well. we've got some pictures from the aftermath mapleton, iowa. take a look at this. it bent over telephone poles. they are saying this was an ef-3, an enhanced fujita 3. winds topping 165 miles per hour. minor injuries reported here. the red cross at one point was going in to do an assessment and to help the folks there, and now they were saying that there was the potential for a gas leak there, so major repairs to be done there over the months, in fact years. >> in fact on sunday nights, we try to get people up to speed on what their commute might be like tomorrow. tomorrow's commute tonight, karen? >> we've got some idea of what to expect and then the northeastern corridor, we're looking at perhaps the lengthiest delays as the weather system moves across the northeast. chicago, i think you'll start out with some clouds. you'll certainly see some wet weather in store. delays not going to be very significant. out of the washington, d.c. metro areas, and also in philadelphia, you're looking at windy conditions starting the morning out with clouds and maybe rain later in the day. salt lake city. it is snowfall over the next several days. >> snow, rain, hail, fire, and wind from the tornado. >> a lot happening. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. bitter fighting in the ivory coast to tell you b.bodies litter the street. refugees are fleeing the countries as two politicians battle for control. we have the latest coming up. plus, incredible video of the moment the tsunami hit the japanese coast. it is new video of a couple who recorded it. their narrow escape on camera. >> and here's a reminder for you. you have a voice on this show. it's as easy as logging on. find me at don lemon.cnn on twitter. i mean i love that card. it does things differently too. great customer service, going above and beyond to help me out as a small business. it's accepted in twice as many places around the world as american express, and if i ever need to give my employees ink cards, they're free. announcer: make your mark with ink. chase what matters. go to chase.com/ink. i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪ a civil war in the ivory coast leads our top stories at this hour. the united nations is getting aggressive there. today its military helicopters fired on this naval base and other weapons positions of self-declared papt laurent gres gbagbo who has refused to step down since losing an election in november. they had to take out gbagbo's strongholds to prevent his use of heavy nuclear weapon on civilians and u.n. peacekeepers. libyan leader moammar gadhafi made a rare public appearance during his break with african leaders. during the talks, african union officials said gadhafi agreed to a road map for peace toned his country's civil war. no details were released, but it's believed to include an immediate cease-fire. the au delegation will travel to benghazi tomorrow for talks with the opposition. former egyptian president hosni mubarak is speaking out for the first time since a revolution that ousted him from power two months ago. in an audio message aired by al arabiya tv, mubarak denied he amassed billions in wealth during three years in power -- three decades in power. his remarks come as a public prosecutor wants to question mubarak and his sons about violence against protesters and corruption allegations. monday marks one month since a massive exand tsunami devastated japan and triggered a nuclear crisis. today about 2,000 protesters march in front of tepco, the headquarters in tokyo, calling for japan's nuclear power station to be shut down. protesters say they are concerned about the long-term effects of radiation. the 75th masters golf tournament is history, and we have a new champion. he is not a household name. he is charl schwartzel, a 26-year-old south african. schwartzel finished with a 66 today with birdies on the final four holes for a two-stroke victory. tiger woods closed with a 67 and tied for fourth, four strokes back. we've seen some incredible video from the earthquake and tsunami in japan, and coming up, new video that shows a couple who barely escaped the powerful tsunami. 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[ sirens wailing ] >> that was the sound of emergency alarms just moments after that massive tsunami washed up on the japanese coast one month ago. a month since we first heard the news. first saw the devastating pictures of the tsunami and the earthquake and even after an entire month firsthand accounts are still coming in. we came across a new one today, and it conveys the personal horror that people felt in a way few videos have. now as you watch this video, you'll hear the terrified voices of a couple as they watch the tsunami crash ashore and then run for their lives. . >> and now to the nuclear disaster there. the crisis that has crippled the fukushima daiichi power plant has number this disaster-torn country on edge, but one journalist determined to get the facts traveled deep into the evacuation zone to monitor radiation levels and see the damage for himself. and what he saw was surreal. with radiation detectors on the dash, they enter the evacuation zone, just 30 kilometers, 18.5 miles from the highly radioactive nuclear plant. the radiation levels are detectible, 21 kilometers from the reactors. stray dogs roam freely. as they get closer 20 kilometers, no traffic light and only two other cars on the road, and at 17 kilometers the radiation levels set off the detector's alarm. and they see truck drivers in radiation proof suits and heavy-duty gas masks and 18 kilometers in higher radiation levels and the road is out. they have to find another route via gps. along the way, more farm animals and except