this morning on "early today," sudden impact. massive and deadly tornado carves a vicious path through missouri. flights are grounded after a volcano spews a path of ash. and royal head scratcher. the much talked about hat sells on ebay for a staggers sum. this is "early today" for monday may 23rd, 2011. >> hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across

the nation. today we begin with m axmayhem the midwest. hardest hit, missouri. devastating a local hospital. emergency officials there say at least 89 people have been killed. nbc's francisco reports. >> reporter: power witnessed first hand by a team from the weather channel. >> i'm not sure i have witnessed anything before like this in my life. >> the tornado pummeled the medical center and other buildings. to the north, the extent of the devastation was stunning. >> everybody okay? >> residents left with the destruction. >> we barely got out of there. >> forces left thousands in the

dark. >> further south in reading, kansas, mother nature delivered a crippling blow on saturday. ef-3 tornado packed winds up to 165 miles-an-hour. the twister sparked a state of emergency across 16 counties. back in missouri, fears of more deaths as residents grappled with the death of the destruction. frances koe, nbc news. >> the tornado has hit home for one of our home. brian williams lived and worked in the hard-hit missouri town. last night brian spoke by phone about how this compares to the tragedy in alabama last month. >> it looks like a wider debris field than we just saw in tuscaloosa.

having covered my share of these tornados, i thought i would never see anything to eqwa equal that. it looks like this has been broken today. bill karins has the weather channel forecast. >> the understanding of that we were dealing with. it was a month ago i was telling everyone about the alabama, mississippi and georgia tornados. here a month later, we are dealing with one of the worst fatalitywise to go through a metropolitan area. 50,000 people live in joplin this was a look at the radar. notice how it hooks around the storm. we knew it was a devastating tornado when we saw the white pop up there. that is the tornado picking up shingles, trees, whatever was in

its way and tossing the lighter objects 10 to 20,000 feet in the air. it is unbelievable what they will be dealing with there. the town was devastated. our thoughts with everyone there in missouri. >> we will check in with you in a bit. first to otherness this morning. the field of republican candidates hoping to take on president obama it became more defined. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty announced his presidential bid one day earlier than expected. >> meanwhile, another republican has taken himself out of the running. individual independe indiana governor mitch daniels said he will not pursue the republican nomination. president obama is kicking off a

six day european tour. after landing in ireland this morning, the president and first lady paid a visit to that country's leaders. later today he is expected to explore this family's irish roots. later today a formal and state dinner with the queen and a final stop in poland. and a look at other stories m e making news. a chicago sanitation worker created an ugly scene. eight people including a child suffered injuries after a city truck crashed into their wedding themed photo shoot. the truck lost control pinning people under the vehicle. the driver appeared intoxicated and he has been cited for driving under the influence.

fiery crash claimed the life of one person. charred wreckage was all that remained after the car burst into flames. it is unclear if alcohol played a role. it houston. it was a collaboration of creativity and cool. at the 24th annual art car parade. spectators lined the street to get a view of the cars and definitely one-of-a-kind. >> well now for a look at your national and regional weather. here is bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> this was a largeout break but by far the worst of it was in the joplin area. one fatality there.

that was a big event in itself. we'll see more severe weather in the middle of the country. we have rain moving through the middle of the country. we will deal with a little it of rain. it will not be a watch out by any means. southern california. if you are away from the coast, you will have sun. forecast today cool in la to san francisco and showery weather up the pacific northwest. here is the only warm spots but tucson in the 80s isn't bad. update on the forecast is coming up. >> also coming up.

gas keeps falling. and the big buck take over. early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus the pirates of the caribbean conquer the world. seriously. >> one of the best assists you will ever see and who says golf isn't a contact sport? you are watchinrly y.

good morning and welcome back to "early today." militants have launched an assault on pakistan's naval air force. the pakistani taliban has claimed reresponsibilitiability. yemen's embattled president has agreed to step down.

