this morning on "early today," hard hit. residents of joplin, missouri survey the devastation of the nation's deadliest tornado in over half a century. trouncing in tripoli. nato warplanes launch a massive new bombing campaign in the libyan capital. and sugar high. surveillance video captures a group of teens trashing a new york city donut shop. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with scene of destruction.

the battered community of joplin, missouri is just beginning to get a grasp on the devastation it has suffered. the death toll has now climbed to it at least 116 making it the deadliest single tornado strike in the u.s. in nearly 60 years. rescuers are still searching for more victims. they pulled 17 alive from the rubble and the governor says they are certain there are still more alive. jay gray reports. >> reporter: the massive tornado cut a path through the middle of town for six miles, neighborhoods were wiped away in a matter of seconds. st. john's medical center was ripped apart. those used to dealing with the aftermath of emergencies now suddenly caught up in their own. >> when we came out, it looked like a war zone. >> reporter: as soon as the wind stopped, rescue and recovery teams moved in, searching for victims trapped in all of this rubble. more than a day later, that effort is continued.

but as crews fought through the debris, they were also forced to battle more severe weather. heavy winds, rain and lightning making the job even more difficult. still, one of the hardest tasks on this day was for those returning to what little was left of their homes. looking for any sign of life before the storm. >> pants and tennis shoes. but a little bit of something to help us. >> reporter: help so desperately needed and pouring in from communities in neighboring states. >> i'm gratified and amazed at the outpouring of support from our neighbors. >> reporter: overwhelmed by the emotions of what has happened and the reality of the long and difficult recovery to come. jay gray, nbc news, joplin, missouri. >> well, joplin school officials have canceled classes for the rest of the year after several buildings were completely destroyed by sunday's tornado.

the joplin senior class of 2011 held their graduation ceremony on sunday just hours before the storm hit. nbc's kevin tibbles has their story. >> reporter: when the sky went black and came crashing down, it tore the joplin high school apart. >> office is right here. >> reporter: today the principal came to see if anything could be salvaged. >> it was just utter devastation. the gymnasium's down completely. >> reporter: the school's auditorium is wrecked, its music rooms collapsed. sunday was supposed to be a happy day. sarah and the other seniors had just celebrated graduation across town from their school in a larger space that could accommodate parents and friends. >> and i knew it would kind of be like the last time i walked through those doors as a high school student, but i didn't literally think it would be the last time i'd walk through these doors. >> reporter: today evan says he's lucky to be alive. he was in his car driving home after the ceremony when the windows blew in and glass flew everywhere. >> the tree fell on the hood and

we think if that didn't happen, we would be dead. >> reporter: at just 18, he contemplated dying. >> i just thought the whole time like i hope it doesn't hurt. >> reporter: now students and staff don't know where to begin as reality slowly sets in. >> as every hour goes by, it just gets more difficult to deal with. >> and that was nbc's kevin tibbles reporting. sadly, one of joplin's senior class graduates has not been found since the tornado struck. >> president obama announced this morning from london. he will travel to missouri on sunday to see the tornado damage first hand. he and the first lady arrived in london where they will be meeting with the queen along with prince william and his new bride, the duchess of ca

camebridge. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. dark cam video over a year old showed an ugly exchange at a traffic stop in georgia. an officer is seen striking a driver while being taken into custody. the officer claimed during the stop the driver had repeatedly resisted officers, but all charges against the driver has since been dropped and now he's considering legal action. the nypd is looking for a group of young vandals recorded on surveillance camera. moments after they entered a donut shop, the mayhem began with the crowd and the group throwing chairs and tables. they also made off with a few pastries and drinks. no arrests have been made. an ohio couple is doing hard time, pool side. >> i judge sentenced them to stand in a tiny swimming pool for lying about rafting. they handed out brochures about water safety.

now for a look at national and regional weather. here is bill karins with your weather channel forecast. >> good morning. >> devastating. you look at the pictures. let me give you an overview. this is a satellite picture from before where the storm hit. this is the path of where the storm hit. we have shown you pictures of the hospital. ef-4 on the tornado scale. six miles, that is it. the damage took place in eight minutes. that is whow fast it came and went and it was all done. tornado outbreak is likely here. strong tornados and life tl threatening weather. these storms will arrive late probably right around midnight.

the storm system that is hitting the country today, this morning still bringing showers and storms throw wyoming and colorado. we have cleared it out. 71 tuesday. tomorrow, it looks like that is when the next storm system will bring in clouds and showers. that is a look at the nationaln day. portland seattle. update on the forecast coming up. >> bill, thank you. coming up. sony stumbles. dale outs and lady gaga and sampson. plus fans have been waiting for

it. but will a last minute legal hit make them wait longer? >> the best save of the nhl playoffs. you are watching "early today."

>> good morning and welcome back to "early today." >> the russian space capsule has returned to earth. the spacecraft delivered a crew of three including one american. they had been docked at the space station for 159 days. according to nbc's new york station wnbc, a dna sample taken from dominique strauss-kahn has matched material found on the shirt of the maid who has

accused the former imf chief of sexual assault. his defense lawyers deny the charges. and we haven't seen the last of those who believe the world was supposed to end this saturday. that's right. he's back. the preacher behind this weekend's prediction has revised the date of the apocalypse to october 21st. the preacher who also prophesied dooms day in 1994 apologized for not having the dates worked out as accurately as he could have. don't hold your breath. well, now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opened at 12,381 after falling 130 yesterday. the s&p dropped 15 points. the nasdaq tumbled 44. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei inched up 16 points while in hong kong the hang seng added 19. well, now that earnings season is over, wall street has it turned its attention overseas and so far the news hasn't been good. u.s. markets tumbled yesterday

