with temperatures in the 70s. shave it off as we head through the weekend as temperatures get a lot hotter. on the broadcast tonight, the threat level for more than 100 million americans.ore than more tornado activity tonight and now a huge part of the country is headed into a dangerous stretch. hitting home, news of a surge in housing prices, and auto sales are up so much the car companies are canceling summer break. tonight is a comeback for real. cruise control, after another nightmare at sea, a fi and a bad one on a cruise ship. there are new protections for passengers. and jersey shore, in tonight's episode, the political opposites who were pushed together by a big storm who today looked like two friends on the boardwalk, sending the message it's open for business. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening and sadly, it's happening again in the american midwest tonight, and the prognosis for the next 24 hours is rough for millions of people across a wide area. already tonight, we've had tornado warnings in at least four states and reports of tornadoes on the ground including in kansas adjacent to the state that's been the focus of so much of our attention after the massive twister that hit moore, oklahoma. it's the same storm system that just yesterday brought us these storm chaser pictures from inside one of the funnels, and the problem now tonight is the size of this system, the energy it's carrying and where it's headed. we want to start off tonight with meteorologist chris warren at weather channel head quarters. chris, good evening. >> good evening, brian. it's already shaping up to a dangerous night, in fact a dangerous few days on the way with a possible severe weather and tornado outbreak on our hands. let's take a look right now where the threat is tonight until 10:00, tornado watch,

conditions favorable for the development of more tornadoes here in the red shaded area. now looking at the threat for severe thunderstorms in the red, thunderstorms can happen anywhere in the orange or the red, large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes tonight. tomorrow still a chance for strong storms for tens of millions of people. it's the pink, that's where you have the chance for some strong long-lived tornadoes and this is where it will be the most life-threatening situation. this threat does continue again on thursday looking at the chance for some strong storms again tornado threat, parts of oklahoma up to wisconsin and brian, you need to keep track of these watches and the warnings if you live in those areas and take those warnings very seriously. we have correspondence camera crews across a wide area. chris warren from weather channel headquarters, thanks. a dicey situation outside baltimore tonight. train and truck collision and a derailment that sparked a big explosion that ripped apart two

nearby warehouses, rattled homes half a mile away, happened in the suburb of white marsh, about ten miles northeast of the city of baltimore. safety officials say the rail cars were carrying hazardous materials but not toxic chemicals, and they were careful to draw a distinction. the fire was stubborn, burning for hours, while people were kept back. the only injury was to the truck driver himself, who is in serious condition. federal safety officials are investigating. economic news on several fronts tonight. broad enough to affect millions of families across this country and it happens to be good news, word of a huge spike in housing prices and consumer confidence. and auto sales so robust the car companies have canceled or scaled back their usual summer breaks. the big question now, is this comeback for real? we get our report tonight from nbc's john yang in chicago. >> reporter: for the third straight month, there are positive signs in the housing markets, in april, home prices

took their biggest jump in seven years. today's s&p case shiller increase of desk found the biggest hit hardest by the real estate bubble, up more than 20% in phoenix, san francisco and las vegas. atlanta up more than 19%, but housing is far from fully recovered. >> we are still well below the prices of the peak of the housing market, in some cases 20%, even 30% below where home prices were in 2006. >> i think most americans now have a more sober view of housing. it's a place to live and it isn't the get rich quick scheme. >> still today the conference board said consumer confidence jumped this month from 69 to more than 76, a five-year high. the research group survey found americans more optimistic about the job market and the overall economy. >> our overall finances are looking good so we're feeling very optimistic. >> i'm not really concerned as much as i was a few years back.

