And folks are probably wanting to get home from work. Dont. Stay put. This is very, very dangerous. This is a life or death situation going on here in northern alabama. So a tornado emergency. Looks like there could be a very large tornado on the ground. Weve been watching what we call velocity. The winds going toward and away from the radar. And this is continuing to track to the north and east. Were seeing these very strong cells continue to push at about 45 Miles Per Hour, wolf. So a very dangerous situation going on here. Possibly a very large tornado on the ground as we speak. Stay very safe. Yeah. Hope folks find a safe area to go to. All right, jennifer, well get back to you. I want to speak to an eyewitness. Scott is joining us on the phone. He saw a tornado on the ground in starkville, mississippi. Scott, tell us what you saw. Hi. Well, i actually intercepted a tornado near the town of lets see here. Just southeast of starkville. And tracked it into louisville to the northeast and intercepted it there and got the tornado going through the town and had debris falling from the sky and had big tile swatches and everything. It was going through the town of louisville. How much damage did you see, scott . On the southeast corner of town, it was impassable. It was pretty devastating. There are some foundations that were completely wiped off from what i glanced at as i was trying to get around the downed trees, so it looked really bad. How powerful did the storm seem to be . This was a pretty violent tornado. I would say this tornado was probably at one point almost three quarters of a mile wide. Thats a pretty significant tornado. And what are you seeing now . Is it over with . Has it passed . Where are you . Well, wolf, im actually in starksville at the moment. I am actually getting some gas because i tried to get gas in louisville before the tornado came and it knocked all the power out. I was in danger of losing or running out of gas. So i had to take it up to macue, thats direction near starkville to get gas. Have you ever seen anything like this before, scott . Not in the southeast. I usually chase in the plains, in kansas and oklahoma. But seeing this in the southeast was just, just crazy. Just something i dont want to ever see. It was an awful, awful situation. So where do you go next . What are you going to try to do . Well, theres a tornado warned storm just, i do believe its well, actually no, its still there. Its heading toward crawford, mississippi, near brooksville, and im going to try and reintercept that storm as i come from the north. And try to intercept it safely. Scott, hold on for a moment. Jennifer gray is still with us, our Severe Weather meteorologist. Jennifer, you want to weigh in . Ask scott a question . Yeah. I know, scott, weve had a couple of these tornado more than emergencies. Weve had particularly dangerous situations the past few days. Reiterate how important it is for people to heed these warnings. Dont get on the roads. This is a very dangerous situation, life or death. Just because you guys are out chasing the storms, just kind of shed some light on how dangerous the situation is for today. Right. Right. If you are at work and youre there already, stay there because thats more than likely if youre in a sturdy building, large building, thats going to be better than trying to make it out going to your house. Because youre going to get caught out in. You can hydroplane and slide off the road. Its not just the tornadic storms but even hydroplaning. Its very dangerous. So i would just stay where you are. If youre at home, take shelter. If youre at work, stay there until you have the all clear. All right. Scott, i want you to be careful out there. Scott peake chasing this storm. Well stay in close touch with you, scott. Jennifer, before i let you go, just update viewers who may be tuning in right now on the very latest were getting. Yeah, weve been talking about these very, very ferocious storms just in the northern part of alabama. I want to mention this new warning thats popped up. This is just on the north side of jackson, mississippi. One of the more Populated Areas as we know. This Tornado Warning for heinz and madison county. Madison and ridgeland. In effect until 6 30 p. M. A very, very dangerous storm. We also have one as you can see just on its heels, bolten and edwards in the next couple of minutes. If youre outside the jackson, mississippi, area, in the suburbs, you can see just outside find your safe place. Another storm is headed straight for you. So extremely dangerous, not only outside of jackson, mississippi, but outside of huntsville, alabama. Were seeing two very, very dangerous storms headed your way. Very dangerous. We know what happened in arkansas yesterday. Today, mississippi, heading toward alabama. But you also say other states including iowa and illinois, they should be bracing for tornadoes . Give us a sense of how widespread this extreme weather is moving. Yeah. Absolutely. Let me show you. Im going to zoom out and were seeing storms anywhere from iowa, like you said, all the way down to portions of eastern louisiana. And so as these storms continue to track to the east, it is going to be an extremely