at least five ambassadors have gathered expecting him to sign the agreement. he never showed. but armed supporters of the agreement did. forcing those diplomates to step down. volcano began erupting for the first time since 2004. this one will cause few er problems. and it looks like princess beatrice will have the last laugh. the pretzel hat was auctioned off for over 130,000. no word on who the lucky winner was. the money will go to sttwo luck charities. >> the dow opens after losing 93

points on friday. the s&p dropped ten points. looking at over seas trading. in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 488. wall street could get to a rocky start this week after worries about deepening debt. asian stocks dropped in early trade today. meanwhile standard and pours said italy's credit was at risk. looking ahead this week investors will dig through fresh durable goods for clues on the economy here at home. reports will roll in from costco, polo, rafflph lauren an

tiffany's. reports are also due on sales of new homes and home prices. neither of which are expected to deliver any good news. prices at the pump are down nine cents over the past two weeks to $3.91 a gallon. high end shoe maker is being sold forest mafor estimated $80 million. new york skinny's real estate is back on the market. the now fully restored famed home is listed for a whopping 4.3 million big ones. only in new york. vancouver ices the sharks. the yankees derail the mets and a golfer gets grass stains plus miami's chris bosh sticks his morns into the bulls.

sports headlines straight ahead. >> possibility of storms your forecast is coming up. you are watching "early today."

good morning if you are just waking up, this is "early today."

in sports you might want to look at the eastern conference final between the miami heat and the chicago bulls. here is mario solice with your sports headlines. >> the bulls found out first hand, brchris bosch will beat y. he played like he was the face of the franchise and had his best game by half time finishing with the game high 34. miami lead late in the 4th and he puts it away to steal the foul. he takes the lead to win over the bulls. nhl playoffs. the sharks are one loss away from being flipped out of the season. they scored three goals in less than two minutes. saving his best for last.

third period passes the puck between the goalie's legs. it is a think of beauty. they win 4-2. they win tomorrow. >> season finale coming down to one inning after the yankee's jeter ties it. hits the third that is a good as a homer. they score eight in the 7th and beat the mets 9-3. if you believe that golf is a non contact sport. this one is for you. polter in trouble on eight. he tumbles backwards onto the dirt. no doubt embarrassed but he was just fine. putting from 40 feet away. would i be showing it to you if he came close? he refuses to be the fall guy and goes onto witch the championship. that is your look at sports on

early today. this weekend husband and wife celebrities tweet step by step. plus both laughter and bis disappointment over it not being the end of the world as we know it.

welcome back. the forecast not too bad today. definitely not feeling like summer. high only 58 in seattle. by the way, we did hit 70 degrees on friday. the weekend wasn't that great. 62 in portland today, and that storm system moves through the rockies. we have to clear it out on tuesday in many spots. our friends in alaska. see stunning scenery from around the land of the midnight sun. alaska classics. >> here is a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. "pirates of the caribbean" dominated. on strainer tides, took in $90

million for number one. but oversees it took in over a quarter of a bill yion doll lor, $256 billion to be exact. that shattered the record set in 2009. not bad. one other note to tell you about. the comedy, "bridesmads" took in 20% from the opening weekend. katie perry tweeted. seems while touring in japan, she had husband come to show him my favorite place, on a rival, bran was immediately taken into custody and deported over lee balan galitties from prior years ago. >> in california people have tough questions from that

preacher who predicted the end of the world. the world is still here. but the lack of promised rapture created an unlikely team of demonstrators. they mocked the end of the prediction from the minister. leaving some believers disappointed and looking for answers. someone got ahold of the guy y saying he is flabbergasted. >> he said he should read his bible more. >> i'll make something up. >> i don't think so. >> i'm lynn berry, and this is early today. just your first stop of the day. today on your nbc station.

derby in california, teams dressed up and strapped into homemade human powered cars. no motor vehicles were allowed. racers could reach high speeds and that made the turns tricky. but he was fine. well what do you get when you cross a lion and a tiger. a liger of course. two newborn ligers have survived in china. with a lion for a mother and a tiger for a dad.

the hybrid species are are so well-known. they are not found in the wild but only in zoos. women strapped on the high heels. >> why the organization of sdoe mess tick violence represent obstacles that can overcome issues in women's lives. >> that is good. if you wore heels next to me, you will be like katie holmes and tom cruise. >> you are giving yourself a lot of credit, bill. >> time now for an early look at stories throughout the day. in washington, a committee will hold a hearing on a white house plan for cyber space security. the proposal asks other countries to work jointly to

protect property. after a five-month mission a russian space capsule will carry three of the space stations back to earth. the crew will photograph the space shuttle back at the station. bonnie and clyde were gunned down after a 21 month crime spree. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments as they break. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams on nbc nightly news. coming up, al roker reports live in the aftermath of the mile wide twister that killed dozens and wiped out entire neighborhoods. and later jimmy fallon tells why he athankful for life's little anoinss. thank you for watching "early

today." just your first stop on the day. have a good one.