breaking news on "early today." at least a half dozen texas residents killed by powerful tornadoes that left scores injured and widespread damage. >> it was horrible. the freaking -- the house started shaking. we were in a closet. you could hear it. it sounded like a train going on. >> the houses are no more. they are all leveled. >> for destruction from one to ten, it's a ten. >> we'll have complete coverage coming up. >> the acting head of the irs is out as the white house tries to get out ahead of the scandal the latest on the a.p. controversy and the benghazi e-mails. plus, convicted murderer jodi arias is eligible for the death penalty. the power ball jackpot explodes to over $360 million.

and a deer plows through the window of a moving bus. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for thursday, may 16th. good morning to you. we begin with a violent night where tornadoes have the turned deadly. dozens of homes across the north central part of the state were destroyed and numerous trees uprooted. this morning at least six people are confirmed dead and dozens injured with officials expecting the number of casualties to rise. the storm cut across a wide swath from austin to dallas-ft. worth to the northern border. residents sent these photos showing the ominous weather and funnel clouds. the city of granbury about 70 miles southwest of dallas bore the brunt of the damage. residents say the tornado roared through like a train. >> everything is demolished. >> what was it like when it hit? >> hell. it was like hell.

>> the houses are no more. they are leveled. >> for destruction from one to ten, it's probably about a ten. nothing is left hardly. >> the granbury storm was one of three confirmed twisters in the area according to the national weather service. we'll have more on the weather including the national forecast in just a few minutes. the irs scandal has cost the man at the top his job. steve miller had been acting commissioner of the agencies for just six months. he was made aware as early as last year some inspectors were putting extra scrutiny on conservative nonprofits. his ouster satisfied many republicans, but some critics say this is far from over. >> my question isn't about who is going to resign. my question is, who is going to jail over this scandal? >> president obama promised new oversight and coordination with congress to investigate targeting of conservative groups. >> i've reviewed the treasury department watchdog's report and

the misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable. it's inexcusable and americans are right to be angry about it and i'm angry about it. >> the department of justice is looking into whether the irs violated any civil rights there. now to benghazi. newly released white house emails provided glimpse how the obama administration handled the talking points after the benghazi terror attacks. the 99 pages of emails between the white house, state department and cia detail the debate over what to disclose in the points. the ones u.n. ambassador susan rice used the following sunday on multiple morning news shows. an e-mail from then cia director david petraeus reveals some of his hesitations. petraeus writes quote, no mention of the cable to cairo either? frankly, i'd just as soon not use them. this concern after his deputy scratched out mentions in a talking points mention of al qaeda, fighters in libya, a

warning to the cairo embassy. u.s. officials meanwhile say a person who played a central role in the benghazi attack have been identified. federal criminal charges against that person will soon be made public. in the third headline out of washington, attorney general eric holder says it was not him but his number two who made the call to subpoena phone records from the associated press. grilled on capitol hill yesterday, holder said deputy attorney general james cole made the decision in the investigation is into a plot to bomb a u.s. airliner. >> i'm not familiar with the reasons why the subpoena was constructed in the way that it was because i'm not a part of the case. >> the ap called the department of justice's action a serious interference with their right to gather and report the news. to items of luck now. might be the time for you at least to start playing the lottery. no winner last night in the

power ball so the jackpot is $47 million, the third highest in its history. mega millions is expected to surge past the current $190 million prize. the powerball drawing is saturday and mega millionses picks its lucky numbers tomorrow night. that phoenix jury that convicted jodi arias of first degree murder said she's eligible for the death penalty. they said she killed her lover travis alexander in an especially cruel manner confirming death penalty status there. jurors will hear from arias friends and family as they decide whether she should die or get life in prison. attorneys for ariel castro say he'll plead not guilty. the cleveland man is accused of imprisoning three women in his home for more than a decade. 52-year-old castro is facing kidnapping and rape charges and being held on $8 million bail. on thursday castro's attorneys said their client has been, quote, demonized in the media and they are concerned over his

ability to receive a fair trial. now more on our top story. the severe weather that brought deadly tornadoes to texas and also brought some texas-sized hail. there were reports of hail as large as grapefruit in the mineral wells area causing damage to vehicles and windows. nbc's bill karins, i was worried about you, but you're by the weather center wall. lots of twisters. are there more concerns today? >> today looks fine. yesterday there were only three tornadoes reported. just happened to be one of them turned out to be a powerful and big one through a small town. the tornado warning was issued at 7:42 for granbury. as many as six killed, 14 missing. hundreds were taken to the hospital. the storms came through. then they rolled to the south here. they were actually big and strong when they went through

cleborne. they said it was a mile wide at that point. again, the timing of it hit around 8:00 last night. then the mile wide twister at just about 9:00 local time in texas. luckily that was over a rural area. as far as the west is concerned we have a storm system moving on shore. there is wet weather here, especially northern california. you see light rain. nothing heavy but it will be a damp air mass. san francisco, some of the drizzle may move on shore. as far as the forecast, nothing heavy. definitely on the damp and cool side san francisco north up the we are warm and nice though in arizona. richard, last night was another

proof of the tornado. it only takes one in a populated. >> thank you so much. a late arrest in the mother's day shooting in new orleans. plus an amazing lightning strike caught on tape. this passenger tried to get on the bus without paying the fare. oh, "deer." we're back in two.

