>> it's hard to put into words the sheer force of the monster tornados that have hammered the midwest this week. look at this amazing twister caught on tape in chick cache, oklahoma. >> it's crossing the road white where we were [ bleep ]. >> slow down. get out your window. get out your window. >> i am. that i can that shed. >> watch behind you. you're good. don't push. oh, my god! back up. oh, no. stop. oh, no, what did it destroy? running back. slow down. no, slow down. debris. >> and near sean knee, oklahoma, more video of a tornado literally ripping this giant semi to shreds. the 29-year-old driver believes he was either sucked from the window or fell out as it was happening. he was treated for a fractured shoulder bone and some scrapes. other than that, he's fine. in joplin, missouri, the sight of the killer tornado that's captured the world's attention, one pastor survived, says he doesn't know which was louder, the wind outside his church or the praying inside. our lisa sylvester has dramatic pictures and stories from the disaster. >> oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. there it is. there it is. >> the monster tornado whipped up winds of 190 to the 198 miles per hour. you can't see much here, but listen as the tornado hows through. captured with a cell phone camera. >> i love you. >> jesus, jesus, jesus, heavenly father, thank you, jesus. >> isaac duncan was among those huddled with 20 others in an industrial refrigerator. >> everyone was kind of just deciding what to do, and all of a sudden, the glass in the front of the building just got sucked out. basically the only thing left standing was the cooler that we were in. everything, everything around it was gone. >> houses and businesses left behind like broken twigs. joplin st. joseph's hospital lies in tatters. >> absolutely devastated. the windows have blown out. there's debris hanging outside of the windows. >> everything out of place, including this wheelchair. >> it's indescribable. i don't know what to say other than that. i've never seen anything like it. >> i'm 22 years old. i have a wife and two kids, 14 months old. we lost everything in the tornado. we're just trying to salvage what we can. >> reporter: the tornado cut a path four miles long and left an unbelievable trail mowing down anything in its way, but out of this, amazing stories from survivors. >> i was trapped in the bathroom because all the dining room furniture came in. and because i thought it was buried. it was a very, very long tornado. >> we've got a lot of people that he have died. and this city is a resilient city and it was very humbling all through the night. nobody could sleep, but we could hear emergency vehicles driving in from areas hundreds of miles away. so, it's a sad time for our city, but at the same time, you know, we're thankful for the people who are coming together and helping. >> lisa sylvester reporting for us. hundreds of fabs and loved ones are dead, injured or missing. much of the city is in ruins. homes, schools, businesses destroyed. joplin's residents face an overwhelming challenge as they gradually move from rescue to recovery and now to trying to rebuild. brian todd reached joplin within hours after the twister stuck. it's almost a week. this disaster is breathtaking. >> it is, wolf. we were among the first teams of journalists on the ground in joplin shortly after the tornado struck. we came across entire neighborhoods wiped out. houses, buildings, completely flattened for as far as the eye could see. and local residents who were wandering around practically in a days. daze. >> shell shocked residents rattle through what was once a vibrant neighborhood. in seconds the tornado reduced nearly a third of the steph joplin to flattened board, brick and concrete. reverend c.j. campbell was in his house huddled in a hallway with his sister as it ripped through. >> entire 1800-foot square house completely collapsed around us within 60 seconds. >> they made it out. but the house is a total loss. at st. john's regional medical center, the twister's wrath was almost surreal. look at this helipad. this part is empty, but if you just move to your left over here, you're going to see the wreckage of a helicopter that was just tossed on its side and twisted around. look at the wreckage here. the front of it is just taken off. and there's the cockpit. look at the rotors, completely gone. >> sergio gomez was working admissions at the hospital when the tornado hit. >> kind of an exposed part of the hospital. how did you make it out? >> honestly, i was really worrying about getting out. it was mostly getting all the patients in a safer room. >> how do you feel about losing this car? you were attached to it. >> i feel really bad. i worked really hard for it. to be honest, it's probably the newest and coolest car i ever had. i worked really hard for it. it's a shame really and i have liability. so there's no way of replacing it. >> gomez is also worried about having a job now, an indication that the long painful road back for this town will be physical, emotional and economically very stressful. >> and the search continues for those missing in the tornado. officials here working with local families to try to streamline that process after several days of confusion interesting some controversy on that front, as well, wolf. >> you know, brian, a lot of our viewers will remember your excellent coverage from japan, the earthquake, the tsunami, what you saw there, compare and contrast that with what you're seeing now in missouri. >> reporter: well, there are a lot of eerie similarities, wolf. what you saul in japan, what you're seeing here in jop are whole neighborhoods wiped away by the force of this tornado in joplin. same as in japan. as far as the eye could see, the landscape was just completely barren. a lot of wreckage and people having a tough time trying to walk maybe 15 feet. also the force of the tornado similar to the force of the tsunami in that it carried people away. you're wondering whether there's going to be an accurate count of those people. but in the actual area, that's where the real difference lies. with the tornado the area