this morning on recall "today," tornado terror. storms trigger twisters across the south claiming the lives of dozens. extraordinary determination. congresswoman gabrielle giffords seen for the first time since she was shot as she travels for her husband's space launch. and explosion in ecuador. a volcano ratd ls villages, spewing ash and rock. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry.

today we begin with a trail of death and destruction. a frightening storm system is plowing across the country. it's been doing so for days and it is now headed for the east coast after scarring several southern states. so far, a staggering 173 lives have been lost. that number is expected to rise. nbc's kurt gregory has our report. >> reporter: the destructive storm system record across several southern states. hardest hit, alabama. this tornado in tuscaloosa shot by the university of alabama. and this ominous wedge tornado was recorded in the northern town of arab. in cullman residents watched a pair of funnel clouds bear down on the town center. the courthouse and a church were damaged and residents scrambled for safety. >> a small closet. didn't have any windows in it and got in there just in time. >> reporter: the line of storms toppled large trees and crushed vehicles and homes in

birmingham. tens of thousands are without power. the storms also left a trail of destruction across mississippi, where flooding is also a major problem. in northern mississippi, an elderly man was swept away and killed by flash flooding. and emergency crews used boats to rescue families trapped in their homes. kurt gregory, nbc news. we have much more on the storms. let's go straight to nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning. it's head r. hard to get your head around it when you see the video. >> in our lifetime this is the worst tornado outbreak of all time. the deaths only second to 1974. that was a huge tornado outbreak that killed 370 some people. this is the worst we've seen in decades. most of it was all in alabama, especially northern half of alabama but tennessee, mississippi, georgia, even areas of virginia had tornadoes yesterday. we have a little bit of severe weather left but nothing like we had last night and as far as tornadoes go today just isolated on the i-95 corridor. the worst of the three-day tornado outbreak is over and

certainly ended on a horrible note. >> did indeed. our thoughts are with the folks. thank you. other news. in a surprise move to put the so-called birther issue to bed yesterday, president obama released his 1961 long form birth certificate verified by the state of hawaii. with his main talking point short-circuited possible gop presidential candidate donald trump quickly went into spin move taking credit for the move. >> yes, in fact, i was born in hawaii august 4th, the 1961. >> reporter: he said it for years. president obama proved it. he requested the state of hawaii make an exception to its rules and release his long form birth certificate. barack hussein obama ii born in honolulu. the president had joked about the issue last year. >> besides i happen to know my approval ratings are still very high in the country of my birth. >> reporter: but recent polls found a quaerpt of americans

doubting his citizenship. no more jokes. >> we're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by side shows and carnival barkers. >> reporter: a shot at republican donald trump who accused the president of a birth cover-up. but trump was crowing in new hampshire. >> i did something nobody else could do. i got obama to give his birth certificate. >> we do not have time for this kind of silliness. we have better stuff to do. i've got better stuff to do. we've got big problems to solve. >> reporter: i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. last night at a democratic fund-raiser in new york, president obama had a little fun with the whole birther issue. >> my name is barack obama. i was born in hawaii. no one checked my i.d. on the way in.

but just in case. okay. let's move on. we head across the pond and get the latest on all the excitement ahead of tomorrow's royal wedding in london. nbc's tracie potts is outside westminster abbey with all the details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. actually, the mayor of london is encouraging everyone to wear a hat and come out and enjoy this very special day. new this morning we just got more details about the service tomorrow including a program with a personal message from the couple saying they are deeply touched by all of the affection they've been shown throughout their engagement. now, they've been unable to duck cameras very successfully. we saw kate middleton leaving her home in berkshire yesterday. she was driving with a bodyguard in the car. we also saw her arriving here at westminster abbey for what we believe will be their final and a private rehearsal. they were here about 1 1/2 hours. she will be staying at the very luxurious, very posh goring

hotel not far from buckingham palace in the royal suite which has just undergone a huge renovation. he will have a private family dinner tonight before their very big wedding on tomorrow. lynn? >> all right, tracie potts there for us in london. thanks. for all of you at home a reminder nbc news live coverage of the royal wedding begins tomorrow 4:00 a.m. eastern, 1:00 a.m. pacific time right here on your local nbc station. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. it was bad business for a couple of stores in a houston strip mall after a car crashed through them. the vehicles barreled through a yogurt shop wiping out everything in its path before coming to a stop inside an adjacent store. no injuries were reported. it was a busy day for a crew of army corps of engineers in pittsburgh. four barges broke loose on the ohio river. one contained benzene, causing

