here's what we're hearing. the country band sugarland was just about to take the is taken when that accident occurred. again, this video just coming into cnn. these are live pictures coming from our affiliate wthr. we're going to be following up on the news. ann ramsay was at the state fair on a ride and ann, you said you felt it shaking. was this weather, did a system come through you felt like? >> we were at the fair. i was with my kids and my sister-in-law back in the midway and all of a sudden is, the wind started blowing. things started blowing around. luckily, my son was ushered off the ride and people just started running and screaming. and i watched a mom and her daughter almost get trampled. the worker got her up and we got up to the front and tried to get on a tram to see if we could get to our car. and they shut the tram down and ushered us into a building for safety. and they said there were tornado warnings around. we had driven by the stage and you could see people emptying out and that the point, nothing looked like it had fallen. but when we got inside and they turned the news on to try to find out what the weather was going on, then they started showing from our local station that the stage had collapsed. and we could all stand and see. >> hey. ann, i want you to stand by. don't go anywhere. i want to bring in erin richmond who was at the stage when it happened. are you there? >> i am. >> erin, tell us where you were and what happened. >> well, i was sitting in the grandstand watching the concert. as the opening act had just finished, one of the announcers came on to tell us that sugarland was going to try and perform a few of their songs. before the actual storm came in, and usually probably like a few minutes after that, a big gust of wind came through. you could see a lot of people panicking and just all the scaffolding and speakers and i mean just all that came crashing down and the whole stand just collapsed. landing on the vip section at the very front. probably injuring at least a dozen people. it looked like there were many people underneath the stage, police and ambulance everywhere. really chaotic. >> i was just going to ask you, did you see people trapped? were people screaming for help in did can you see debris on top of anyone? >> it did look like there was people trapped underneath the stage. right now, i mean it, people were just going crazy, a lot of people trying to get underneath to get people out from under there. i could not tell you how many people were trapped under there, at least a few. >> okay, stand by. i want to update viewers if you're just joining us now, we're following breaking news here on cnn from the indiana state fair in indianapolis, indiana. wthr. a stage collapsed during a concert there. according to the indianapolis star website, high winds toppled the stage rigging between the opening and main acts of this outdoor concert. we're being told the country band sugarland was just about to take the is taken when the accident occurred. we're on the phone with aaron richmond who said there were people trapped in front. did a big wind gust come through? tell us about the conditions at the time of this collapse. >> it was not -- you could definitely see the storm coming in. you could just feel the wind picking up, and it just rolled right through and then that's when the storm just like blew right through. >> okay. aaron, stand by. we're going to go back now to ann ramsay. ann was at the fair, she was on a ride. so ann, did you feel a big gust of wind and according to aaron, he said it wasn't raining at the time. but what were the conditions like where you were in that part of the park? >> you could see the sky just darkening and black and clouds circling. there was a huge gust of wind and things started blowing. also, the stands, the games, people were scrambling. those workers were scrambling to try to get things off the games. people started running and the rides immediately shutdown. >> ann, thank you very much. aaron, thank you. at least a dozen people hurt at a concert and fair at the indiana state fair in indianapolis when a stage collapsed. it appears, we don't know for sure, there was a big gust of wind possibly that contributed to all of this happening. but again, we're going to continue to follow breaking news and try to get some sort of official, some sort of representative from the area to tell us exactly what happened. but again, according to the people who were there one young man we spoke to aaron richmond said he was at the stage when it collapsed and he said there were people who were trapped underneath. he managed to get away but at least 12 people didn't, we are told. we're going to continue to follow this breaking news right here on cnn. don't go anywhere. minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann winning one of the first major tests for the republicans seeking the oval offices in 2012. bachman beat all the other competitors to win with 29% of the vote. in her speech today, back mon declared "we are the team that can't be beat." here are the full results from the iowa straw poll right here. texas congressman ron paul had a very strong showing in second place behind bachman. for minnesota governor tim pawlenty game in third and rick santorum took fourth place. her man cain took the number five spot. texas governor rick perry came in sixth. he wasn't even on the ballot. all of his support came from write-in votes. he just declared his candidacy in the south carolina just hours before the poll results came out. listen. >> it is time to get america working again and that's why with the support of my family and unwavering belief in the goodness of america, i declare to you today as a candidate for president of the united states. >> well, perry definitely casts a long shadow over the iowa straw poll. he beat the man whom many called the overall front-runner in this race and that's mitt romney. romney came in seventh ahead of former