after a string of negative reports about europe's debt problems. the dollar rose against the euro creating a domino effect which sent stocks and commodities tumbling. u.s. shares of sony closed lower after news its losses from japan's recent disasters could total a staggering $3.2 billion. new government report finds companies actually owed the irs $757 million in back taxes. for those who pay their taxes, the government has filed & tie trust suit against h and r block to stop its purchase of tax act. bank of america has agreed to pay $412 million to settle its role in a class action lawsuit accusing banks of charging

excessive overdraft fees on debit cards. after the bell, campbell's beat earnings estimates thanks to snack sales from its pep original farm brand. and finally, amazon.com's one day 99 cent deal for lady gaga's latest album hit a bit of a glitch yesterday. the overwhelming demand actually shut down amazon's server prompting one frustrated user saying next time i'll pay full price at itunes. well, a beantowner rebound, an nba fined for bad words, and a big bopper for the brewers. plus, the dallas mavericks' dirk novitsky leads a huge playoff come back. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >> the storm system that moved through the west coast leads tornados to the country. you are watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the thunder were just minutes away from evening up their western conference nba final with dallas, but then dirk went to work. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. what looked like a blowout win it turned in to a devastating loss. the most in franchise history. game four in oklahoma city. thunder with a 15 point lead in the fourth.

dirk novitsky caught fire. shot after shot on a 17-run. kevin durant from beyond the arc blocked. what in the world was that? on to overtime, dallas put it away. jason kidd with a three. 112-105 overtime victory. they have a 3-1 lead in the series. >> a $50,000 fine for directing a slur toward a fan. you may remember kobe bryant was fined $100,000 for a similar incident last month. nhl, bruin a win away from the stanley cup finals. tim thomas made 33 saves, but none better than this one in the third. robs downey with the paddle of his stick. bruin win 3-1. the brewers' cory hart the

latest to hit a trio of long balls. brewers beat the nats 11-3. nothing says lucky more than this. a foul ball caught by a fan. no big deal, right? okay. a few pitches later, fouled off another one. caught by the same guy in the exact same spot. talk about being in the right place in the right time. the guy wasn't even in his seat. same can't be said for former president bush who didn't get out of his seat for a foul ball that bounced directly in front of him. apparently he was more interested in chatting. is that presidential? that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. after dancing, is kirstie alley taking a big step up in showbiz? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, they are the most popular pet in the world and worth going through a little bit of trouble to help out of a jam. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. if you are are watching us in nearby wallnut creek, california. as far as the forecast goes for

today showers and thunderstorms out there in the midwest going to be out there in the northern plains and the rockies. we are okay here from seattle and medford. temperatures there on the cooler side along the beach. i mentioned tomorrow is not going to be quite as nice. we will be watching showers and storms there. seattle down to san francisco. we will have damp weather there in the forecast. >> thank you so much. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. the resurrection of kirstie alley is proceeding at full speed. she said after she finishes dancing with the stars, she's seriously considering an offer to do a broadway play. saturday night in nashville, taylor swift turned a dress rehearsal for her upcoming tour into a benefit performance for victims of recent tornadoes raising $750,000. and finally, is this week's release of the hangover part 2

in jeopardy? a lawsuit by mike tyson's tattoo artist demanding an injunction to prevent the nationwide opening saw testimony from two high level executives from the studio who said that scrapping the premiere would cause millions in damages. in the film, one character gets tyson's tattoo his face which the artist claims is a violation of copyright law. i guess he thought it was so great he copyrighted. >> why does he have to stop the release of the film? >> i know i have to spend every day reminding you of this. i know. >> it is incredible. >> this comes to us from news 2 in fort myers, florida. >> conditions created by a rocky real estate marketplaced kittens

in peril. four kittens were missing, suspected of falling inside the concrete walls of an unfinished home. well, one was removed before firefighters arrived leaving three unaccounted for. the rescuers whacked away at the abandoned structure, finding one more lucky kitten and the crew hopes that the other two made it out on their own with their eight remaining lives intact. >> i just see bill's face off to the side. >> i'm trying to fill out how they fell into the concrete house. >> nobody knows but now all is well. >> along with rainbows and unicorns it is a happy day. that is why we decided to end the show with it. >> cute and cuddly. >> i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

any new mom of quintuplets needs home and this one is no different. a mother tiger has been struggling to feed her five cubs, so the zoo in china has been looking for a surrogate to share the burden. the newborns are healthy with four of them with mom and the fifth with another tiger at the zoo. the species is one of the top ten endangered in the world. swords were clanging and arrows were whizzing in latvia this weekend. people went back to the medieval times during the annual festival. participants wielded swords to re-enact medieval battles. some competed in archery contests while others baked bread for the hungry combatants.

a boring and sometimes tedious house chore has taken a new spin. this year's lawnmower racing season kicked off this week in england and it definitely got off to a dusty start. competitors say it's just a cheap and fun way to satisfy their adrenalin fix. the mowers race on an even grass playing field, but safety first. the blades are removed for the competition. so you can't do a two for one. >> how does lynn satisfy her adrenalin fix? >> that's a good question. sleeping. i think that would be the most -- >> really gets you going? >> yeah. it's amazing how much -- what that does for me. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in washington, benjamin netanyahu will address a joint meeting of congress. he's expected to outline his vision for a peaceful and secure future in the middle east in what he called an unvarnished truth. mohamed ali will join

families of the two u.s. hikers detained in iran to appeal for their release. sarah shroud will also be in attendance. and bob dylan celebrates his 70th birthday. 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. al roker reports live from joplin, missouri with more severe weather on the way, the wake of that deadly tornado. and the kung fu panda himself, jack black, stops by studio 1a to tell meredith vieira about the second installment of his animated hit film. 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.

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