this morning on "early today," storm hammering. the nation's mid section gets thrashed by deadly weather with even more storms in the forecast. almost here, london is buzzing with excitement with the wedding of the century just days away. and detention disruption. an inmate wanting to stay in jail let's loose on officers. hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. welcome to our viewers across the nation.

today we begin with a dynamic disturbance. severe weather pounded several states across the country's mid section for a second straight night, killing at least one person in arkansas. potentially devastating storms are expected today from texas to tennessee. in mississippi, security cameras captured a tornado that swept through a scrap yard, ripping the roof right off a building. hail rained down in arkansas where several tornados were reported yesterday. in arkansas a wedge tornado destroyed more than a dozen homes. bill will have more on this system coming up in a few minutes. first, the recent violent crackdown by syrian force ramped up yesterday.

afghan spokes man said that the gunman a military pilot was killed in the shooting which occurred inside a facility used by the afghan air force. nbc news has learned among the killed and wounded at the airport are u.s. protroops afgh troops and civilians. robert gates suggested libyan le leader hip self is in danger since according to gates, libyan milt command centers where ever we find them are legitimate

targets for air attacks. excitement is building in london and around the world ahead of kate middleton's big day. tra tracy good morning. >> reporter: good morning from buckingham palace. thousands came for one last look. as of today, westminster abbey is closed for rehearsals. the dean admits the couple may be nervous. >> nerves aren't a problem. nervousness and excitement are very close to each other. >> reporter: 20-foot trees are barricades are being set up and the carriage being shined and polished. 140 tons of trash.

>> we'll have over 100 sweepers out in the day to pick up rubbish. in wails where the couple lives, residents are excited. >> you know, yeah, over the moon is fabulous. absolutely fabulous. >> i think she's our next lady di. >> reporter: one of the most closely guarded secrets is what will kate wear? there are rumors that she may borrow the queen's tiara, but insiders are mum on what her dress will look like. >> at the end of the day, handmade dress for one person has to be totally unique. >> thousands of visitors are vying for the best spots. london shops welcome them. >> an extra half a million people are coming in to shop, enjoy the wedding and celebrate. an extra 50 million pounds for our storts. >> reporter: and it's now confirmed, this is the party site after the wedding. the queen and prince phillip will be leaving the palace to william and kate and 300 of their closest friends to celebrate here all night. lynn?

>> all right. tracie potts there for us in london. tracie, thanks so much. just a reminder for those of you at home, nbc royal coverage begins at 4:00 a.m. eastern and 1:00 pacific time right here on your local nbc station. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. surveillance video shows the dangers of clocking in for work inside an arizona prison when one inmate violently attacked a guard. the inmate's assault continued until he was restrained. he explained the unprovoked attack, saying that he wanted to stay in jail because he feared death threats from the mexican cartel. a combination of heavy rain and a wet runway proved to be the ingredients for a rough landing in chicago. an inbound southwest airlines jet skidded off the runway after it touched down at midway airport. unlike a similar incident in 2005 when a 6-year-old boy was killed, there were no injuries on the plane or on the ground.

and we end with perhaps the nfl's top pick of the 2019 draft. this utah kid is amazing. take a look at this utah draft who has become a youtube phenom. hundreds of thousands have watched the video of the 13-year-old quarterback showing off his incredible arm and his accuracy. it's remarkable. he and his dad made the video just for fun, but after all this attention he's getting and that arm, this guy may only have a few more years of free time on sunday. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> this april has been miserable for flooding. over 50 tornado reports almost 50 i should say throughout texas, louisiana and mississippi. this area has been hard hit. we have more storms on the way. we are dealing with storms throughout alabama. 71 mile per hour wind gust.

they are going to do it all over again this afternoon. this area of white. if you are here tomorrow morning, the damage pictures are coming out of kentucky and northern alabama. high pressure building over nevada. nice weather over most of arizona. clouds and a weak storm system off shore. chance of showers in the northwest. temperatures there in the 50s. southern cal, arizona looking great. here is ao the 80s. partly cloudy and 72. thursday forecast coming up. >> all right bill thank you. coming up a huge acquisition in

health care. the playstation hack that we thought was a little bit was worse than we thought it would be. and friendster takes out the eraser. and we'll tell you what lindsey had to say on leno and the job she thinks her lawyer has been doing. >> coming up the bulls move on and one of the most embarrassing plays in baseball you will ever see. you are watching da

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. president obama is calling on major oil producers to increase their oil supplies to help stabilize gas prices. the president says conversations over the issue are taking place with countries such as saudi arabia. he warns that a lack of relief would harm the global economy.

a man suspected of leaving a bomb at a colorado mall has been arrested in boulder. officials say earl albert moore left a pipe bomb at a plaza on the anniversary of the columbine massacre. authorities say there is no tie to the anniversary. they have a motive, but refuse to reveal it. starting today, residents in altoona, pennsylvania, will have a mouthful when they tell others where they're from. the city is changing its name to palm wonderful presents the greatest movie ever sold. the new name comes from a title of a film by documentarian morgan spurlock. he saved the city $25,000 to change for 60 days. looks like the experiment is working. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,595 after gaining 115 points yesterday. the s&p rose 11 points. the nasdaq added 21.