i see people spend money, so you feel like you have to spend money, too. >> another day, another record for the dow. >> reporter: all this put wall street in a buying mood. after a long holiday weekend the dow surged more than 200 points at one point before closing up a little more than 106. >> what we're trying to get to you is number one the -- >> reporter: buyers are flocking to car dealerships like this one outside of los angeles. >> we're comfortable in our house and our house payment is all set and now it is time to think of adding on another monthly payment. >> reporter: in april car sales jumped 8.5% from the year before. analysts say many delayed replacing old cars because of the uncertainty about the economy. >> the ability to buy the cars because interest rates are low and credit rates ability. >> reporter: detroit's big three are keeping one demand. car sales are projected to hit 15 million this year and detroit is getting a bigger and bigger

share of that, now selling more cars in america than asian manufacturers. brian? >> john yang with the state of the economy from chicago tonight john, thanks. now to the new jersey shore and the return today of two political rivals who happen to get along. you may recall after hurricane sandy thrashed the shore governor chris christie was thrashed by some of his republicans for showing kindness to president obama who was after all leading the recovery charge with federal aid. well they were both back for a tour, a progress report today to declare the shore open for business, and to send the nation greetings from asbury park. our white house correspondent peter alexander was along for all of it. he's with us from there tonight. peter, good evening. >> reporter: hey, brian, good evening to you. beach boys, jersey boys, people will be having fun with this one for a while. the president came got jersey shore for an important message he wanted to get across and what might best be described as the sandy recovery reunion.

they looked like old friends, enjoying an extended memorial day weekend down the shore. president obama and governor christie back together again. at the arcade as for the longstanding debate about whether these are games are skill or chance today the governor showed he's the experienced local hand naming his shot. greeting nearly 4,000 rain soaked supporters they seemed careful for a full-on hug. >> hello, new jersey. >> reporter: the president sounded like a one-man tourism board. >> we've got wonderful shops and restaurants and arcades that are opening their doors and i saw what thousands of americans saw over memorial day weekend. you are stronger than the storm. >> reporter: president obama's visit designed to follow up on a pledge made here days after sandy struck. >> seven months ago i promised you that your country would have your back. i told you we would not quit until the job was done and i meant it. >> reporter: tourism, a nearly $19 billion industry, is the jersey shore's bread and butter

but these days too many people are vacationing elsewhere. >> we definitely need you. these are mom and pop businesses that rely on the summer and they rely on our tourism so it's very important. >> reporter: exactly why the president came today. >> if they ever let me have any fun, i'd have some fun here. i think a friend of mine from here once put it pretty well. down the shore, everything's all right. >> reporter: he'll get points for trying, but talking about the boss and the city springsteen made famous die-hard fans will tell you that song "jersey girl" was written by tom waite. 8-year-old tess macdougall, a jersey girl herself who lost her home, demonstrated this community's resilience. >> after the storm we came back to the beach because everyone loves the beach. >> reporter: here on the beach the only real issue was the weather. you can see it's still raining here on the boardwalk tonight. as the mayor of asbury park told me we survived sandy. rain at this point is just a

nuisance. >> peter alexander life from what looks like the stone pony, thanks. president obama is set to meet with china's new president in california next week and topic number one might be the quiet silent theft going on involving some of the u.s. military's top secrets among them we learn today chinese hackers now have their hands on details about some of the most advanced weapons systems. our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski has more. jim, good evening. >> brian, defense officials claim these cyberattacks by the chinese government and military strike at the very heart of some of the most critical u.s. weapons systems. the chinese reportedly hacked into front line air defense systems like the navy's aegis and the army's thad systems and the most costly u.s. weapons systems ever, the air force f-35. two years ago the chinese

revealed the first stealth fighter jet, which bears a striking resemblance to the u.s. f-22. the fear is the chinese will use this stolen technology to build their own deadly high-tech weapons or produce defensive systems that could easily defeat u.s. weapons. the cyber attacks were not aimed at the pentagon but the private contractors who produce these weapons and the pentagon is now assisting those contractors in tightening up their cyber security. meanwhile, the chinese deny they're behind the cyber attacks. nobody here is buying it, brian. >> jim miklaszewski at the pentagon for us tonight, jim, thanks. overseas now to a growing crisis in the middle east and a surprise announcement over the holiday weekend. we learned senator john mccain had slipped into and out of syria in just a matter of hours for a secret meeting with the rebels. the white house says it knew about the meeting in advance. he remains in the region tonight where it's been a violent few days from baghdad to beirut as syria's civil war spills over