for a few lone drivers this, town is abandoned. at three kilometers, they had to get out and walk. the levels keep rising. the damage is unimaginable. more walking, more abandoned dogs. somehow they find a way around the damage by car, and finally their mission to the infamous fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant just under a mile away, mission terminated. we have some breaking news we want to tell you about. at the top of the broadcast we told you about the bad weather hitting a wide swath of the country, particularly tornadoes and warnings. we're hearing that a tornado has been spotted now in green bay. karen, tell us what's going on? >> well, don, we have a tornado that has been spotted by storm spotters just to the north of brillion. brillion is to the east or to the west of green bay, and what we're looking at is quite a bit of activity in the area. we don't have any reports. they say it's a tornado from weather spotters, and it looks to be that -- if they say it's a tornado, that must mean it's on the ground as opposed to a funnel cloud, but it is this particular cluster or this particular super cell. here we go with sheboygan down here, so just to give you an idea of where there is, but it is this cell right here that trained storm spotters say that there was a tornado spotted right across or just to the north of brillion, and the tornado warning will expire in just about 10 or 12 minutes from now, but we'll keep you updated on that. don? >> karen, thank you. keep an eye on that. again, a tornado spotted on the ground, according to our meteorologist and storm spotters in the green bay area. take cover if you're anywhere in that area. >> exact. >> i thank you, karen. make sure you stay tuned because we'll continue to report on that. a shutdown averted i want to tell you about. a memorial remains opens, so what happens next? president obama headed out to greet the people after that late-night budget deal on friday, but the battles ahead could be even tougher. we'll preview the next budget showdown straight ahead. but first, over the next few weeks high school seniors will make their final decisions about where to attend college, and then comes a scram to be pay for it chr christine romans is here >> if you're taking out a loan, be careful about it. gone are the days of the five year plan. tuition is up 439%. you can't afford to stick around and you can't afford to switch majors three times. make a plan and stick to it. the key is to find out what you're good at, what you enjoy and what someone will pay you to do. and how much money should you borrow for college? a good rule of thumb is this. don't borrow more money than you expect to earn in your first year working. that's another reminder that we all need to be saving more. don? >> all right, christine. thank you very much. back with more news after a break. people have all kinds of retirement questions. no problem. td ameritrade has all kinds of answers. call us for quick help opening your new ira. or an in-depth talk with a retirement expert. like me. stop by my branch for a free retirement check-up. retirement hows and how-muches? 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>> well, the first, maybe the second definitely, definitely not. signed an executive order to close down guantanamo within a year. one of the first executive orders he signed. something he talked about incessantly on the campaign trail. it was a big, big part of his appeal. it was a big part of his campaign, and it's all by gone now and in fact the announcement happened to come on the same day he announced that he was running for re-election so in some ways he stepped on his own story. clearly eric holder, his attorney general was not happy at having to make that announcement. the reality is that reality intervened at a time when it was -- we had to sort of make a decision about are we going to try these people in civilian courts the way the president had promised, turned out nobody wanted to do it, not new york, not even the president's home state of illinois, and so the polls show that a majority of the country actually likes what he did by sending the whole thing back to guantanamo, but no question that it's a major campaign promise that was just absolutely broken. >> so as you said it's a political reality setting in. what about the timing? did they time it that way on purpose to sort of downplay the headline of this? >> you know, it's interesting. i talked to a number of political consultants who couldn't believe that the president had stepped on his own re-election message in that it was done very inartfully, that it could have been done on a friday night or it could have been done in some other way. certainly the attorney general did not have to stand at a podium and rail against the decision, even as he was announcing, it basically saying that he was doing it under protest, but this -- this white house, look, the perspiration, their messaging is not perfect. this is a case that they were clearly beaten. simply thwarted and, again, it was the mood of the country that changed. it was the congress that changed. and in the end they had no choice but to throw in the towel. >> you said they could have done it on a friday night. a little bit busy on friday, and on that note on the budget, how would you assess his performance? >> well, i think the president came out of it fine. i mean, almost everybody involved real declaim some measure of victory, and as you folks have been reporting, this really just sets the stage for the next showdown, and the next showdown is a realone. if a few tourists can't go to see the stat you've liberty or the lincoln memorial, that's unfortunate. if military pay and other federa