[T.j. Holmes, Cnn Anchor:] Hey there. Good morning, folks. From the CNN Center, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. It is April the 23rd. It's 6:00 A.M. where I stand, here in Atlanta, Georgia, but it is 5:00 A.M. in St. Louis, and that's where we're going to have to start this morning. There's been a massive storm there that has ripped through part of the city, but look at the airport. That airport this morning is shut down indefinitely. Reports of windows blown out, people bleeding, kids crying. We will be talking to the people who were at that airport and who had to be evacuated even from their planes as this was believed to be a tornado by some. Not confirmed yet, but believed to be hit last night. Also, the streets of Syria, getting violent more violent, some would tell you. Demonstrators continue to protest against their government and the government firing back. Now, President Obama has issued a stern warning, a stern statement to the government of Syria. You will be hearing that. But let me get back to St. Louis right now where the airport there has been closed indefinitely this morning. No arrivals, no departures. Why? The airport was hit by high winds last night. You're looking at a van there that is teetering on the edge of a parking garage. It was pushed there by the wind. Now, imagine if that had fallen on people. This could have been a lot worse than it was. Still, witnesses say it was a tornado that swept through, hasn't been confirmed yet, as I mentioned a moment ago. But even if it was just a bad storm, it doesn't matter, this is a lot of damage, no matter what. It tore apart part of one of the terminals there. About half of the windows in one terminal, we're told, blown out. Planes were rocked on the tarmac. Some of the people were on those planes at the time. A few people injured by a lot of flying glass. A few people reportedly had to be taken to the hospital, some of them treated on the scene, but we're not getting word of any serious injuries. We're also getting stories of people having to huddle inside bathrooms. The police chief says he's amazed that more people were not hurt. It's not just the airport. The airport is about 11 miles outside of downtown St. Louis. But homes also in some neighborhoods in the area were damaged, roofs torn off, gas leaks as well that we're told about. Also some downed power lines. I want to turn now to our Karen Maginnis who is keeping an eye on weather for us this weekend. Not a tornado. We have to wait for those official words. But what is our guess right now?
[Karen Maginnis, Ams Meteorologist:] Exactly. To me, this damage looks like either an EF-0 or EF-1 due to the damage. If it were flattened, we'd be talking about a different situation. That is my estimate. They're going to send out survey crews to look at the damage and just kind of assess what kind of winds were associated with it and does the damage look like it was caused by a tornado? Usually what you see is debris that is swirled around as much as 360 degrees, if you will. But they're saying out of that main concourse area, just about all of the windows were blown out, the roof was lifted off of a portion of one of the concourses. And you can imagine just how terrified folks were when this severe weather rocked this region. Now, could it have been a tornado? Certainly, it could have because we're even seeing some very strong storms erupt across extreme Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky. This is the core area right now that is seeing the most severe weather. I just checked St. Louis. St. Louis is seeing just a few light showers, overcast skies, but the main threat of severe weather for today let's just go ahead and show you what that is expected to be. This is our possibility or probability of severe storms for today. You've got this warm, moist air which is coming out from the gulf, and, indeed, it is quite warm. Temperatures all across the southeast are expected to be more summer-like rather than Easter-like. There is definitely much cooler air behind this, and then this dry air, this these are just key ingredients for severe weather enhancement. And, indeed, this is going to lie all the way down through the Ark-La-Tex region, all the way into West Virginia. After last week, and we saw all the way from Oklahoma, into the Carolinas, the devastating damage and the fatalities, about 45 fatalities. This is going to be another interesting weekend, and it's very typical of Easter weather.
[Holmes:] Yes.
[Maginnis:] It can be so violent.
[Holmes:] All right. Good to have you, as always. Karen Maginnis, keeping an eye on things for us.
[Maginnis:] Thank you,
[T.j. Holmes:] We'll talk to her plenty. I do want to get back to St. Louis, some of those pictures amazing pictures from the airport. Just a a harrowing night for a lot of people there, and some of them were actually on planes, getting ready to take off when all of this was going on. One of them is Brett Knewitz. He is joining me on the line right now. Brett, thank you for taking some time with us. Tell me, you were sitting on a plane? When did you knew know something was certainly not quite right, but it was this bad?
[Brett Knewitz, Evacuated From Plane:] Well, I suppose that it was about the time that the plane started rocking from side to side.
[Holmes:] Wow.
[Knewitz:] And I thought, well, we're not really supposed to have turbulence on the ground.
[Holmes:] Well, Brett, how far had you gotten away from the actual gate? Were you out on the tarmac? Were you getting ready to take off? Where was the plane?
[Knewitz:] No, we were actually still at the gate. The ramp had been closed because of the the lightning storms. And then, the like I said, the plane started rocking side to side. And then they told us to leave everything and go, go, go. Get off the plane.
[Holmes:] Did they the way, I guess, they were telling you to get off the plane, were people panicked or was this fairly orderly?
[Knewitz:] They were pretty freaked out, actually. I I think everybody was an American, and the TSA were doing a great job. But, as you might imagine, it was it was a pretty panicked moment.
[Holmes:] But they get you off the plane. Where do they take you?
[Knewitz:] Well, at first we were just put into the Jetway, and but then, after we all got in there, they at first they wouldn't allow us into the terminal, and I my thought was
[Holmes:] Wow.
[Knewitz:] you know, the Jetway, this isn't really safe.
