this morning on "early today," disaster zone. another wave of violent and deadly weather tears through the nation's mid section. stunning upset, democrats pick off a house seat from a heavily republican district in new york state. and royal welcome, president obama and the first lady attend a london banquet fit for a queen. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with round two. middle america has been

terrorized once again by a pack of deadly twisters. the latest strike, kansas, oklahoma and arkansas. at least eight people are dead there. this as residents in joplin, missouri, struggle to cope with their disaster. the death toll there stands at 122 with four still missing. >> oh, my gosh. >> out of there and safe. >> the motion is tremendous. >> reporter: another assault from mother nature, this time, the target is oklahoma. >> getting another killer tornado. it went across highway 81 as it intensifies and it almost got us. >> reporter: joplin, missouri, a city already struggling with so much loss. >> this used to be our home and now there's nothing left of it. >> reporter: the devastation stretches for six miles, more than 1,000 structures destroyed by the ef-5 tornado with winds over 200 miles an hour. but those are just numbers. the reality is that these are

lives splintered and torn apart. >> well, we looked at it for two days now and it doesn't get any easier when you look at it. >> reporter: if there is any hope here, it's been found by the search and rescue teams that pulled two more survivors from the rubble. hope that can be seen in survivors who are finding remnants of their lives before the storm. but that's tempered by the somber news that more victims have been identified. more than 120 people now confirmed dead as a result of the violent twister. >> world war three. this is like a bomb dropped on us. >> reporter: the aftermath of that battle is overwhelming. >> if you are alive and you got out of it, you had a miracle. >> reporter: emotions just like everything else here are stretched to their limits. jay gray, nbc news, joplin, missouri. >> and as jay just mentioned, oklahoma is also digging through tornado destruction. last night, weather channel meteorologist mike bettis was there getting a glimpse at some

of the shocking images mother nature left behind. >> reporter: well, another round of violent storms and tornados, this time centering in oklahoma. and now, after sunset and on our night vision camera, we can observe some of the damage right here in el reno. we know a tornado crossed i-40 and then crossed highway 81. it did this damage. there's some utility lines down, we have trees that have been uprooted. this is on the property of tom and carla cronister. maybe more impressive is what's in the tree. it's actually carla cronister's convertible. it was tossed about 100 plus yards and right here into this tree. i thought one thing that was really, really telling about the power of the wind is look at that piece of wood that punctured right through the floorboard of the vehicle here. the tops of the trees are all taken off. they've been thrown back and off

to the north where the tornado proceeded to take on piedmont. and then across i-35 and hit the town of guthrie, crossing two major interstates, we believe to have four dead here in canadian county. the storms eventually moved on and caused no further issues as it moved through the eastern part of the state. but another violent day this time in the sooner state. right now in el reno, oklahoma, i'm meteorologist mike bettis. lynn, back to you. >> obviously, those images put it into perspective. first, in political news, democrats are celebrating a stunning victory for a u.s. congressional seat in a staunchly conservative district in upstate new york. what was expected to be a respect land slide, democrat kathy hochul defeated state assembly woman jane corwin last night. corwin steadily lost support after she came out in favor of the republican budget plan which proposes cuts in medicare to

lessen the deficit. the election was called to replace republican chris lee who resigned after his shirtless photo appeared on the internet. back to our top story, we want to take a look at local news coverage from the latest round of storms. from our affiliate, kfor news channel 4. assigned to the dangerous task of documenting the disaster unfolding before them, putting themselves in harm's way to bring you these astonishing reports. >> it's bigger than before. it's across i-40. >> look at that. you can see it. you see it? see the bright spot? that's just ahead of it. look at the size of it. a giant wedge tornado. i-40 is closed. they're shutting it down right now. get ready to get out of the way or get below ground. do you see that? that is a giant cloud on the ground. it is huge.