volatile, extremely dangerous situation as we go through the overnight hours. So this is a long line, and these storms are tracking at about 45, 50 Miles Per Hour at times. Thats why you get the warning, youve got to go. Very, very quickly. You cant wait any longer because a lot of times just as you get the warning, its right at your doorstep. So be very, very careful. This is a dangerous situation. It will be going on throughout the nighttime hours. And when the sun goes down, when it becomes nighttime, you cant see these storms anymore, thats when it becomes crucial that you have your weather radio. Heres that wide view i was trying to get for you, wolf. Look. See these severe storms, all the way, portions of illinois stretching through kentucky then were seeing that line, that strong line stretching from southern tennessee, alabama, mississippi, on into eastern louisiana. Millions and millions of people affected by this and these are very, very dangerous. We saw what happened in arkansas. Were unfortunately starting to see the same events unfold for mississippi. Well be with you, though, throughout the night. And were going to be monitoring it until this comes to an end. Potentially about 45 Million People at risk right now across the country. Jennifer, well get back to you. Well stay on top of this story. Just ahead, new video information coming into tthe situation room. 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They said russia has done, quote, precisely nothing to meet its obligations under the deal reached in geneva earlier this month intended to deescalateacc continuing to spark unrest. Clearly it took some time, more time than expected to get sanctions together in rough agreement with europe. Its hard to distinguish them, in fact, from the earlier round of sanctions. Administration Officials Say its just one step of many. With the crisis in ukraine only growing more violent, today the Obama Administration introduced new economic sanctions it says are designed to punish russia for orchestrating it. The sanctions focus on individuals tied to russian president vladimir putin. Including dmitry kozak, Deputy Foreign minister and head of putins 2004 president ial campaign. And igor sechin, president of rossneft, russias leading oil company, a close adviser to putin. The sanctions target nearly a dozen businesses tied to putins banker and believed to help manage the russian president s vast personal wealth. The penalties do not, however, target putin, himself. The goal here is not to go after mr. Putin personally. The goal is to change his calculous with respect to how the current actions that hes engages in in ukraine could have an adverse impact on the russian economy over the long haul. Reporter notably absent from the new measures are some of russias most powerful businessmen and companies, including the natural gas giant that supplies europe with most of its energy. Also absent for now, sanctions on entire sectors of the russian economy. Those omissions led to sharp criticism from capitol hill. This is basically a rehash of whats already occurred. So weve been pushing for a portion of sectoral sanctions, sanctions against some of the four of the largest Banking Institutions in russia so they would have an impact on the economy. Weve ended up with nothing more than a slap on the wrist approach today. Reporter with 40,000 to a,000 Russian Troops still poised on the border, many see a stealth invasion already under way. With prorussian militants occupying entire towns. One area, russian pop music blaring as masked gunmen stand guard. The militants also continue to hold european observers hostage, releasing just one for medical reasons. We have no indication when we will be sent home to our countries and to see our families. Sanctions on sectors will be held in reserves, say Administration Officials in the event that Russian Forces invade Eastern Ukraine. One official said that the administration does not want to use all its bullets at once while at the same time cautioning there is no single Silver Bullet to solve the crisis. I spoke to a senior Ukrainian Government official who told me the sanctions are, quote, a very good step but hopes not the final step in deterring russian actions in ukraine. Wolf, as you know, ukrainian officials in fact, theyre asking for bigger prices for russia to pay economically and also as youve noted many times asking for more significant military aid to push back this russian advance. Yeah, theyd like weapons from the u. S. And other countries. Theyre not getting those weapons right now. Jim, hold on for a moment. I want to get more on the violent clashes under way in ukraine right now. Cnn was on the scene as proukrainian marchers were stormed by prorussian militants armed with clubs and batons. Our Senior International correspondent arwa damon was there on the ground in Eastern Ukraine for us. Tell our viewers, arwa, what you personally eyewitnessed . Reporter yeah, wolf, all of this unfolding in city of donetsk where we are now. One thing painfully clear is the government in kiev is most certainly not in charge here and the police are either unwilling or incapable of reining in the chaos. Armed and menacing. The prorussian camp