speaker of the house newt gingrich who was in eighth place and former utah governor jon huntsman placed ninth in the poll and coming in last, michigan congressman thaddeus mccotter. there is still one republican name we haven't mentioned and she hasn't even declared but definitely making her presence felt in this race. we're talking about of course, none other than former alaska governor sarah palin who paid a visit to the iowa, but insisted to me personally she wasn't stealing the spotlight. we're going to hear more from sarah palin later on in this broadcast. we've got part of the best political team on television with us to break down this straw poll. with me in ames is cnn political producer shannon travis and mark preston is standing by in greenland, new hampshire, another early primary state where rick perry traveled after leading south carolina. shannon, is it a surprise to anyone michelle won this poll? >> it's not much of a surprise michele bachmann won this contest. she was widely expected to win. she entered the late a little bit later than competitors. some of the headlines emerging tomorrow other than she won this race, one, a lot of people were questioning whether she had the organization to win. she had the passion, she had the buzz but did she have the organization. it takes a whole lot of money and volunteers and staff to get people to come to these contests in the middle of a hot saturday. she did that. the second headline is you know michele bachmann is a tea party darling running against washington. a lot of people dismissed her as you saw the news week cover, the queen of ranl or what have you. she won a very traditional contest. this is a traditional republican nominating contest. and so can she be dismissed as just the tea party darl, the queen of rage after this win? this legitimate mizes her in a lot of ways. >> after a very strong showing. let's move on because rick santorum told candy crowley if he didn't come in a certain position, he was going to get out of the race. is it good enough for him to stay in the race? >> he told candy crowley he had to place in the top five. he narrowly made that. that might be enough to keep his campaign alive for a little bit longer. now we're moving into phase two of this campaign and donors will be looking at who's really serious, who should we give our money to. that will be a major major thing for him whether he can convince voters that a fourth place finish is good enough. >> mark preston, tim pawlenty we're told spent a lot of money trying to win this thing but he only came in third. is this it for him? >> well, we're already seeing the headlines right now that tim pawlenty's campaign for the white house is doomed if not over. but the fact of the matter is, i believe it's going to go on. the question is, what will he do with his campaign structure? will he try to live on the land, what they say in political speak, meaning will he try to live in iowa and new hampshire with a scaled down staff and will he stay in the midget to the back of the pack and hope that one of the front-runners such as mitt romney or looks like governor perry at this point stumbles and will there be an opening. right now tim pawlenty has said he's going to stay in the race. the question is will he have the money and how long will he stay in the race. >> all right. there's a reason you're in greenland, new hampshire right now because you're following rick perry. mark, what does it say about perry that he came in sixth in the poll just hours after he announced his candidacy and he wasn't even on the ballot? >> no, he wasn't on the ballot. we should note there was an organizing effort that was supportive of rick perry, was not backed by rick perry meaning he did not have much if anything to do with it. but there was an organizing effort that tried to get people to write his name on the ballot. the interesting thing about rick perry is he plays very well in social conservative circles. and in iowa specifically the straw poll is dominated by social conservatives. so it shouldn't be too surprising that he playses sixth in the straw poll. fact of the matter is today down in south carolina and here in new hampshire, he didn't talk about social conservative issues. he talked about the number one issue facing the corrupt right now. that's the economy and i believe that's all we're going to hear from rick perry in the coming weeks as he now has launched his presidential campaign. >> all right. mark preston there in new hampshire. and also shannon travis joining me right here in ames, iowa. appreciate both of you. good analysis. more analysis coming up next. republican strategist alex cas tell lan knows on the results of the straw poll and rick perry's entry into the field. speaking of perry, we'll show you a lot more of his announcement that he made this afternoon. he's already creating buzz among republicans. also, will a tweet lead to possible criminal charges? 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[ female announcer ] yoplait greek. it is so good. it's pretty good! it is so good. you could save a bundle with geico's multi-policy discount. geico, saving people money on more than just car iance. ♪ geic all right. this is our breaking news on cnn. there has been a stage collapse at the indiana state fair. you're look at live pictures there from our affiliate wthr. we're told right now, at least, a dozen people were injured. a dozen people injured in this when that stage collapsed. people who were there on the scene said a strong gust of wind came through. we're reaching out to sources on the ground to see exactly what happened and what contributed to this. the band sugarland was just about to play and here's what they're saying now on twitter. we are all right, they're saying. we are praying for our fans and the people of indianapolis. we hope you'll join us. they need your strength. again, that's our breaking news. there's been a stage collapse, a lot of people