is, of course, much smaller that got affected and in the tsunami in japan, it affected several cities. >> this was an f-5, the highest category of these tornadoes, 200 miles an hour. thanks very much, brian todd on the scene for us as he always is. it might seem impossible to pick up and move on after losing everything in joplin. but one woman is doing just that. our own anderson cooper has her very surprising story. plus, it's already been the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1953. what's behind this unusual string of monstrous storms? and cop hundreds of thousands of dollars in tiffany's jewels wind up costing newt gingrich his bid for the white house? stay with us. you're in "the situation room." building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. that weight watchers online was for guys, too. i'm like, it's not rainbows and lollipops. after i read this beer cheat sheet, i knew what the difference was between a light beer and a dark beer as far as points go. i use the grilling cheat sheet -- you drag it over onto the grill and it gives you a point value. this is a plan for men. i lost 109 pounds. 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[ men laugh ] [ male announcer ] hurry, join for free today. weight watchers online for men. finally, losing weight clicks. turning to you to politics it, newt gingrich who says he wants to talk about jobs, energy, other issues. but the republican presidential candidate can't seem to escape questions about his charge account at the luxury store tiffany's. let's bring in cnn's lisa sylvester. she's working the story for us. >> sometimes diamonds are not a girl's best friend, especially if your husband is running for president. the family charge account at tiffany's is now becoming an issue for newt gingrich. ca lis tas gingrich, the wife of newt gingrich, is known for her great taste in jewelry. no wonder. the couple had a revolving credit line of $250,000 to $500,000 at tiffany's. a bit over the top for a guy who is running for president, says political reporter jake sherman who broke the story. >> a quarter million dollars in jewelry, that's what a lot of people pay for their house, $300,000, $400,000. so people don't exactly understand how someone could go into debt. i mean we're talking about debt of a quarter million to a half a million dollars on jewelry. >> this is a stunning string of diamonds worn by calista gingrich, a similar version on the website costs $45,000. these cluster diamond earrings she's wearing here, a similar pair is $5200 the matching necklace, $9500. just two strands of pearls cost $975 on the tiffany's website. calista has several layered around her neck. imagine having a credit card with a $500,000 limit to shop exclusively at one store. tiffany & company. although the former house speaker describes himself as actually kind of frugal. >> i owe no debt. none, okay. my house is paid for. our cars are paid for. we run four small businesses in a way that i would think people would like. >> gingrich says he has done well with several citiesful businesses since he's been in the private sector. tiffly & co confirmed he doesn't owe the store any money at this time and in a statement said "all customer information is confidentially held at tiffany & company. the with the permission of speaker gingrich we can confirm his tiffany account has a zero balance and that all payments were made in a timely manner. the flap isn't going away, gingrich managed to tick off members of his own party by attacking the house gop budget plan authored by house budget committee chairman paul ryan. and in new hampshire, the tiffany story continued to dog him. >> do you feel like working families will -- >> i feel that you are far more fascinated with that than most americans. normal americans ask about jobs, energy, all sorts of things that affect their lives. >> now, all of this came to light because calista gingrich worked as a clerk for the house agriculture committee till 2007 and was required to file disclosure forms. >> lisa is in new york for us. let's talk a little bit more about this with our chief political analyst, gloria borger. this is a big problem for gingrich because it's symbolic but still significant. >> it's symbolic of somebody living within their means when is you're a real budget cutter. people don't like to see that you have a huge outstanding bill. they want to know that you can be able to take care of your family finances. now, newt gingrich says the bill is now paid off. >> didn't have to pay the interest and any of that. >> didn't have to pay any interest on it. so i think it's just one more thing for newt gingrich. it also reminds people of the fact that this is a newish wife and that he's had some others so it raises the whole family issues again which is something i don't think the speaker wanted to be dealing with. >> a lot of american voters don't like, whether it's republicans or democrats are hypocrites, if you will. >> not living within your means. i think this is a real problem. >> although he has been making a lot of money lately. he was living within his means. >> the question is why have the charge account there if you are living within your means and you want to buy your wife a beautiful necklace, buy a beautiful necklace. >> if you can afford $300,000 for the necklace, you pay cash and move on instead of putting it on a revolving account or something like that. another potential. he's in, but there's a potential candidate all of a sudden, we're getting a lot of buzz about sarah palin. >> yeah, we are. there are reports and we know that sarah palin's bought a house in arizona. she -- our own peter hamby just reported she's embarking on a nationwide tour. she'll be in washington, d.c. tomorrow with a biker rally. and she's -- so we know that sarah palin is now going to take back to the campaign trail, if you will, rolling thunder here on sunday is an annual rally, of bikers to support the troops and p.o.w.s. so the question is, and she's been sounding also, wolf, like she wants to get in. you know, she says she has the fire in the belly. she says there's nobody representing the tea party