good monday morning. coming up on "early today," deadly tornadoes, an outbreak of twisters across multiple states kills more than a dozen. and injures four more. meteorologist bill karins says there is more danger ahead. racist, offensive, disgusting. just a few reactions to the latest comments allegedly from los angeles clippers owner donald sterling as his own team voices a silent protest. deal-making. president obama is in manila today where he expanded access in the philippines as he caps off a four nation asia tour. and bed time in broad daylight in the florida keys? it's monday, april 28th. "early today" starts right now.

good morning, everyone. thank you for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. we want to start with breaking news out of the nation's heartland. at least 18 people are dead after tornados and damaging winds tore through several states overnight. look at this. arkansas bore the brunt of the storms and forecasters say it is not over. weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is in hard hit mayflower, arkansas. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, betty. we're in mayflower, arkansas, 20 minutes from downtown little rock. this is where the powerful tornado rolled across interstate 40. yesterday, 7:35, it was estimated to be a half mile wide. and right now based on stormy reports, it could be on the ground for two hours across four counties and the death toll is 16 alone here in arkansas. this is the damage it did. this is an rv which has been blown to smith reasons, vehicles tossed and turned. this car was flipped over. this is a huge tow truck that

would tow big trucks and semis and look at how the wind just piled everything up. this is at least the f-3 damage, but it may be even higher. those tornadoes hitting yesterday, right before sundown, killing.the people as i mentioned and causing problems not only in mayflower but down the road, vilonia was hit by a tornado on the same track on april 25th, 2011. four were killed that day, that was an ef-2. a lot of cleanup under way here in this central arkansas area. the severe weather has moved off to the south and east. and we're going to be in much better shape weatherwise today here in little rock area. betty, back to you. >> mike, thank you. and meteorologist bill karins is here. deadly, just devastating. not over, right? >> we do this every year, but just doesn't matter. every time you see the pictures and images, it is the power of these things is just -- just mind boggling. can't comprehend it. we had 31 tornado reports,

probably going to be less than that. a lot of those were the same tornadoes spotted down there and the mike seidel was at. nebraska, iowa, missouri, kansas, one in areas of mississippi, one in northern louisiana, but by far, the worst damage that occurred was the -- from the storm that was right there in arkansas. now, in all, with that, about two, two and a half hours we tracked that storm. it was all from one super cell thunderstorm. it was a large wedge at times. half mile, maybe as much as three-quarters of a mile wide. three-quarters of a mile wide with 150-mile-per-hour winds. that's insane. that's what we dealt with. anything in its path got destroyed. that damage path, we'll figure out later on today if it was consecutive all the way through, or if it formed, reformed, liftlift ed or bounced along its track. we have two tornado watches that are issued. the southern one from mississippi/louisiana into 1:00 this afternoon local time. so we're going to be tracking these storms for a while. memphis, tennessee, strong

storms coming away, but not tornadic, but doesn't mean damaging winds aren't possible there. we'll do this all over again. this could be a two, three-day outbreak and i'll let you know who is going to deal with the tornadoes coming up. >> thank you so much. in the meantime, we want to tell you about this developing story this morning, racism allegations sparking outrage in the sports world. the nba is investigating racially charged remarks allegedly made by los angeles clippers owner donald sterling and for first time the team is now responding. nbc's tracie potts joins us live in washington. tracie, the fallout, it just keeps coming. >> reporter: it is. not just from the team. we saw their response last night, silent, but powerful. but also from sports fans and not just the sports world, in political circles, people are talking now about what has happened and racism and discrimination issues, we even heard a comment from president obama in asia. >> when ignorant folks want to

advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk. >> reporter: that's president obama in malaysia weighing in on comments about african-americans allegedly made by los angeles clippers owner donald sterling. >> yeah, it bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. do you have to? >> reporter: nbc has not verified the recording. the nba is investigating and could act as early as tomorrow. >> there must be sanctions that make it clear that the nba family will have zero tolerance for such conduct today, tomorrow or ever. >> reporter: tmz sports has now posted the photo that started it all. sterling's then girlfriend v. stiviano with magic johnson on her instagram page. >> he shouldn't own a team anymore. >> entering the court for pregame warmups. >> reporter: in a show of solidarity, the team dropped

their warmup center court and wore their shirts inside-out before losing the playoff game. >> whatever the distractions or whatever, i got do a better job. i didn't do my job tonight. and i take that personally. >> it is not just about the clippers. it is about every single player who goes out there and gives it their all. >> reporter: in a statement from the clippers president donald sterling through that statement said this did not reflect his views or his beliefs. he apologized to magic johnson. meantime, he was supposed to be getting a lifetime achievement award next month from the naacp and in a statement, the naacp said that's not happening. betty? >> all right, tracie, thank you so much for that. and at a press conference in the philippines this morning, president obama confirmed the u.s. will announce more serious sanctions against russia later today. let's get right to nbc white house correspondent peter alexander who is traveling with the president in manila. peter, what do you know about the sanctions? >> reporter: betty, good morning

to you. president obama said the new sanctions will specifically target russian individuals and companies, those individuals are billionaire cronies of russian president vladimir putin. the words, to create a calibrated effort to change russia's behavior. he says the intention is not to go after putin himself, but to change his calculus. president obama is in this region, the end of a four nation tour before heading home tomorrow with an announcement he made a short time ago that the u.s. has agreed to a ten-year basing deal, which means u.s. military troops, jets, ships will be allowed to use filipino bases in this region. it will give them a better opportunity to help as the u.s. has in terms of humanitarian crises and push back in support of some of their allies in this region which is viewed as chinese aggression, specifically in the south china sea. that is the latest from here. now back to you, betty. >> peter, thank you.

