breaking news this morning. another american town takes a direct hit. >> this time, joplin, missouri. >> one minute, it was barely sprinkling. the next minute, boy, the whole word just upside down. >> the twister tore through the town's most populated area, including the hospital. debr >> joplin is notay. >> joplin is not the only midwest disaster zone. a tornado hit the heart of minneapolis. more are likely across the heartland today. and good morning, everyone. thanks for being with us. we still don't know just yet the scope of the damage caused by that monster twister that hit joplin, missouri. more than 100 people are feared dead this morning. much of that city is in ruins,

shaken to its core. >> that mile-wide tornado packed winds as high as 200 miles an hour. the roof of a hospital was completely blown off and hundreds of windows shattered. >> unbelievable images just coming in to us this morning. joplin was not the only town hit. the tornadoes hit seven states in all. stretching all the way from oklahoma in the canadian border. the coverage begins with john hendren. >> reporter: for much of the midwest spared last month, there was no mercy. >> i have the walls left of my home. mm-hmm. my parents have the walls left of their home. my brother doesn't have a home anymore. >> reporter: a staggering 70 tornadoes raked the landscape. across seven mid western states from the canadian border to kansas. ripping every branch off acres of trees. tilting signs. turning homes into what looks like match sticks. it's not over. >> many areas will get hit with severe weather repeatedly for days.

>> reporter: that's after 875 tornados in april. killing 361 people. in joplin, a massive twister swept in with no warning, killing dozens. >> one minute, it was barely sprinkling. the next minute, boy, the whole world just upside down. >> reporter: blocks of homes and businesses were flattened. some left in flames. st. john's hospital was left in tatters. this walmart collapsed with hundreds left inside. >> i cried and i cried and i cried. >> reporter: redding, kansas, was hit hard. at least one man was killed. but the miracle cafe lived up to its name. battered but still standing. >> we'll get it cleaned up. we'll get it back. if the building's gone, then i'll rebuild. >> reporter: a deadly cyclone killed one in minneapolis and injured 30. christa's home is gone. >> the huge tree fell. it just crumbled. it totally collapsed. >> reporter: her husband escaped, breaking a window to climb out as the house came down. john hendren, abc news.

>> it's amazing. we turn back now to joplin, a town of about 50,000. as much as 75% of that town is destroyed. >> erin hayes is there for us this morning with the latest. erin, good morning. >> reporter: this tornado was ferocious. it hit in the late afternoon, it was daylight. so people saw it coming. it was terrifying. the twister slammed into buildings. it sent debris flying through the city at tremendous speeds. this is a pile of five vehicles. crushed, mangled together. on the door of this one, an x. this is what rescuers have had to do. check vehicles, buildings, large piles of debris, to see if people were trapped inside. rescuers don't know how many people were injured in this tornado. they still do not know how many people died. they still do not know if there are people that remain trapped

in building or vehicles from this twister. they'll be searching all night. they're praying with the light of day, they'll be able to get some answers. rob and peggy? >> the light of day is shedding light on that incredible damage. our thanks to erin hayes. >> "good morning america" has a team just arriving in joplin. sam champion and josh elliott will have the first images after daybreak. tense moments overnight, a u.s.-bound flight made an emergency landing. at israel's main airport. the el al flight was supposed to fly to newark, with 270 people on board. a problem with the left wheel forced the plane to turn back. most of the fuel was dumped before landing. no injuries were reported. above iceland, an ash plume from an erupting volcano is expected to impact airports for several days. fears are that it could affect travel across

northern europe. the main airport in iceland is closed until later today, at least. so far, only about 40 international flights have been canceled. the volcanic ash did not affect air force one as it carried the president and his wife on their european trip. the first stop is in ireland. mr. obama is making a sent mental trip to monemoneygal. they visited this tiny village that was home to his great, great grand father on his mother's side. the republican race for president has undergone major reshuffle. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty released a video overnight to declare his candidacy. he'll be making a more formal announcement this morning in iowa. before that, he'll join us on "good morning america." just hours before, iowa governor mitch daniels announced he will not run for the nomination. mostly out of family concerns. newt gingrich is still on the defensive over his $500,000 bill at tiffanys. he refused to say what he

bought, saying it's private. tucson, arizona elementary school students got a rare treat last night. the classmates of christina taylor green, the little girl killed in the tucson shootings earlier this year, talked to another touched by the tragedy who is light years away. >> they chatted with mark kelly. his wife was seriously wounded in that attack. very cool for the students there, as they really come together there. well now, for this morning's weather. more severe storms. from dallas and oklahoma city to pittsburgh and buffalo. more twisters, large hail, and winds topping 80 miles an hour. thunderstorms and gusty winds across minnesota and wisconsin. rain from rapid city to billings. 6 inches of snow in the rockies. showers from seattle to portland. >> 72 in sacramento. 80 in albuquerque. a hot 92 in phoenix. mostly 80s from omaha to indianapolis. and from dallas to miami. 70 here in the big apple. 61 in boston.