candidates and there is some truth to that at this point. so we'll see what she decides to do. >> i was always skeptical because she's making a ton of money. millions of dollars, has been making a lot of money over the past couple years since she gave up her job as governor of alaska. i assume she wanted to continue doing that without necessarily wanting to throw her hat in the ring. >> right, i always assumed she wanted to be a kingmaker. but if you look at the candidates who are in officially, you can say where is the really magnetic tea party candidate in in race. that's not mitt romney. it's not tim pawlenty. it's not jon huntsman. we just heard that rick santorum is getting in the race, but we don't know about michele bachmann, for example, and this may be sarah palin's way of getting somebody to get in that race or it may be her way of saying you know what? as she the mainstream media here, this may be her way of saying guys, you were saying i wasn't running but i am going to surprise you. what we do know is she better mick a decision quickly. >> because some staff members and campaign fund-raising events, you've got to start doing that. >> you've got to raise money. >> she has 100% name recognition already. rick santorum or jon huntsman, everybody knows who sarah palin is. >> there's going to be a two-hour movie released in iowa, a biopic about her life, a very positive one we're told. this could be her own way of rolling out a campaign. >> if anyone can delay and still get in, it's sarah palin. >> she freezes the race. by the way, if she gets in, mitt romney should be happy because it freezes the race. and it makes it a two-person race between romney and palin. >> we'll watch. gloria, thank you. it's the deadliest tornado season in more than half a century. here's a question, why? chad meyers is standing by. plus, the horror of the disaster as it happened. we'll hear one woman's desperate voice mail. what's so special about web 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[ male announcer ] joining aarp is only sixteen dollars a year. itchy, irritated skin... not only does cortaid 12-hour advanced cream relieve itch fast, but a clinical study shows its unique itch shield technology lasts longer than the leading cream. for 12 hour protection. for long lasting protection try cortaid. so what's behind this historic string of killer tornado we're seeing right now? cnn meteorologist chad meyers is joining us from the severe weather center in atlanta. chad, what's going on right now? >> you know, i think they'll be masters thesises written about this for years and years and years to come. there are a few things we know are different about this spring than a typical spring. first of all, the number of ef-5 tornados. there have been four tornadoes over 200 miles per hour. now, there was one above 200 miles per hour in 2008. there was one in 2007. before that, 1999, we've already had four this year and we're only the end of may. so what is going on? over the winter, we had la nina. la nina is something in the pacific ocean. there's cold water in the pacific near north and south america. that is and caused a bunch of snow in the rockies and the sierra. we're talking about 72 feet of snow at alpine med doze in the sierra. that cold air and snow is still there. then to the south in the gulf of mexico, the gulf of mexico is two degrees warmer than normal. so it's colder on one side of the jet, warmer on the other. that makes a stronger jet stream. stronger winds in the jet makes more sheer, more sheer will make more wind will make bigger tornadoes. that's where i think the theory comes in. there will be other peaces and parts put in there but that's the basis for what we believe has happened so far this year with more killer tornadoes than ever before. >> is there a connection to all these killer tornadoes we're seeing, chad, and the flooding, for example, that has been disastrous as well? is there some correlation that i'm missing? >> no, it's an interesting theory. i think that will be put in the mix, as well. very few tornadoes in texas and oklahoma until this week in oklahoma, but very few in texas. there's been a drought there. we talk about the fires in texas have been there all spring long. not as much humidity or rain on the ground doesn't make much humidity in the air. so the storms haven't been there. where has the rain been? over mississippi, over kansas, over memphis. that humidity on the ground evaporates so the air becomes more humid. where have the big storms been east of there? from joplin, missouri, over into alabama and even those tornadoes up into raleigh, north carolina. i think there's a correlation there, as well. >> talk about the rest of the next few weeks, for example. we know there's a hurricane season. there's a tornado season. what can we anticipate in the coming weeks? >> i don't think tornado season is over. by any stretch of the imagination. the jet stream is still much farther south than it's supposed to be right now. it should be over nebraska. all those tornados over oklahoma and into missouri and arkansas the past couple weeks, they should be farther to the north. then we get in july and august, that jet stream is all the way into canada. there have been tornadoes in emt and calgary, big tornadoes up into canada but that's always july, august september. when the jet comes back down in october and november, then the severe weather season gets back down into the plains again. the last time we've had so many tornadoes and not as many people died was 2004. i spent 12 long storms on beaches waiting for huge hurricanes in 2004. let's hope that correlation between a lot of tornadoes and a lot of hurricanes doesn't go through this year. but i think that might correlate just the way it's gone in the past. >> the that sounds ominous. let's hope it doesn't. thanks very much, chad. excellent work this week as always. appreciate it. we're going to have much more on the tornado disaster, including the certainly for the missing and amazing stories of survival. plus, details of a new lawsuit alleging iran had a role in 9/11. 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