>> winds are 80 to 100 miles an hour and slow. it's truly amazing. that is the town of golgsby being hit. people were coming out of their homes. they are trying to wave us down. they came out of their house. i cannot believe that. pull back. that is their house. it is just gone. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> we knew it was going to happen. we avoided a joplin situation. but we have a lot of small towns

reeling in arkansas and oklahoma with the deaths. it appears two died when a tree was knocks ed into a van. 12 fatalities as the sun is coming up. the small towns last night. 47 tornados yesterday. we are going to do it all over again. severe weather out break. this is an area that has doesn't get a lot of storms. those hit, the number of people surviving would be less. they don't have the storm shelters there. the season has been incredible. we are approaching 500 deaths from tornados. on the west coast we do have rain coming.

we may have two days of this in areas of the northern rockies. >> it is an umbrella day. >> all right bill, thank you so much. >> well oil shoots up another high flying ipo. and kate means ca ching. >> plus he makes a living going fast on the track. but you won't believe how fast he got driving off the track. you are watching early today.

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. at a lavish state dinner with president obama yesterday, queen elizabeth toasted the relationship between the u.s. and england, calling the ties tried, tested and special.

earlier in the day, president obama met with english prime minister david cameron and played ping-pong with students. sources tell nbc news the justice department has given the green light to bring criminal charges against former senator john edwards for alleged campaign law violations associated with the cover-up of an affair. charges are likely in the next couple of weeks. federal commodities regulators filed a civil lawsuit against several big oil trader necessary a major crackdown on oil price manipulation. the suit says in 2008, they tried to horde large portions of a key u.s. trading market to create the impression of tight supplies in order to boost oil prices. then they abruptly dumped the barrels back on to market crashing prices -- causing price toes cash, improperly pocketing $50 million profit. in a sign of progress, democrats and republicans agree they can come up with $1

trillion in spending cuts. however, vice president joe biden insists new taxes must be part of the debt limit deal. house majority leader eric cantor says tax hikes are out of the question. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,356 after dipping 25 points yesterday. the s&p shed 1 points. the nasdaq was down 12. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 54 points but in hong kong the hang seng inched up 16. europe's lingering debt crisis continued to dog markets on tuesday, despite a small rebound in oil prices. energy stocks had a big day after several banks predicted oil prices will climb later this year, including one estimate that crude could reach $135 a barrel by the end of 2012. yesterday, oil surged nearly $2 to settle just under $100 a barrel.

still uncertainty about the impact european debt could have here at home outweighed gains in the energy sector and a modest rise in new home sales. on the earnings front, autozone shares shot up 6% on its strong sales report. russian search engine yandex unseated linkedin with a $1.3 billion debut on the new york stock exchange. chrysler took a big step in restoring its status with a $7 of 6 repayment of bailout loans. meanwhile, the u.s. unloaded a big chunk of its stake in bailed out insurer aig, $8.7 billion worth, including a small profit. finally, the newly crowned duchess of cambridge is officially a hot commodity. but command for the $285 beige dress kate wore to greet the obamas at buckingham palace

yesterday crashed the designer's website. it is a fantastic dress. coming up, the canadian team will have a chance to win the cup. a walk-off homer for the os and a ninth inning come back in the bronx. plus, lebron outpaced the man who replaced him as the league's mvp. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. once again, possible tornados in the middle of the country are stealing all the headlines. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night, lebron james played some defense and helped move the heat to one win away from a place in the nba finals. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. and like it or not, the miami heat, one win away from the nba finals. game four in miami. derrick rose wanted to be more aggressive and, boy, was he ever. a huge junk past anthony, he had 23. this game back and forth until the end, tied at 85. rose with a chance for the win. lebron james stood strong. forced the mvp to a tough shot and we are headed to overtime. unfortunately for the bulls, the heat have three superstars and they took over. james, dwyane wade and chris bosh scored all the team's points in o.t. lebron finished with game high 35.