into neighboring countries. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel in beirut for us tonight, richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. senator mccain is still in the region after his quick trip that the syrian rebels simply loved. this is what the senior officials have been waiting for. crossing a dangerous border if only for a few hours and showing solidarity. the problem for the rebels is, he's not the president. and although mccain is pushing for a no fly zone u.s. officials tell nbc news there's been no new movement on that. but there is a growing realization and a concern that something must be done, because this is what's happening without action. at least 80,000 dead in syria so far, more than 1 million refugees, iraq is going back to a civil war, lebanon is heading toward on internal conflict as well. almost every day now there are funerals for hezbollah fighters who crossed into syria to fight in the city of qusseir.

today the rebel syrian army gave hezbollah 24 hours to leave syria or it would declare war. the u.s. is pushing for diplomacy. it wants a conference in geneva next month but that hit a snag. the syrian opposition meeting in istanbul can't agree, brian, on who to send. >> richard engel with us tonight from beirut, thanks. in oregon tonight, law enforcement calling it a close call, the arrest of a 17-year-old high school student with what they said was an arsenal of explosives that he wanted to use to blow up his school before taking his own life. nbc's mike taibbi has the story. from benton county 70 miles outside of portland. >> reporter: police have not said who phoned in the warning last thursday about grant allen acord, a 17-year-old junior at west albany high school. when they searched his home they found what they described as

several powerful completed bombs hidden in his room and intended for his own high school. >> this was far beyond teenage curiosity. these would have caused significant damage, injury or death. >> reporter: all 23 schools in the district were searched with bomb sniffing dogs, alarming many parents. >> i was freaking out. it's nothing any parent wants to see. >> reporter: today those schools reopened after the long holiday weekend. officials and police ensuring students that every school was safe and that the threat had passed. >> our students came today with smiles on their faces and with their heads held high. >> reporter: acord was charged as an adult, one count of aggravated attempted murder and six each of manufacturing and possession of a destructive device with intent to use it against another person. the teen's motive hasn't been revealed but his mother issued a statement saying he's been treated for a rare form of ocd obsessive compulsive disorder. it's called pandas, ocd complicated and made worse by certain types of infections but

this is not a medical case, it's a criminal case, a teenager allegedly assembling bombs that could have been deadly. >> among those bombs were pipe bombs, a napalm bomb, a drano bomb. >> reporter: the ingredients police say that without that one phone call could have led to what one investigator called another columbine. still ahead for us on a tuesday night, another big scare aboard a cruise ship, a sizeable fire just as new protections arrive for passengers who plan to hit the high seas themselves.

it's happened again, this time a fire on board a royal caribbean liner off the bahamas. the ship docked safely. the company flew all the passengers back to the u.s. with a full refund and a certificate for another complimentary cruise but it's drawing attention all over again the safety in the industry. our report from nbc's tom costello.

>> reporter: in the bahamas a badly charred royal caribbean grandeur of the seas in port after a harrowing ordeal. early monday morning passengers donned life vests after crews battled a fierce fire. >> smelled smoke down the hall. >> i was nervous, i was scared. >> reporter: amazingly all 3,000 people walked off the ship safely. >> we're very sorry that we disrupted so many vacations of so many people. >> reporter: it's the most recent in a string of cruise ship mishaps. in february, the carnival "triumph" floated dead in the gulf of mexico for four days. passengers went out air conditioning, lighting and working toilets. in march the carnival "dream" lost power in the caribbean. in january 2012 the "costa concordia" sank off the coast of italy, 32 people died. month later" costa allegra" floated without power in the indian ocean and in 2010 had to be towed to the u.s..

17 million people will take cruises this year on ships that are registered in small countries like the bahamas, panama, or malta. >> cruise ships use convenience because to avoid regulations and laws in the countries they operate out of it, the other reason is from taxes. >> reporter: under pressure from congress, the industry adopted a passenger bill of rights, promising food, water, restrooms and spelling out when customers are entitled to refunds or hotel stays. the industry insists its safety record exceeds that of other forms of transportation used for leisure or holiday travel. back in the bahamas applause for the captain and crew that fought the fire. now, a coast guard investigation into what went wrong. tom costello, nbc news, washington. up next here tonight, a political legend talks about what's happened to his own party.