coming up, the most dramatic drop of gas prices in weeks. the welcome relief. and a new option for pain relief hitting the store shelves today. and we'll return to our breaking story this morning. joplin, mo, devastated by a monster tornado. dozens dead. we'll hear what it's like on the streets when we come back.oror

well, some good news now. gas prices keep falling.

we're actually beginning to see a significant drop at the pump. the average price for regular has fallen 11 cents since last week, down to $3.75. there is grim news, though, related to the housing market. the nation's biggest banks and mortgage lenders now own more than 872,000 homes as a result of foreclosures. the lenders also are if the process of foreclosing on an additional 1 million homes. all those bank-owned homes will keep housing prices low. overseas, markets are off today because of worries about the european debt crisis. tokyo's nikkei average lost 1.5%. hong kong's hang seng dipped. the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow lost 0.7%. and the nasdaq was down almost a full 1%. bayer thinks that it's found a speedy relief for its stagnant

aspirin sales. the consume rs' biggest complait is that the formula does not work fast enough. this new formula has not been tested against other medicines. and the box office was plundered this weekend by the latest "pirates of the caribbean" movie, "on stranger tides." they took in 90 million bucks in mort north america, more than four times more than that overseas. "bridesmaids" was second. and "thor" slid to third. >> a couple of movies we both want to see. coming up next, the very adult thing that justin bieber did on national tv. and iran allows the american hikers a rare phone call to their mothers. and our breaking coverage. new video coming in from devastated joplin, missouri, this morning. that's coming up. we pay about the same,

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a rough morning commute with more storms bearing down on the midwest. i-44 is closed near joplin, missouri. slick on i-80 from des moines the cleveland. wet and flooded on i-35 from the twin cities to dallas. also on i-40 from oklahoma city to nashville. icy on i-70 west of denver into utah. if you're flying, airport delays are possible in dallas, memphis, chicago, kansas city, detroit, and minneapolis. recapping our top story now. daybreak is revealing sheer destruction in the southwest of missouri. a powerful tornado ripped through joplin last night. threatening much of the city. one resident posted this on youtube. death tolls there could top 100 people. a hospital had to be completely evacuated after taking a direct hit. that ripped off the roof and blew out hundreds of windows. winds were so strong that medical records and x-rays were found 60 miles away. >> after seeing that footage, you can understand that the

governor of missouri has decl e declared it a state of emergency. >> 70 tornadoes touched down in seven states over the weekend from oklahoma in the canadian border. liz bryant was on the ground. >> reporter: more than, i would say, 75% of joplin is completely wiped out. populated neighborhoods are gone. they look like war zone at this time. the busiest street, where lowe's, home depot, walmart, all of the main shopping as well as the restaurants once were, they are all gone. the st. john's regional medical center hospital, the roof was completely torn off. the tornado went right through st. john's. and a triage,ple triages, multiple morgues are set up there. bodies laid on the street.

i went out after the storm, began gathering the news for tonight. assessing the damage. you could hear residents trapped under the rubble crying out for help. they wanted everyone to know they were still alive but they needed to get out. and dead bodies were being laid on the street. their loved ones actually going up to the bodies, crying, screaming, giving them cpr, with any hopes of reviving them. who can be completely ready for something that pancakes your house, pancakes your neighborhood? i mean, pictures and words cannot describe it. the video you're showing puts a filter on what happened last night in joplin. >> we can tell, liz, this is absolutely devastating. before we let you go, there's another sort of looming threat, gas explosions. >> reporter: yes. we are not out of the clear yet. there with gas leaks everywhere. people are trying to set up shop, just making a hospital in

the middle of the road, everyone was screaming, do not light a cigarette, do not light a match. gas leaks are everywhere. explosions are feared. we're not out of the clear, though the tornado has passed us. >> what those poor people are waking up to this morning. stay with us for "good morning america" today. for all the latest from joplin, missouri. our sam champion and the rest of the abc news team are there. the mothers of two american hikers being he would in iran got a rare phone call from their sons. it's only the third time in two years that josh fattal and shane bauer were allowed to call home. they said their sons sounded okay. the pair revealed they staged a 17-day hunger strike after they stopped getting letters. a suspect was arrested in connection with the horrific beating outside of dodgers stadium in los angeles on baseball's opening day. that was when brian stow, a fan

