on the broadcast tonight, summer slowdown. this wasn't expected. a big hit on jobs, income, housing, gas, and food. tonight, what is happening to the american economy? mass panic. a rare and vicious tornado powers across massachusetts. we'll have the damage reports tonight. lethal outbreak. europe scrambles to deal with an e. coli strain never seen in humans. and the americans are watching this one closely. >> and a spectacular show. after a long, hard winter, one of the nation's most beautiful places has come alive like never before. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. a lot of people have been saying lately, this country is pulling out of economic recession, perhaps. but tonight, there is evidence to the contrary, and lots of it. some bad set of numbers that show real trouble still ahead. there's housing. home prices at their lowest since 2002. there are now 2.25 million foreclosures in this country. there's jobs, unemployment is stuck at 9%. 8 million americans are on unemployment. all those jobs gone away in the recession. and the cost of living is hitting hard. gas, food, everything is so expensive, that a lot of people, millions of americans are just spending to live. we want to start out by taking a big picture look before we whip around the country. nbc's tom costello here with us with that.

>> we had such strong economics earlier in the year, that a lot of people were hoping we were beginning to see a bit of a turnaround. things have slowed dramatically. we're not back in a recession, but this slowdown is threatening a fragile economy for millions of americans. chances have you have seen it first hand in your neighborhood home values, your grocery store aisle, the local gas station, and the news and daily paper. whatever economic recovery was under way is now in question. home prices are at the lowest level since 2002. a decade of equity wiped out. manufacturing growth, slowing. job growth, slowing. car sales and consumer spending, down, and unemployment stuck at 9%. and something that hits every household and business, gas prices near $4 a gallon. >> it feels like we're moving in a traffic jam, and every inch forward you move in the traffic jam, the more angry you get. >> and making matters worse, the debt crisis in europe, and in

japan, dual disasters. the dow is down 5% from may. meanwhile, bond yields are paying less. that hurts retirees on fixed incomes. to stimulate the economy, the government has already cut payroll taxes while the fed has pumped $600 billion into it. but more government spending is unlikely given the political battle over the debt ceiling in washington. peter says our problems are deep and structural. >> stimulus spending measures aren't working because we're in a big trade deficit with china and all the oil we import. when that money leaves the united states and doesn't come back to buy american products, there are no jobs for americans. >> reporter: with 8 million jobs lost in the great recession, at the current rate, it could take years to recover those jobs. >> we basically had a massive coronary during the financial crisis. we're lucky we're not dead. financial stimulus and monetary stimulus got us to the stage where we're healing, but we're still in a lot of rehab, and rehab can take a very long time.

tomorrow, the government issues its much anticipated jobs report for may. economists are predicting 180,000 jobs were created. anything less than that could be a disappointment for the market and send the enunemployment rat higher. >> the quote of the night so far. rehab can take a long time. tom, thanks for being here. to start off our coverage. and now for how this is all hitting home, we want to go across the country to our correspondents covering the economy tonight. we begin in the american midwest. >> reporter: i'm john yang in chicago, where a new report says business activity in the midwest grew much less than expected in may. companies are reporting a significant slowdown in new orders. one small bright spot. unemployment is falling faster here than the rest of the country. still, not fast enough for people looking for a job. >> everyone is looking for a job everyone wants to job. and i'm one of them. i love working.

>> reporter: i'm tom yamas in northern las vegas, an area some people consider to be the buckle of the foreclosure belt. in neighborhoods like this, more than 80% of the people owe more on the mortgages than the houses are worth. >> the bills have gotten so insurmountable, it's hard to bring them down and pay a huge mortgage at the same time. it's really becoming a hardship. >> reporter: across the country, 2.25 million homes are in foreclosure with another 1.8 million mortgages 90 days past due. >> i'm janet shamlian at the walmart in houston where sales are dropping off at the end of each month. the ceo said the shoppers are just running out of money. >> the two things i spend the most money on are food and fuel. those are the two going up the most. >> some 44 million americans are getting food stamps. that's twice as many as three years ago. rise in gas prices are also

taking a toll. on wall street, the blue chips finishes lower. the dow down more than 41 points as everyone waits for the may jobs number. again, it comes out tomorrow morning. so what does this all mean? michelle caruso-cabrera is here from cnbc world headquarters with more on where we're headed. you said today we're asking questions about this economy we weren't asking a few months ago. any real worry about the future here? >> absolutely. we're asking whether or not it's possible the u.s. economy may enter a second recession. there aren't a lot of economists predicting that, but because of the spate of bad economics you have highlighted, they have cut their growth for the economy. that's significant. we used to think the economy would grow more than 3%. now it's expected to be less than 3%. and many believe on wall street you need 3% growth in order to improve employment in the united states.