now to storieses making news this morning. o.j. simpson took the stand wednesday in his bid for a new trial in his 2008 armed robbery case. he told the court he had no idea friends were carrying weapons when they went to a hotel room to retrieve memorabilia. new orleans police arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with sunday's shooting at the mother's day parade. scott was named as a suspect earlier this week. the shooting injured 19 people including children. some spectacular lightning lit up the skies over st. petersburg, russia. it struck the city's tallest point, a tv tower. service was knocked off line only for a few minutes.

one of nasa's eyes in the sky has apparently gone blind. the space agency says $600 million telescope lost its ability to aim. it was launched to document distant stars. take a look at this we know the phrase deer in the headlights but what about deer in the windshield. a pennsylvania bus driver was headed down the road when the animal came crashing through the window. just one passenger and the driver were on board and no one was hurt. good to see the deer was okay. in health news, angelina jolie is planning to undergo surgery to remove her ovaries as well. she learned she had a high risk of developing ovarian or breast cancer. monday we learned she opted to have a preventative double mastectomy. her mother died from ovarian cancer in 2007. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil. bring yourself back. >> now for today's business headlines we turn to jackie deangelis. good morning.

good morning. boeing and ge have an engine problem that caused them to shut down mid flight twice this year. both planes were able to fly safely. the issue affects gearboxes on 26 jets in service. the house agriculture committee approving a $500 billion farm bill that includes biggest cuts to food stamps in a generation. the bill goes to a full debate in the house. expect it later this summer. finally nbc universal sold 75 to 80% of ads for sochi, russia, despite a decision for anheiser-busch and hilton hotels to pass on the games. richard? >> thanks. the bulls continue to trample records on wall street. the dow and s&p reached new highs as the nasdaq also charges ahead. the bar has been raised for impressing that special someone. check out this $27 million colorless diamond. it's the largest ever offered at auction and weighs in at 101.37

carats. the buyer harry winston. forbes is out with its list of world's highest paid athletes including salaries and endorsements. maybe they can buy that diamond. floyd mayweather at 85 million. manny pacquiao. tiger woods at three. lebron james at four and roger federer at $52.7 million. rich bunch. finally this indianapolis waitress is in her own highest paid category. c.c. bruce got a $446 tip on a bill of just under $6. the generous tipper is one of c.c.'s regularses who happened to sign her bill and just walk out the door. columbia university is finally taking action on the scholarship offer to whites only. plus sports highlights are straight ahead. you're watching "early today."

a suicide car bomber attacked foreign advisers in afghanistan this morning. afghan police say at least six people were killed and 35 others wounded. the explosion reportedly shook buildings on the opposite side of kabul and filled the sky with white smoke. los angeles bomb squad detonated 17 home made bombs found inside an apartment. the jaw dropping discovery was made after police discovered a dangerous liquid inside robert wilson's car during a traffic stop. no evidence of terrorism but he was arrested for possession of a

destructive device. rutgers university introduced julie herman as its new athletic director. she's the first woman to head the sports program and just the third tapped to run an athletic department at a bcs school. her predecessor resigned after the firing of an abusive men's basketball coach. >> columbia university is changing the requirements for a whites only scholarship. now it is taking legal action to change the race rule. following her death in 1920 an iowa woman left over half a million dollars for fellowship at the new york school under the stipulation the money go to white students from iowa who do not study law. take you to sports now. actor will smith and son jade nn the first elimination there with miami ousting chicago. >> passed on a three. what a finish for dwayne wade. >> wade had a great night.