[Holmes:] Stable. Yes.
[Knewitz:] But the reason being was because the the roof was going to collapse inside.
[Holmes:] How long did all this take place from the I guess that that rocking and the shaking of that plane that you were on until, I guess, things calmed down? How how long would you say all this was?
[Knewitz:] I would say about 30, 45 minutes.
[Holmes:] Oh, wow. So this storm, you're getting rocked for quite some time. Well, anybody that you could tell injured as far as the passengers, fellow passengers or any of the people once you finally did get back inside the terminal?
[Knewitz:] Once we got back in, I saw an American Airline gate agent who was bleeding pretty badly. And, again, when we got inside, all of the windows had been blown out of the C Concourse, and it was it was very, very frightening.
[Holmes:] All right, last thing, Brett, when are you getting home? When are you getting to where you're supposed to be going?
[Knewitz:] Well, I was visiting my parents in Illinois. I'm supposed to be going back to Albuquerque. I hear that I may not be leaving St. Louis till, oh, Sunday-ish.
[Holmes:] Oh, wow. OK. Well, yes. Right now, the airport, we're told, closed indefinitely. We'll see when they start getting things back up and running. But Brett Knewitz, we appreciate you taking some time, sharing your story with our viewers. Thanks so much and good luck getting home, buddy.
[Knewitz:] My pleasure. Thank you very much.
[Holmes:] All right. Again, we're keeping a close eye on that. Our Karen Maginnis, keeping an eye on the weather. Again, just a rough night for folks there in St. Louis. I do want to turn overseas to Libya right now, where an airstrike on a parking lot outside Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli has killed three people. That strike presumably from NATO forces. A government spokesman said he does not yet have the identities of those people who were killed in that air strike. The government also announced that forces loyal to Gadhafi will withdraw from the coastal city of Misrata, the third largest city in Libya, and allow tribal leaders to deal with opposition forces. But an opposition spokesman just laughed off any suggestion that tribal leaders will now intervene and possibly try to order an attack on the rebels. Meanwhile, yesterday, Senator John McCain visited Libya, met with key leaders of the opposition. He is pushing for greater involvement in helping the rebels overthrow Gadhafi. Get more now on what's going on in the key cities of Misrata and Benghazi. Our Fred Pleitgen is in Tripoli for us now. Fred, hello to you, as always. What do we know exactly about what is going on in Misrata right now?
[Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, that's a very good question. We know that the Libyan deputy foreign minister, T.J., yesterday told us that in fact the forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi would withdraw completely from that city, and he said that this was basically an initiative that was brought on by the tribes themselves. Apparently the tribes contacted the Libyan military and said that clearly they weren't making any headway in trying to take back Misrata and therefore the tribes would take the matter into their own hands. Now, according to the Libyan foreign deputy foreign minister, the tribes are on the side of Moammar Gadhafi and they would negotiate with the rebels there in Misrata, and if the rebels don't come to a conclusion with them, then they would attack the rebels. The rebels themselves, as you noted, have laughed off that notion. They say that this is not something where the rebels are holding siege the city but it is in fact uprising by the whole people of Misrata, and therefore the tribes are actually with them rather than with the Gadhafi military. We're going to have to wait and see whether or not that's actually the case. But, of course, this announcement comes at a very interesting point in time in that the rebels last night also told us that they'd effectively taken back the city center of Misrata from Gadhafi's forces militarily. There there were snipers on the buildings there. There are were tanks in the streets there. They say they've pretty much taken all of downtown Misrata back, and so, therefore, they're saying that Gadhafi is trying to make what is effectively a retreat from Misrata look as though it were a responsible withdrawal, looking for a solution,
[T.j. Holmes:] Fred, I was talking to your colleague, Nic Robertson, yesterday, and he was talking about how McCain's visit, to have him sitting down with opposition leaders, kind of legitimizes them, helps their cause. He'll go out into the international community now and kind of spread that message back here in the U.S. as well. How is his visit being viewed there in Libya by all sides? And do we really have any reaction to the Gadhafi and his and his administration to the visit by by McCain?
[Pleitgen:] Well, we certainly have reaction by Gadhafi's administration in the form also of the Libyan deputy foreign minister who yesterday at the press conference obviously brushed off that visit by Senator McCain, saying Senator McCain is someone who in the past has actually spoken to Gadhafi himself, that he was very disappointed by Senator McCain's visit, but, at the same time, said that he in no way feared that Senator McCain's visit could in fact drum up more support for the rebels. Now, if you go to Benghazi, obviously the reaction is a very different one. They were absolutely thrilled to have Senator McCain there. They welcomed him as a hero of sorts, if you will, and Senator McCain, in return, of course said that the rebels to him were heroes as well. And, as you said, also called for more intervention and more more involvement of the U.S. there with the rebels, to try and help them overthrow Moammar Gadhafi's regime. And, certainly, it looks as though internationally, the simply the fact that he came here, that's such a high level representative of the United States, even though he's obviously not acting on the part of the U.S. government. His trip certainly was sanctioned by the U.S. government, and that alone lends the rebels more credibility than they had before,
[T.j. Holmes:] All right. Fred Pleitgen for us in Tripoli. Fred, we appreciate you, as always. I want to turn now to Syria, where more deadly violence from anti-government sentiment is taking place there. At least 43 people killed in a bloody day of confrontations in several cities. Take a look, take a listen to this. This is happening on the streets.