below 3%, you're not going to make a dent in the unemployment figures. >> we all grew up hearing the exception, double-dip recession. what's the difference between that and an elongated, extended awful economic period for millions of americans? >> for millions of americans, it feels like the same thing, but the technical difference is we went down and then we went up, and maybe we go down again. for the average american, though, the way they measure whether or not the economy is getting better is their home price and their ability to get a job. on both of those fronts, it's going to be years before we see a big improvement. >> wow, a much grimmer look than we were led to believe a few months ago. michelle, always a pleasure having you from cnbc tonight. and don't think there aren't huge political implications to this. the obama white house sure expected things to be better. and for republicans, this gives them something substantial to run on. and as of today, that officially includes mitt romney.

zion of the prominent michigan family, a mormon, millionaire ceo, former massachusetts governor. he officially got into the race today by teeing off sharply on the president. >> these failing hopes make up president obama's own misery index. they have never been higher. and what is his answer? he says this, i'm just getting started. >> so chief white house correspondent, political director chuck todd gets to follow another political candidate in the case. you heard mitt romney call the president a failure and he's using the economic issue and his being an economic manager to go forward. >> his entire speech was on this, trying to create the contrast on the economy. he's not going to be alone. as the unemployment numbers don't go down over the next few months, you'll see more and more of those. for mitt romney, he sees this as hionly path. he has a lot of issues with the

main republican party. if the fight is who can take on the economy, he thinks he can convince the skeptics on the right he's the best man for this due to his business background. >> in the place where you are right now, in the west wing of the white house today, i think it's fair to see what we said a few minutes ago. they sure thought it was going to be better than this by now. >> i talk saed to quite a few fs today. there were some very sober conversations when it comes to the economy. they said, this wasn't the only bad week. the last four to six weeks have given them cause for concern. three key issues they're worried about. gas price issue, the european debt issue, and the political stalemate over the debt. the political state mate and the gas issue create the consumer confidence issue, and they worry that could snowfall, particularly if the job report

tomorrow is bad and more presidential candidates beat him up. they're still optimistic about the second half of this year. forecasters believe there's going oo be growth. japan's recovery effort, while it's taking a hit right now for the global economy, could help american exports. they think the trade issue with the new trade agreement could increase exports. that fear is what you had a talk with our friends at cnbc. it's not a double-dip rescission. it will be like japan was ten years ago, this flat, stagnation, no growth. that's the real fear here. >> chuck todd with the view from the west wing and elsewhere at the white house tonight. chuck, thanks. one more political note before we move on. new jersey republican governor chris christie said today he would reimburse the state for using a ploes helicopter for using it to take him to his son's baseball games. the travel doesn't cost extra to

ferry the mayor around because the choppers have to fly a certain amount of hours anyway, but christie, who defended the actions as a dad, said he doesn't want it to become a distraction. he and his wife wrote out a correct for $2,151.51 to cover the flights. in massachusetts, absolute shot about what happened here about exactly an hour ago yesterday. and compounded by the fact they're such a rare event along the mass pike eastbound, but they were huge and violent storms. they left behind a lot of damage. mike tiebi reports tonight from springfield. >> reporter: from the air, it looked every bit a wind-driven storm of historic proportions, and it was. in the western central part of springfield, it was destroyed.

on union street, six families can't call their homes home. police discussed fatalities. a mother died when she covered her child. >> reporter: this is what the approaching twister looked like wednesday afternoon. a spinning twister a football field wide, a mile high, and carrying anything with it within a 34-mile path. >> they gave us all the warning they could, and you know how much that was? ten minutes. >> reporter: almost makes it a miracle the casualties were as low as they were. consider tasha austin who was driving with her mom and two kids when a tree fell on their car. a tree whose trunk was curved enough to save them from more damage.

>> it's like it tree saved me and wrapped its arms around me. >> many people have significant damage. there are 1,000 national guardsmen aiding in the cleanup. in the communities, there was a house by house, neighborhood by neighborhood search that turned up no additional casualties. from what we saw, that's amazing. brian. >> coming from joplin, missouri, a week ago, it's amazing you're standing in front of storm damage in massachusetts. veteran viewers of the weather channel and "nightly news" know dr. greg forbes. he's their severe weather expert, a university of chicago educated ph.d. and a man who helped formulate the fujita scale that rates tornadoes. here we are. i watched your coverage as this was happening yesterday. we're talking about a tornado that was ten miles high over the state of massachusetts. this isn't joplin or oklahoma city or even tuscaloosa. what is happening this time of

year and why this year? >> yeah, you're absolutely right, brian. it was a big supercell rotation much like we get in central united states. in fact, it began eerily similar to the way the joplin tornado began. in joplin, we were looking at a storm initially going north of the city. same with springfield. in each case, a flanking storm developed down to the southwest and quickly rotated. that was the sudden thing about each of these tornadoes. usually, you have to wait about 45 minutes after the first rotation before a tornado drops out. in joplin and in springfield, massachusetts, the tornado came right out of the gun. that's really unusual. dr. forbes, i read a memo you wrote this morning saying the death toll this year, you would have to go back to, what, the post-depression era, 1936, to find a higher number. and let me ask you about the myths we grew up believing, that you never saw tornadoes in cities. that tornadoes existed in the tornado alley. both of those have fallen by the

wayside this year. >> they really have. and the city thing really is a myth. i took statistics and accounted for the counties that have major scenes. and they had more tornadoes per mile than the state area averaged. so cities actually get hit more than this rural areas, that's what the statistics show. >> dr. greg forbes, one of the great living experts on science and severe weather. thank you for being with us. when we come back here this evening, this terrifying e. coli outbreak in europe right now. why the experts say they have never seen anything like it before, and do we have anything to worry about here? and later, a spring awakening captured by our cameras that we want to show you tonight.