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei climbed 133 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng lost 114. as so often seems the case these days, the pendulum swung again on wall street on tuesday and this time to the upside. a day after worries about commodities cast a weak move, a strong push of corporate results pushed all the majors to fresh highs for the year. ford reported its best first quarter since 1998. 3m posted a healthy jump in profit and raised full year expectations. u.p.s. beat the street. consumer confidence rose in april with unemployment and price worries easing. even losers were winners. delta jumped 11% after reporting a smaller loss than expected. after the bell, amazon slipped reporting new investments had eaten into earnings.

elsewhere, sony now says the credit card data of 77 million playstation account holders may have been stolen in the hacking that forced it to shut down its play station network last week. johnson & johnson is buying swiss medical devicemaker synthees. in a huge deal worth more than $21 billion giving j and j the lead in equipment to treat trauma. today, moving towards greater transparency, ben bernanke will hold the first ever news conference for a fed chief. he's expected to confirm the end of the fed's bond buying program and continued rock bottom borrowing rates. finally, the pioneering and once dominant social network friendster, they announced that account holders have until may 31st to export photos, messages and other data from the site before it's completely erased. friendster will now focus on, quote, entertainment and fun. montreal fights back and a

dream play with the wrong ending. plus, kobe flies hide to lead the lakers past the hornets. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. our severe weather outbreak will be coming to an end, but we have to watch another storm system. details are coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night, hockey's defending stanley cup champions bit the dust. while the dreams of a small market underdog went up in smoke, here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. nothing more exciting than game seven in the playoffs and last night there were two of them in the nhl. vancouver, under two minutes to play. jonathan tave scored a remarkable goal. black hawks tried to force over time. five minutes into the o.t., alex burrows ended it. the canucks knocked off the defending champs, 2-1 in overtime. next up, sabres and flyers. philly's offense exploded for five goals. the number two seed moves on after a 5-2 whip over buffalo.

canadiens and will play a game tonight. canadiens stayed alive and evened the series with a 2-1 win. now to the nba, facing elimination, the magic needed a win and got it in a big way. orlando held a 23-point lead at the half. orlando beat the hawks. the bulls will play the eventual winner over the series. derek rose hobbled by his sprained ankle, but it didn't show. bulls win it, 116-89. kobe bryant is also nursing a sprained ankle, but it didn't show. they beat the hornets. finally, have you ever done something to embarrassing that you want to hide your face and get away? you're not alone. migel olivo to left field. not far enough to make the home run. ryan ray burn was there to make the catch and oh, no, off his glove and over the fence for a homer.

one more time. the routine play goes horribly run. aleveo's first home one of the year is one raburn would like to forget. mariners won it 7-3. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, which comedian had some not so funny things to say about charlie sheen and what he's doing to his kids? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's not only a commoner about to marry into royalty. she has a few more relatives here across the pond. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. very nice day today in california. in the valley areas it will be in the 70s and 80s. areas in arizona 80s and 90s. showers are that and breezy conditions. by the time we get to thursday. more potent storm system moving through. temperatures cooling off. tomorrow in the 70s. if you are watching us on krnb news 4 in reno, nevada, see photographs exploring the in tri kate detail at the museum of

art. that is your event of the day. >> thank you, bill. here is an early look at headlines in entertainment. lindsey lohan knows she let down her fans. she called her 20 day sentence shocking. meanwhile, tmz reports she thinks she has done a great job. she begins community service this week at an la women's center. she is not so crazy about performing some of that service including cleaning the morgue. also, tracy morgan a 22-year-old father who has had his own sobriety issues. saying he will negatively impact this children for the rest of their lives. finally, english singer lily

allen tweeted she was outraged saying she was just being sarcastic. and this comes from wvit, nbc connecticut where a connecticut yankee has a story about a royal outside the king arthur auz court. susanna learned she shares an ancestor with kate middleton. she was informed by a researchers. since she can compare famous family connection with her husband who is the nephew of the man who cured polio. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

put this in your pipe and smoke it. a man in cuba is working on the world's longest cigar. having set the record four times already, it will measure over 200 feet long when completed in a few days using over 200 pounds of tobacco. he's been rolling cigars for over 50 years, so he has plenty of experience. a pair of polar bear twins beat the odds and came out to meet the public in china yesterday. the brother and sister were abandon by their mother shortly after they were born in january. so experts came in to help. the twins grew stronger and they now have begun to walk and play together. most people dread the inevitable laundry day, but one new yorker is trying to change that.

on this chilly on a good day tuesday evening -- it's like an open mike night of sorts and it's a way to entertain people while doing the most mundane of sorts. she started it to give a little bounce. >> it is what we like to call a new york moment. >> i would go as long as she would put my clothes in the dryer for me. >> and fold them? >> it is time for an early look at stories throughout the day here on nbc. a somali man accused of acts an a negotiator for pirates who killed four american hostages back in february is expected to be arraigned in a courtroom. according to court documents, the suspect faces charges for firearms, piracy and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

the american lung association will rank cities across the country according to how clean or polluted the air is in that area. happy birthday to casey kasem. he turns 79 today. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. td "today" takes you live to the storm weary southeast where flooding fears are on the rise in the wake of more severe storms. kate hudson stops by to talk about her pending nuptials in the new comedy "something borrowed." now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.