and we have here bill karins back on set to talk about today's severe weather. a lot of people could be under the gun today as well. >> a lot of people with family and friends and would like it know who is at risk and where to see the next devastation. as far as today goes, about 28 million people are in a slight risk of severe weather, a portion of that is also in the red coloring, moderate risk. yesterday, we got to a high risk and we get a high risk, you almost know you're going to get a big tornado or two and possibility of bad destruction, but hopefully we won't see that today, hopefully there will be more of a miss. we'll see tornadoes, but hopefully out there over the farmers fields and not hitting anything. as far as today goes, from nashville to jackson, mississippi, the areas of concern. for everyone there on the west coast, you really don't have many weather concerns. looks like a beautiful monday. that's your national forecast.

>> and the storm that hit the west coast about three days ago, that is the storm now producing the tornadoes. >> really? that he that's what it turned into? bill, thank you. a shocking study shows which parts of america has the most hungry kids including, listen to this, one part with 41%. also, four popepopes, two ss and a most inspiring day for catholics and others around the globe. yes? lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, no discomfort, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real milk! come on, would i lie about this? [ female announcer ] lactaid®. 100% real milk. no discomfort. and for more 100% real dairy treats you'll 100% enjoy look for lactaid® ice cream and lactaid® cottage cheese.

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and unlike other fibers, you'll aonly know you're taking fiber by the way good digestive health makes you look& and feel. benefiber. clearly healthy. welcome back, everybody. a historic day in rome, two new saints canonized in a ceremony with two living popes. and some 800,000 people cramming the streets to take it all in. pope francis prayed john xxiii and john paul ii for ushering in the modern era of the catholic church. new information about child

hunger in the u.s. it is startling. feeding america has released this map, it uses data from 2012 and shows areas of the country where children do not have access to a healthy amount of food at all times. 16 million children fall into this category, and in states like in mexico, mississippi and arizona, more than a quarter of children don't have reliable access to food, including 41% of kids in texas. it is a sullen day in israel. the country begins its annual holocaust memorial day. stores, restaurants are closed as they remember the 6 million people killed during the holocaust. and today marks the beginning of the bible reading marathon. for the 25th year, volunteers will spend the next four and a half days on the steps of the u.s. capitol reading the entire bible. time for us to get down to business with cnbc's courtney reagan. good morning, courtney. good morning. comcast is close to a $20 billion deal with charter

communications this could reshape the cable tv business. comcast, the parent of nbc universal, would swap or sell about 4 million subscribers. the deal hinges on the approval comcast takeover of time warner cable. apple will fix faulty on/off buttens on iphone 5 for free. it affects a small number of the older phones. it only works intermittently. take it to an apple store or mail it in for repair. on wall street, stocks are coming off a down week. investors will likely focus on the economy with reports due on first quarter gdp and jobs. the fed meets this week, expected to continue cutting its stimulus efforts. betty? >> all right, thanks so much. and just ahead, the latest on the tornado outbreak with 55 million americans in the danger zone. plus, all your sports highlights from a busy weekend. that's ahead. hi. i just finished an energy audit of this building

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here's the latest in sports. and there were some nba games without a cloud of controversy. let's take a look. houston soared to an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, but portland rallied to send the game to overtime. portland's clutch shots and tough defense was the differencemaker. and they win 123-120 and lead the series 3-1. toronto jumped out to a 17-point

lead against brooklyn early. the nets erased that deficit but their comeback fizzled in the fourth quarter. the raptors run in the final minutes led to a win tying the series at two games a piece. it's high! it is out of here! >> so long. ryan hicks, extra innings with the three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. san francisco gets a series sweep over cleveland. chicago white sox jose abreu continues had his offensive assault on baseball's record books. his homer and four runs against tampa gives him ten home runs and 31 rbis, that's just in april alone, the most ever by a rookie in both categories. white sox win 9-2. let's shift gears, shall we, to nascar, where crashes and confrontations made headlines at the toyota owners 400.