there's a real emergency under way in europe, and american officials would like to

prevent it from spreading to this country. it's a very rare, virulent strain of e. coli. it's making people very sick, lots of them. and it's already killed 18 people. nbc's michelle kaczynski remains on the story. she's in the northern part of germany, where this all started, in hamburg, tonight. michelle, good evening. >> reporter: we're talking about at least 1,600 people very sick from this. and today, scientists announce this is a new mutant strain of e. coli. highly toxic, highly resistant. it attacks the kidneys, and in most of the serious cases, doctors are also seeing severe neurological symptoms, from difficulty speaking to seizures and paralysis. last night another patient died here, and they're still seeing new cases every day. basically, doctors say they have never seen anything like this. so many people, so sick, so young. many are in their 20s and were completely healthy. they still think it could come from contaminated cucumbers,

tormatesoo or lettuce, maybe al of the above, so they're warning people in the region, don't eat raw vegetables, period. still, because every single one of these case s seem to be linkd to northern germany, scientists aren't talking about the risk of this breaking out somewhere else, at least not right now, brian. >> an incredibly dangerous puzzle. we'll stay on the story. michelle, thank you for being with us from hamburg. up next here, a pictur fd ot to us from canada tonight of a very rare sight.

first lady michelle obama today unveiled the long awaited replacement for the food pyramid, the triangle of nutrition introduced in 1992. and by the way, did you ever know anyone who ate that way? now we have a new circular graphic called "my plate," meaning this is how your plate should look at any given meal. lots of fruits and vegetables room for grains, protein, and a little circle for dairy in the corner. a change announced today at the "new york times." jill abramson is the new executive editor. she replaces the veteran bill keller.

abramson, born and raised in a "new york times" reading family, will be the first woman in the top job in the newspaper's 160-year history. a big find in canada. we heard about it in these parts. a lobberman in prince edward island pulled up his trap and found a 4 million to 1 shot. a blue lobster, extremely rare. they really stand out when they're with their friends. huge social stigma, of course, among lobsters. the restaurant business, all the advertising doesn't help. you'll never hear a jingle, blue lobster for the seafood lover in you, for example. this lobster will live out his retirement in an aquarium. when we come back here tonight, wait until you see what is happening in one of the most beautiful spot in the lower 48.

san francisco's fire department coming to terms with the death of one of their own. we'll have the latest on this deadly fire. hyoo l wathyandv ascen i fire technology could be putting crews in more danger. the folks who run our national park say attendance is up in the month since the ken burns series aired on the parks on pbs. it's not surprising. it's a fantastic family vacation. and this year, there's something special awaiting visitors at the majestic yosemite national park. it's the upside of a bad winter.

the snowpack was so big and now the snowmelt is so big, it's causing extraordinary things to happen. our tour guide is nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: from any angle, the view is stunning. iyosemite is nature's perfect package. towering granite cliffs, carpets of lush meadow, and this season, ribbons of white. historic snowfall has left one of america's most majestic parks bursting at the seams. the spring sun is melting snow twice its normal depth, sending crystal clear water hurdling to the valley floor. a thunderous, breathtaking display created by mother nature. even impressive to scott gettiman, a park ranger at yosemite for 15 years. >> this is what brochures are made of, and this is what postcards are made of. this year is really special. >> reporter: it pours over the cliffs, pounding the rocks thousands of feet below. raw power, rugged beauty.

>> every time you turn the corner, there's another beautiful waterfall right there. >> a picture is worth 1,000 words, seeing it live is worth a million. >> in all the times coming up here, i have never seen anything like this. >> reporter: yosemite valley was carved by glaciers 1 million year s ago. water continues to carve it today. cascades popping up in places they have never been see before. >> it's not only the big water, but it's the intensity, it's that they create their own weather. >> bridal veil and vernal are among the most famous, but at nearly 2,500 feet, yosemite falls is the tallest in the country. it's tough to describe just how powerful this waterfall is. there's enough water flowing down to fill a gasoline tanker truck in two seconds. >> reporter: so much water, but the display won't last long. by august, this will slow to a trickle. but for now, yosemite's falls are full of grandeur.

nbc news, yosemite national park. that's beautiful, and that's our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. good evening and thanks for joining us. >> it was supposed to be a regular call. a house fire, but it turned into a tragic loss for the san francisco fire department. a 21 year veteran lost his life battling the blaze today. as you can imagine, an emotional day for firefighters across the bay area.