hurt. we're going to continue to follow it on cnn and we're going to talk politics now. thank you, everyone, for coming today and thank you so much. what we saw happen today is this is the very first step toward taking the white house in 2012. and you have just sent a message that barack obama will be a one-term president. >> oh, michele bachmann and her campaign feeling lots of energy today and very proud. the tea party members and supporters are celebrating the win in the iowa straw poll win. bachman is a driving force of the tea party on capitol hill, heading the tea party caucus in the house of representatives. i want to bring in cnn contributor alex. before i get your reaction, listen to more reaction from michele bachmann and then you and i will talk. >> let's talk. >> thank you, everyone. we did this together. thank you, everyone, for coming today and thank you so much. what we saw happen today. >> so listen, again, do you think other members of the tea party, other members of the tea party running in this race, should they be worried about bachman now that she has won this? >> it's now a three-person race, mitt romney, michele bachmann and the new guy, rick perry. so yeah, she's credentialed herself today but she's got a tough choice. now she's got to decide does she try to outconservative rick perry like she did pawlenty or try to demonstrate she can beat barack obama in a general election. >> i wanted to pose that question to her today because you said earlier that this is either the beginning of her campaign or the end of her campaign. she either has to appeal to a broad base and become the nominee or to a group, to i an core group. >> yes, is she pat buchanan or ronald reagan. she doesn't have to abandon her principles or anything she believes. but can she make her principles work on a larger audience? a big test for her, probably not. her history is she's more of a social conservative and she needs to talk economy. how are we going to create jobs. >> she needs to talk economy. >> yeah. >> among other things, is that what you believe she's not -- she's not hitting that point hard enough? >> not strong enough now and running against a governor of texas who's created jobs, a businessman. she's a congresswoman. she needs to fill that space quickly. >> she won today but rick perry had some disagree it was a strong showing bau considering how much he only got 700 or so. but to not even be here and to declare today, what does that say? does this change the game plan for everyone, including michele bachmann. >> rick perry had a good day today. i'm not the biggest fan but he gave a pretty good speech today. >> why not? >> well, there's a question of authenticity with rick perry i think. a lot of people think he's a coffee table book, a lot of pretty pictures and no text. and presidential campaigns are tough. they test you that way. but he's going to be tested. that's for voters to decide, not me. right now, he's a jobmaker in texas. romney is a jobmaker as a businessman. michele bachmann needs to make her case quickly. >> if you have any more advice for bachman or anyone, perry, anyone in this race now because you and i talked about, you know, organized campaigns, disorganized campaigns, how you run your campaign is how you're going to run the white house. what advice, let's start with bachman. you said talk economy. what advice would you give her beyond that? >> go to new hampshire tomorrow. put a 21-point plan together how you're going to grow america's economy, your strategy for america's success in a global frontier. >> perry? >> perry, perry's conservative enough to win. his i think biggest challenge is going to be not only authenticity but it's going to be is he an echo of the last election. george bush, texas, same kind you have ideology. same texas boots and we lost. is he a sequel to the movie that nobody went to see last time? he's got to distinguish himself from that. >> ron paul was second. does he stand a chance? he's very popular here. you can't walk an inch without seeing a butcher sticker, a button, something, a t-shirt, a tattoo of him. but does he stand a chance? >> and sometimes the most intense campaigns are the least successful. george mcgovern, barry goldwater. he doesn't travel. he doesn't appeal to anything beyond a very narrow base. but it's funny. he's become almost an elder statesman. a lot of things he said about the economy and sound money, now everybody's saying. >> saying the same thing. so as we go before beat go to break here, that's your final advice for everyone? i'm going to let you put a stamp on it, if you will. >> the race is down to really i think two now, mitt romney and rick perry. may the best man win. >> not michele bachmann? >> i don't think she'll make it. >> you heard it. alex cas tell lan knows, really appreciate it. up next here on cnn, what the democrats think of today's gop straw poll. debbie wasserman schultz drops by and speaks with us and we have a reminder we are following breaking news out of indiana. a is taken at the state fair has collapsed where the country band sugarland was scheduled to perform. this is new video. you see all of the emergency workers there on the scene. it's from our affiliate wthr. there are numerous injuries. at lot of count, there were at least a dozen people. don't go anywhere. i know you're gonna love. 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[ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. another healthful, flavorful beneful. a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. democrats were few and far between here and ames, iowa, today, site of the republican straw poll but we did catch up with the head of the democratic national committee, debbie wasserman schulze and asked her whether president obama has anything to fear from any of the republicans in today's poll. >> michele bachmann and ron paul and the entire collection of republican candidates are totally out of step with what the average ameri