officials to fear a potential explosion and dangerous fims traveling up river. the barge was towed away safely while others will be removed the next few weeks. this is cute. a family of ducks has become a popular attraction at one new jersey fast food restaurant since she parked her nest near the drive-through weeks ago the mama duck was cared for by restaurant employees and a conservationist. now that her ducklings have hatched plans are in the works to move them to a nearby pond. let's get another check at your national and regional weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning once again. >> let's turn our attention to the west coast and help everyone prepare for their day as they wake up. that huge storm system that swept across the country is now gone but as far as in the northwest, a little stormy weather. nothing too tragic is going to occur. just gusty winds and thunderstorms. the worst of it will probably be the actual lightning from the storms. temperatures on the cool side with this system too behind this

front temperatures in the 50s. still very nice in southern california. no problems today. arizona should be mid to upper 90s. l.a. today beautiful sunshine and 75. that's a look at your thursday forecath it, even snow at the highest of elevations. update on that friday forecast coming up. >> all right, thanks so much. big ben speaks. the markets roar. and the kosher smartphone. your early morning business headlines ahead. a frightening moment for paris hilton and her boyfriend outside a california courtroom. game seven overtime in the nhl playoff. the heat one step closer in a thrilling finish.

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of the top headlines. for the first time since being shot in an assassination attempt we got a glimpse of congresswoman gabrielle giffords yesterday. she boarded a plane to florida where she'll watch her husband's liftoff on the space shuttle "endeavour" tomorrow. senate majority leader harry reid says he will hold a vote on the house's controversial budget plan. the plan proposed by republican paul ryan will likely be defeated in democratic-led senate but force senate republicans to go on record for the proposal which would cut health care programs and trim taxes for the wealthy. in ecuador a volcano has spewed ash over nearby villages. scientists expect even stronger activity from the volcano which last erupted in 2006. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,690 after

gaining 95 points yesterday. s&p added 8 points and nasdaq rose 22. overseas trading this morning, in tokyo nikkei climbed 157 points but in hong kong the hang seng shed 87. stocks zoomed wednesday after fed chairman ben bernanke in an historic news conference didn't say anything to derail optimism, that while it may be happening slowly, the economy is on the road to recovery. moving to make the central bank more open, bernanke held the first ever meeting with the media by a fed chief. while he labeled the economic upturn quite slow, he reminded reporters we're digging out of a very, very deep hole. he expressed concern about inflation but narrowed the focus to issues with commodity prices. bernanke acknowledged a lot of people are having a tough time. before the news conference, after a two-day meeting, the fed's policy-setting committee

said it will complete its $600 billion bond buying program in june and plans to keep interest rates low for an extended period of time. all of that led the three majors to 2011 highs with the nasdaq closing at a ten-year high. the russell 2000 index of smaller kxs closed at an all-time high. strong earnings also helped with boeing, whirlpool and wellpoint moving higher. starbucks fell after warning rising fuel and dairy costs will hurt earnings. elsewhere a class action lawsuit has been filed against sony over the hacking of the playstation network accusing the company of failing to adequately protect customer data. and finally technology meets tradition. an israeli phone company trying to tap into the ultra orthodox jewish market has come up with a kosher smartphone with hasidic folk music ring tones and menu

in yiddish. who is sent packing and who moves on in both the nba and the stanley cup playoffs? including a desperate scramble between the spurs and the grizzlies in their playoff nba matchup. the early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. severe weather still expected throughout the day today. not tornadic but damaging winds. your updated forecast is coming up.