brad keselowski confronts matt kenseth after a collision ruins his shot at the checkered flag. in an unrelated incident, fists were flying between marcos ambrose and casey mears. the fight may have started because of a collision in the final lap. nascar is investigating. so john peterson may have picked up some wildlife tips playing golf in louisiana. check it out. the former lsu golfer showed us what to do when a gator is on the golf course at the zurich classic. just shove that massive reptile off the course. that's how you do it. his partner could play through. and finally the kansas state football team turned hayden schroder's dream into a reality. the cancer stricken 9-year-old suited up for his favorite team's spring game. when the little man on campus got his number called, well, of course, he delivered. he scampered for a 30-yard touchdown run, creating a memorable highlight for everyone involved. love seeing that. just ahead, the world's most

famous bachelor may be off the market. maybe you better listen up. you're looking at, oh, geez, nearly a mile wide twister that hit arkansas. bill karins is up next with today's severe weather threat around the country. you're watching "early today." you have time to shop for car insurance today? yeah. i heard about progressive's "name your price" tool? i guess you can tell them how much you want to pay and it gives you a range of options to choose from. huh? i'm looking at it right now. oh, yeah? yeah. what's the... guest room situation? the "name your price" tool, making the world a little more progressive. a good night's sleep... and aveeno®. [ female announcer ] only aveeno® positively radiant has an active naturals® total soy formula. it helps reduce the look of brown spots in just four weeks. aveeno®. naturally beautiful results™.

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before it went through mayflower. you see it here, here is the cone, the wedge of it. here is the other edge of it here. this is crossing the arkansas river. that tornado is what did this damage, literally, ten minutes after that picture was taken. and you can see, the most impressive thing to me isn't even the bulling that is in pieces, it is the trees behind it, even the large trees, literally, sheared off halfway up, no leaves left, nothing. just the trunk of the tree. as far as the forecast goes in the west, not looking at anything to be problematic. looks leak s like a nice day in spots. >> good to be out west today for sure. thank you, bill. now for entertainment news. all right, sorry, ladies, two time sexiest man alive recipient george clooney is off the market. the 52-year-old megastar has come a long way since 1995 where he said i won't get married again. well, over the weekend, clooney reportedly popped the question to girlfriend of seven months,

u.n. human rights lawyer amal alamuddin. we'll be learning a lot more about her, i'm sure. captain america's shield couldn't fend off the competition at this weekend's box office. the other woman took the top spot with 25 million, beating captain by $9 million. heaven is for real rounded out the top three with $14 million. the much awaited u.s. release of the amazing spider-man 2 is still just days away, but that hasn't stopped the season web slinger from cleaning up overseas. the sequel has already raked up an impressive $132 million in foreign markets. sensors in china blocked online streaming access to the big bang theory and other american tv shows. >> why? >> i have no idea. they have not given any explanation for the unexpected ruling. a video game urban legend proved true when hundreds of

copies known as the worst game ever were discovered in the unlikeliest places. you know where? gamers wondered what happened to the unsold copies of atari's massive flop et, remember that? they finally had their answer. they were buried deep in the new mexico desert. >> i had a stack of atari, i'm trying to think back, had a photo of all my games and i wonder if i had et. >> i don't remember that game. maybe that's why -- >> now i want to play it. i want to see how horrible it was. >> how bad it is. i'm betty nguyen. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day right here on nbc. [ julie ] the wrinkle cream graveyard. if it doesn't work fast... you're on to the next thing. clinically proven

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leading the news, palin at nra meeting, waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists. that's a quote. causing controversy once again, she defended the enhanced interrogation technique of waterboarding saying it would be a common place if she were, quote, in charge. and in the houston chronicle, lap dance for student lands teacher in the hot seat. a 42-year-old middle schoolteacher has been charged with having an improper relationship with a student. this after she allegedly performed a birthday lap dance for him in class in front of other students. all righty then. we'll move on to other stories we're following. u.s. public schools reached a milestone and 80% graduation rate. researchers credit both schools

and the government. projection showed this number could go up to 90% by 2020. the prime minister of south korea has resigned after that awful ferry disaster there almost two weeks ago. he's the number two official there and will likely stay on until the rescue is completed. and the last portion provider in the state of mississippi could soon be forced to shut its doors. this week the u.s. court of appeals is set to hear oral arguments forever a law that would force the clinic to close. mississippi would be the first state without a single abortion provider. all right, so beds on wheels. check it out. in key west, florida, more than a thousand spectators watched teams race beds on wheels as we said, yeah. right down the famed duvall street, part of the independent celebration. the race commemorates the day when the florida keys staged secession from the united states after a u.s. border patrol blockade was installed at the

head of the island chain back in 1982. a little lesson for you there. >> peacock, the california king, we get the staph. >> i like that. a good idea. now for a look ahead and a look back. the supreme court weighs in on privacy and cell phones, whether police need a warrant to look through your mobile device after you've been arrested. 90% of adult americans own a cell phone and more than half are smartphone. on this day in 1930, the first night game in organized baseball took place. it was in independence, kansas. games played under lights dated back to the 1800s, but they were initially dismissed as unwelcome gimmicks by the big leagues. you see where that turned up. happy birthday to actress jessica alba, who is 33. actress penelope cruz, 40. and jay leno, 64. i'm betty nguyen. thank you for watching "early today."

well, good morning to you, happy monday. it's 4:30, i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. i'm still waking up. let's get that forecast from christina loren. >> good morning to you. look at this spectacular start to the day. fog free and low clouds against the coastline. this morning temperatures are chilly. pretty nice out there today as we head throughout tomorrow, temperatures soar. and i'm talking about a 20 degree jump. make sure you're ready for that. overall, looking pretty good to kick off the week. let's check out your drive, here's mike