guaranteed that they are the absolute authority. Violently beating those who want to see a united ukraine. This was the scene just an hour earlier. Theres an entire row of buses filled with police here. They say that they want to protect the population at this small proukrainian demonstration. There had been various reports on social media that the prorussian camp might try to stop them from demonstrating, might try to block them. So not truly. There are security concerns and tensions have been rising, but those weve been talking to say that they need to oncome out especially at this critical junction and make sure that their voices are heard. The crowds have just started moving to their next destination and there have already been various unconfirmed reports at this stage that the prorussian camp, a few hundred of them, might be moving in this direction as well. The situation is rapidly escalating out of control. On that side, you have the prorussian camp with batons, possibly even some weapons in their hands. The police are trying to maintain a certain level of control over the situation, but they dont seem to be able to. A few of the wounded were treated on site. The prorussians victorious as they marched back to the Main Administration building they control. With the riot police staying well away. Were just waiting until peoples patience wears out, watching the sceptical by a minority he says. No sign of lets up. Wolf, the vast majority of people were talking to say they simply want stability. Osk of course the big question at this stage is how thats going to come about. A good question. Arwa damon as always on the front lines for us. Lets bring in some experts to discuss whats going on. Former u. S. Ambassador to ukraine steven pifer is with us and retired u. S. General james marks and jim schiutto is with us as well. Doe you think the ratcheted up u. S. Led sanctions, ambassador, are really going to impact putin . I think the sanctions will have some effect, but the expectation was that the sanctions were going to be more substantial. Certainly when you look at what was being said by the Administration Last week, you would have expected maybe some sanctions on major russian Financial Institutions and some other key individual. You dont think these Financial Institutions that have been sanctions, these cronies of putin are powerful voices in russia . It has an impact and certainly youre going after somebody very close to mr. Putin, but the banks that have been sanctioned earlier are small pocket banks mind guess is that the administration ratcheted back its plans because it doesnt want to get too far out in front of the europeans. The europeans have to find consensus among 28 countries so theyre more cautious. Theyre going to be impacted if the russians stop selling gas or oil to europe, germany, or other countries, the price per gallon is going to go way up over there. Theyre the ones who have the most to lose. As the ambassador indicated, theyre the ones that are most cautious. The United States and other nations cant gear up quickly enough to be an alternative to gas and oil thats coming out of russia. The administration, though, does say they dont want to shoot all of their bullets right now. Theyre holding out for more if putin doesnt back down. Thats right. Theyre saying really the sector sanctions that are going to be most punishing that the red line for that, excuse me for using the term, is using Russian Forces in numbers across the border in Eastern Ukraine. I spoke to senator bob corker today, is that the red line moves. Used to be the demand was to move the troops back from the border. Now the new one is just dont come in. You also hear criticism that by trying to seek so much unity with this group of 28 nations, that, in fact, the administration is negotiating down. Negotiating its leverage down and theres some who say, you know, the europeans want to be led here. They want to be led rather than follow. What do you say to that . I think its very clear if you had a Russian Military intervention with tens of thousands of troops in the Eastern Ukraine, those circumstance s youd have major sanctions applied by washington and europe. No question. You have a situation of a stealth invasion, Russian Special forces operating and that makes it more difficult to mobilize the europeans. Any indication how many of these stealth forces, paramilitary russian if you will, russian citizens coming into ukraine may be involved . We know some ukrainians are sympathetic to the russians obviously. Sure. I dont have a sense of the numbers. I would hazard to guess that our Intelligence Community does and has a pretty good sense of it. Lets not call them stealth. This is a form of and the fact that we have so many Russian Forces just across the border is really the provocation. I dont think we should, and i would hope that theres agreement here, i dont think we should wait for on invasion before we really get tough. General, thanks very much for joining us. Ambassador, thanks to you. Jim, were going to continue to monitor, obviously, this crisis, and it is a real crisis thats escalating in ukraine. Just ahead, more of our breaking News Coverage on the dangerous new tornado outbrea