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports wednesday, nfl owners suffered another loss in its battle with the players union. a federal judge denied the owners' request for a stay of her decision to end the league's 45-day lockout of the players while the nfl appeals to a higher court. now with an early look at your other sports headlines here's nbc's fred roggin. >> reporter: good morning. the boston bruins and montreal canadiens have met in a game seven more than any other teams in american sports history. last night's may have been the best of them all. to boston in the third. bruins up 3-2, under two minutes to play. ka n canadiens need a goal. unleashed a rocket. biggest goal of his career. forced overtime. both had chances in o.t.

five minutes in nathan horton capitalized. found the back of the net. they'll play the flyers next. off to pittsburgh for game seven between the penguins and lightning. dominic moore fooled everybody. get it one way, pass the other to bergenheim. the goalie didn't see it. 1 is-0. couldn't get the equalizer. lightning held on to win 1-0. next up the washington capitals. nba wild finish spurs and grizzly nine seconds left. san antonio down three. ginobili three from the corner and nailed it. wait a minute. was his foot on the line? they reviewed it. yes it was. that was only a two but the spurs would get another shot. less than two seconds remaining down three again. gary neal for the tie at the buzzer. no doubt about that. forced overtime and never looked back. tony parker 2 of 24. close but san antonio pulled off the win. nuggets and thunder. denver the lead in the fourth

when durant went to work. shot after shot. finished with 4 had 1. nuggets a chance in the final seconds but off the mark and thunder advance for the win. heat closed out the sixers. dwyane wade team high 26. miami won 97-91. next up celtics/heat match. early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. which actress earned a rare tabloid apology for a wild and untrue story? early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. never too late to express your appreciation to a good teacher. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." we're actually going to see a nice pretty tranquil weather pattern in many areas. exception in the pacific northwest. if you are waking up and need to grab your umbrella from medford to portland and seattle, boise, salt lake city a chance for shower or thunderstorm today. south of there fine. you look great in southern california, nevada and arizona the next two days in a row. if you're watching us on kiem news channel 3 eureka, california. see photos of abandoned schools in remote settings. learn about the history at more

is gray museum of art. an early look at entertainment. paris hilton had a scary run-in with someone she labeled quote a psycho intruder. police arrested a man who tried to grab hilton's boyfriend as the couple arrived at a courthouse to testify against a break-in suspect. the man is being held on $20,000 bail. katie holmes' $50 million lawsuit against "star" magazine for suggesting she had a drug problem has been settled. the tabloid publisher will make a substantial charity donation on holmes' behalf and issue a rare apology on "star's" cover. here's the first photo of julianne moore playing former vice presidential contender sarah palin in hbo's upcoming "game change." look at that. i just could not picture it and they did a great job. >> does this lessen tina fey

because that's a spitting image. >> nothing can lessen tina fey, nothing. this comes from ksl 5 news in salt lake city, utah, where in nearby bountiful a group of women gathered to show a teacher the impression of music left on them. they often get together to reminisce decided to track down their elementary music teacher. as they were doing some digging they were reunited with their 101-year-old mentor. almost 70 years later the piano instructor still had a lesson for the class, that the love of music lasts a lifetime. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day.

an extremely rare animal has become anything but at one zoo in serbia after the addition of four newborns, the zoo now boasts a total of ten white lions. fewer than 300 are known to exist worldwide and the breeding program has made the animals a star attraction. thankfully, the cubs are healthy and been welcomed with open arms by their mother. just when you think folks have thought about everything royal, think again. in london there's an edible portrait of the royal couple on pizza. olives and sausages used for hair, chicken for their faces and pepperoni for decorative flowers.

it sets you back 700 bucks but all proceeds go to charity. but this next item on the menu is free as long as you can manage to eat the whole thing. a restaurant in china created a five pound hamburger. anyone who can finish it within two hours. the giant beef patty is topped with dozens of slices of tomato and cucumber and ketchup sandwiched between a football sized bun. i say the tomatoes and cucumbers get in the way. >> how many points would that be? >> i'd say we don't want to be. time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. president obama expected to confirm several changes to the nation's national security leadership. cia director leon panetta will reportedly replace outgoing defense secretary robert gates. general david petraeus is expected to shift from his current role running the war in afghanistan to fill panetta's vacancy as cia chief.

midwest states take part in the great central u.s. shakeout. the earthquake preparedness drill will focus on nuclear safety in the wake of japan's recent disasters. a big day for all you football fans. first round of the nfl draft picks begin tonight. stay on top of the latest developments those stories and others as they break on msnbc and watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." what's coming up later on the "today" show. find out where the deadly twisters are headed next with al roker's latest forecast and get a real look at some of the amazing jewels in queen elizabeth's private collection. 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. captions by vitac www.vitac.com