too many weapons for miami, they beat chicago in o.t. they can close out the bulls tomorrow. nhl, the vancouver canucks are headed to the nhl finals. goalie never saw it. vancouver beat san jose, 3-2 in double overtime to advance to their first stanley cup finals in years. philadelphia, reds and phils tied at three, top nine. a base clearing double off the wall and that scored three. reds snapped a six-game losing streak, 6-3. now to new york. curtis granderson tied it with an rbi single. next hitter, mark teschera, rivera couldn't handle that one, either. in came the winning run and the yanks won it, 5-4.

orioles and royals, adam jones sent everybody home with a two-hit run to center. baltimore rallied to win it, 5-3. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. tiger woods wagers a million bucks. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, folks these days are looking to avoid these kinds of treats, but we'll show you why this hartford, connecticut, they got a great excuse to just go for it. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. a storm system is pushing on shore. we have a batch of moderate rainfall. temperatures are held down. what a cool spring it has been in the northwest. bedford getting to 59. seattle 56 for the high temperature. in california showers should move in. by the time we get to tomorrow. this is a slow-moving system. we'll try to get you to a better memorial day weekend. if you are watching us on reno, nevada. one person's trash is another person's treasure.

at the gallery and that is your pacific event of the day. >> and now here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. north carolina may be nascar country, yesterday police there gave car driver kyle busch anything but the hollywood treatment. tmz reports busch was ticketed for traveling at a jaw dropping 128 miles per hour on a 45-mile-per-hour road, test driving a new lexus. busch admitted he got carried away and he's since apologized. tiger woods yesterday twittered that he would give $1 million to charity if no one would ask him about his injured leg. well, the first question was about his leg. nevertheless, woods still gave $1 million to his own charity foundation. way to go, tiger. and finally, a judge ruled "the hangover: part ii" can come out tomorrow.

lawsuit claiming copyright infringement has yet to be decided. but a presiding judge turned down the request to halt the film's release. and this comes to us from wvit connecticut in hartford where in nearby meridan two best friends are giving their town a sugar fix all for a good cause. born prosecute mature, doctor's visits were common for alley. years later, and much healthier, she enlisted her friend aslin to help make her hospital stays more kid friendly. and the friends go door to door selling home made cup cake toes raise funds for toy donations. business is doing well making their sugary creations even more sweet. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

one unique farm in the czech rep has come to serve two purposes. what started as a clever way to get rid of excess poultry, this crocodile farm has become a popular tourist attraction. it's grown to about 230 crocks who eat up scraps and attention for the hundreds of tourist that's come visit. the director hopes to continue to grow the farm and new found business. from a unique farm to unique produce, a business savvy college graduate set out to grow a cubed shaped watermelon and succeeded. they're grown inside special containers to give them their shape and inspirational words are stamped into the rinds. the melons are sold for 20 times the normal price and he claims

they're tastier, too. finally, talk about a false alarm. officials in england were quick to jump on reports of a tiger on the loose. police responded with a thermal imaging helicopter and enlisted zoo experts. they evacuated areas and stopped play at a cricket match to trap the rogue animal. it turns out not until the tiger was moved by the wind it turns out it was simply a life sized stuffed animal. >> i thought it was real. >> really bill? >> it wasn't moving. >> do tigers just sit there? >> take the high road. >> it is time now for an early look at the stories we will follow throughout the day on nbc. a judge will decide whether jared loughner accused of shooting arizona congresswoman

gab real giffords and 18 others is mentally competent to stand trial. nine years after kidnapping elizabeth smart, brian david samuels will be sentenced for the crime. smart now 23 is expected to address her kidnapper before sentencing. and today marks the 50th anniversary of president kennedy challenging the nation to send a man to the move by the decade's end. while na miss that mission was accomplished. congress might not see through its funding. 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. the latest on last night's deadly twisters as the rescue and recovery continues in joplin, missouri. and hear from a 35-year-old opera singer and office manager who managed to lose half her bodyweight to win "the biggest loser." 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. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com