♪

when you think about it every night for 29 years the very first thing we heard at 11:30 were those first two drum beats, that drummer was ed shaughnessy, the beating heart of "the tonight show" orchestra. he was hardly a hollywood show horse. drum buffs remember his epic drum battle with buddy rich on "the carson show" in '78. he was an accomplished drummer, band leader, arranger and long time member of the nbc family. ed shaughnessy was 84 years old. we heard from bob dole this weekend, now 89 years old, the former senate leader, kansas senator, decorated world war ii veteran and presidential candidate, has been largely out of public view at times fighting ill health, but his fighting spirit is clearly undiminished. he made it clear in a rare interview this weekend the gop of his day is unrecognizable. he thinks they should pause, rebuild and start over. >> i think they ought to put a sign on the committee doors

"closed for repairs" until new year's day next year and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas. >> dole said reagan would not have made it in the current era gop and he considers himself a mainstream conservative republican. you know that expression about the planets being aligned well they were this weekend, a rare show in the skies, venus and jupiter, the two brightest, joined by mercury in a triangle they call a triple conjunction in the astronomy business. up next here tonight, a senior prom delayed 70 years. ♪

on this day after memorial day, we leave you with a big night that was a long time coming, the hill house high school class of 1943 never had a senior prom because so many of the young men shipped off to fight world war ii. now, 70 years later, the class of '43 in connecticut finally got to have their big dance.

nbc's rehema ellis has our story. ♪ >> reporter: when it's the senior prom for these seniors it's okay to break tradition. >> these are my two dates. >> reporter: 88-year-old tony pegnataro brought a former classmate and his wife. instead of being dropped off by parents, their two daughters were the chauffeurs. >> have a good time. >> reporter: the original prom for new haven, connecticut's hill health high school of 1943 was canceled 70 years ago because the country needed young men like tony, the class president, to fight in world war ii. >> i graduated in june. i was in parris island boot camp in south carolina in july. >> reporter: marilyn white unger said they did what was expected. >> it would not have been right to be out dancing and having a good time when our boys were fighting, some of them in our class never came back.

>> reporter: it was a time in america when food was rationed, a dime bought you a loaf of bread and gas was 21 cents a gallon. on sunday, the music was the same as in 1943, but the moves were different. >> i'm tired. >> reporter: it took a year to plan, because the prom committee reached out to classmates the old-fashioned way, by phone calls and letters. >> i think it's better than the prom. because it's so good to see so many people that survived, 70 years. >> reporter: by all accounts they've had full lives, but say they simply wanted what they missed 70 years ago, yearbook signatures. ♪ >> reporter: singing the school fight song together one more time. and for johnny hartmann, a chance to get his girlfriend of 16 years to say yes. >> i keep asking her to marry me but she says, soon. >> reporter: but at least he got

to take her to his senior prom. rehema ellis, nbc news, hamden, connecticut. >> we'll let the class of '43 take us off the air on this tuesday tonight. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. . nbc bay area news starts now. good evening and thanks for joining us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. a court battle for what could be a decision for tens of thousands of kids. the state supreme court will hear arguments in the case that could force dramatic change at california schools. at issue who can give a diabetic

child insulin while at school. >> reporter: it's a complicated and emotional debate. even president obama is weighing in. he is urging the california supreme court to allow diabetic students to get their shots from other school employees when a nurse is not available. we talk to parents, nurses and health care professionals all agree there is a lot at stake. school nurse sarah boyd helps students with type 1 diabetes check their glucose levels. >> we feel comfortable having nurses do it since it comes with risk. >> reporter: while there are nurses on staff to help care for the students 60 plus students that is not the case at many school districts. >> having a nurse that comes and goes doesn't do what needs to be done. they