18 in that 94-91 win. marc gasol giveses them the lead over oklahoma city. kevin durant misses. memphis wins 88-84 and make franchise history going to their first western conference final. the kentucky derby winner is a favorite to win the preakness at pimlico on nbc. in baseball giants pitcher jeremy afeld is paid over half a million. apparently it was a clerical error. he returned the cash saying he wouldn't be able to sleep at night. yesterday we showed you a baseball bat flying into the stands and a fan making the catch. second straight night, a second fan doing the very same thing catching another flying bat. again nobody getting hurt. a lot of talented fans out there. it's time for batters to use more pine tar. in pittsburgh, the pirateses

jose tabada puts a gum bubble on the hat of james mcdonald. doing? >> i don't see anything. >> seems like they're 5 years old there. the ultimate dugout you've gotu don't. batter to left field. he thinks it's a homer. not. the ball caught on the warning track. the batter stunned. sit down. the other team was saying -- yeah, they were laughing at him. he shouldn't have been pointing either. >> a mom is recovering after her stroller toppled to the rails at a train station. the mom picked up the baby, lifted her back to the platform. the baby suffered a cut on the forehead but is expected to be okay. we'll be right back.

damp weather moving into northern california this hour. looks like it will enter san francisco and san jose shortly, too. showers in the forecast. it's a cool day. split forecast. warm and hot phoenix to vegas. once you get to central california much cooler and even boise cooling off, too. tomorrow this storm system will move through. a chance of afternoon showers but friday looks better. unfortunately for weekend another rain event in the northwest on saturday. friday afternoon and friday evening, looks a little bit better than the weekend. >> all right.

so wetness -- >> i tried to find a silver lining. >> where was it? maybe this is it. >> happy hour friday looks nice. >> do you like paintpaintings? a painting of bea arthur sold for $2 million. you may ask why would it sell for that much? the art piece is a nude. this topless painting of bea arthur was sold last night for $1.9 million. >> is this a real story? the cast and crew of ""star trek" into darkness" was on the red carpet. even leonard nimoy was there. >> we have always had a very intense audience. mr. abrams has broadened the audience and opened it up to a whole new audience. it's exciting. we are grateful. >> she looked like mrs. spock. >> very, very appropriate. let's talk about singer

kelly rowland. she released a single called "dirty laundry" revealing she was in an abusive relationship. she said the emotional song took her days to record saying she had to sing the song, not sob through it. finally katie holmes has been working with bold people on the set of her new film. the former mrs. tom cruise has been asked out seven times by different crew members and extras. she's said no to each and every one of them and admitted that she's been asked out by everybody on the set. >> i still have my "dawson's creek" crush on her. >> he had to bring it up. >> no doubt there will be many more. >> i'm richard lui. this is "early today." just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

the lead story this morning in politico. irs in turmoil in depth look at the scandal. in "the washington post" eric holder's abdication. the columnist offers his critical take on the attorney general's lack of knowledge on so many sensitive topics. topping our news this morning a brush fire in central california has grown to 3,000 acres. it's only 10% contained. after finding fuel for the flames in the las padres national forest. nearby residents are being evacuated as a precaution. four helicopters are helping to battle it from the air. the power ball jackpot is at $475 million, its third highest in history. there were no winning tickets last night. the drawing is saturday. o.j. simpson took the stand wednesday as he bid for a new trial in his 2008 armed robbery case.

he told the court he had no idea friends were carrying weapons when they went to a hotel room to retrieve memorabilia. this is bound to be today's viral video right there. we know the phrase "deer in headlights." what about the deer in the windshield? >> the deer's fine! >> he wants to get out, too. >> amazing e's still living here. >> i never would have gotten up again. >> the bus driver was heading down the road when the animal me through the window. whatever you do don't look down some construction crews got a better than a bird's eye view of the national mall as they set up scaffolding on top of the washington monument. that's dizzzying. i can't stand heights. the area was rocked by an earthquake two years ago. the monument has been closed for repairs ever since. they should get big bucks for doing the work. i don't know. >> hazard duty pay? >> absolutely. >> and those working on world trade center one, amazing heights.

barack obama welcoming prime minister erdogan today. we should learn more about a deadly texas explosion last month. federal and state officials will talk about the investigation of the blast that killed 15 and injured dozens in west texas. happy birthday to actress megan fox. singer janet jackson turns 7 h and actor pierce brosnan is 60. here's a look at what's coming up on the "today" show. wade robson in his claim he was abused by michael jackson. and seth myers talks about transitioning to host of "late night." keep it here for weather, sports and more. still hoping the gift arrives at megan fox's house. >> call me when you get it, megan. >> this is "early today" your first stop of the day on your nbc station. you have a great day.

. . good morning. i'm jon kelley. i'm laura garcia-cannon. in an allen rock neighborhood, a woman and a child was found, a woman's found found in monterrey roud. now, another homicide near blossom hill road and highway 85. >> marla tallez arriving at the scene. what can you see and what can you tell us? >> reporter: we are directly across the street from all of the activity underway on blossom road. the focus is jack in the box on blossom hill at snell. it is a very