of the giants, suffered severe brain damage after the attack. a tip from a parole officer led them to 31-year-old giovanni ramirez. he's being held on $1 million bail. switching gears and turning to sports highlights. playoff action now. espn news has the latest. >> good morning, i'm max bretos, this is your espn news update. after three days, we finally tip off game three between the bulls and the heat. all tied at 1-1, though the heat with home-court advantage after winning game two. first quarter, carlos boozer joakim noah, over the back. he would come out of the game. apparently saying a gay slur to fan at the arena. more to come on that later this week. seconds left in the third, deng.

the bulls hanging around, down three. heading into the fourth. but in the fourth, miami heat still maintained the lead. even derrick rose, held to 20 points on 8 of 19 shooting. the big star, chris bosh, spinning. heat up six, bosh, game-high, 34 points. second time over 30 in this series. then lebron james with the interception and the layin over kyle korver. the heat pull away, beat the bulls by 11. they take game three. in the nhl, game four, between the canucks and the sharks. home team has won the previous three. not this time around. second period. canucks on the 5 on 3. kessler, pride of the united states gets past antti niemi. on another 5 on 3 power play. vancouver up, 2-0. and vancouver taking advantage on the power play. another 5 on 3, sedin, blasts it by niemi. canucks win it, 4-2.

take a 33-1 series lead back to canada. this has been your espn news update. for the latest, check out the highlight express. i'm max bretos. >> all right, thanks a lot. we have proof now that an oldie still got it. from last night's billboard musing awards. ♪ sweet caroline good times never seemed so good ♪ ♪ so good so good so good >> you should see peggy dancing right now. neil diamond had the crowd singing along to "sweet caroline." he got an icon award last night. >> i'm sorry, he looked good. >> other big winners, rihanna and justin bieber. the 17-year-old singer looked pretty adult there gives his girlfriend, selena gomez a kiss there. and a youthful mother. she's very young. >> new hot hollywood couple there. coming up next, the storying we'll be following later on this monday morning. is sarah palin saying adios to alaska?

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at least one person was killed and more than two dozen injured. part of the city was placed under curfew last night to prevent looting. the president begins his european tour with a visit to ireland. his great great great grandfather on his mother's side lived there long ago. he'll meet with distant cousins in the area. air traffic controllers are keeping an eye on an ash cloud from a volcano in iceland. they want to make sure that flights are not disrupted. and we may learn more today about whether sarah palin has purchased a home in arizona. she's rumored to be basing her presidential campaign there if she's running. for everybody else, "america this morning" continues after

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the greatest, grandest, most spectacular surprise ever. the two-day farewell event begins. next "oprah." next on abc7 news -- the new information about a suspect arrested in the beating of giants' fan bryan stow. also an east bay freeway shuts down after a bizarre crime with a pedestrian seen crawling across the road. and what happened? a 4-month-old child vanishes in east contra costa county for 18 hours. we have new information on the search. meteorologist mike nicco has a windy forecast. >> it looks like the as i understand have subsided a little bit. they'll do so during the well, this may be the best news of the morning. we're still here. >> we're all here. >> we're still here. it's proof enough, we guess,

that the much talked about end of the world didn't happen. >> what now for those that claimed it was all going to be over on saturday? >> reporter: at 6:00 p.m., robert fitzpatrick looked at his watch, waited, and nothing happened. >> we're still alive sflchlt. >> reporter: he looked stunned. >> i don't understand what happened. this is the year. all the calculations indication this is the year. >> reporter: the calculations were made by this man, radio host harold camping. >> i'm utterly, absolutely, absolutely convinced it is going to happen. >> reporter: a spokesman for camping said he's home in seclusion. he's miystified that his prediction didn't come true. some posted on youtube. there were supposed to be a

select few christians going to heaven and leave their clothes behind. >> part of me was excited with anticipation. for what i hoped would be coming for me. and part of me was in dread of what would be coming for those who are not saved. >> reporter: fitzpatrick, a retired transit worker, spent most of his savings, $140,000 warning of the apocalypse. >> the warning is still valid. judgment day is coming. >> reporter: he may have gotten the date wrong. but he says not the fate of manned kooind. he seas doomsday will occur sometime later this year. >> sort of a downer. >> yeah, we're still here's. let's be