no. i never met elvis. i met everybody that could come around. james brown would take me around his son to mick jagger to you name it. he you edused to talk about elv very endearing terms. thanks for watching. have a great weekend. "hardball" starts right now. it's the economy, stupid. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with that very point. it's the economy, stupid. everything i've seen in politics tells me this. we can argue issues every night here, but i know from experience it's how people feel about their own circumstances, whether they're working or not, how prices are doing, interest rates that determine whether they get to take the family out to dinner

on friday night or get to buy new shoes for the kids. whether they get to go somewhere fun on vacation. the numbers are looking better. the value of your house is heading upward because the average selling price is up 10%. your 401(k) is probably doing better if you're retired because the stock market is. you've got a better chance of finding, also holding a job right now. the unemployment rate which still ain't great has come down from where it was down to the mid-7s. when somebody calls up, a pollster, for example, asks whoever it is how you're doing, you're more likely to say president obama is doing a better job on the economy and that's what's going on right now. will it still be going on next november when we have the next congressional elections? we'll see. jim cramer is going to help us. he's the host of "mad money" weeknights at 6:00 on cnbc. u.s. congressman steve israel is chairman of the democratic congressional committee. thank you, gentlemen. there's strong indications the u.s. economy is on the upswing right now. gross domestic product rose 2.5% in the first quarter of 2013. the deficit is projected to be

down, or only down to 642. it was in the trillions. that's nearly half of what it was in 2010. meanwhile, the dow jones, adds i said, is finishing the month up 3%. consumer confidence is higher than it was. ever since july of 20 07. and home prices, as i said, are up about 11% over the last year. it's the biggest increase in home prices in seven years. today the president emphasized measuring the country's progress on the economy is more than just about the stock market. it's about how ordinary families are feeling. he made it clear the economy is, indeed, picking up steam. let's watch him. >> over the past 4 1/2 years, we've been fighting our way back from a financial crisis and an incredibly punishing recession. the good news is today our businesses have created nearly 7 million new jobs over the past 38 months.

the housing market is coming back, the stock market has rebounded. our deficits are shrinking at the fastest pace in 50 years. people's retirement savings are growing again. the rise of health care costs are slowing. the american auto industry is back. so we're seeing progress, and the economy is starting to pick up steam. the gears are starting to turn again and we're getting some traction. >> let me go right to jim cramer. you know your stuff. i was thinking that opening question is my favorite tonight. i hope you can answer it. the economy is getting a little better. it's hard to sell but it is getting a little better. will it still be better come next november? >> yes. as a matter of fact, a lot of things you talked about at the top of the show, consumer confidence, house prices coming back, these are going to lead to more jobs in the fall, lead to more consumer spending. it's the begin of what i think could be a good time and the

jobs will start coming in the next six months. >> this has been a long testing, difficult period for people. this has been a long, long slog now for years now. since the financial crisis. what does that do to the business cycle? is there still a business cycle where you can say it's only going to last so long, enjoy it while it lasts before the next recession? is there any way to measure how long this recovery that you say is going to get better is going to stay better? >> well, we still don't have any small business hiring to speak of. we don't have small business creation. we don't have large commercial real estate projects. those have to happen before i can say that we've even started the cycle. chris, what's happened is we're not as bad, it's not as tough as it's been. it can get better, but there are still many things that are not working for people. we are still seeing only okay retail sales. we are not seeing the job creation that we'd like. you mentioned that. you know what, it really does start to feel better now. it is better than it was, chris. you can really -- the president's got it right. >> well, let's take a look at that. steve israel, congressman, i want you to look at these numbers. they're good for your party and good for the house running. the president's job approval on the economy, specifically, is ticking up. according to a recent "washington post"/abc poll, 48%

say they approve of the job he's doing when it comes to the economy and jobs. specifically. it's up four points since last month when a majority said they disapproved. now, how does that translate? my sense is it's environmental. people feel better about their own lives. things are getting better. they can buy a few things for the family. they're more likely to like the party in power. like, in fact, like the president's party. >> well, i agree with you, chris. thank you for having me on. look, home values are going up. the deficit is going down. there's still a middle class that feels squeezed. jim is right, we can do better. so our message to house republicans in the 2014 congressional elections is very simple. don't screw this up. we need to build on our progress and not engage in more partisanship. we need to push solutions instead of ideology. and so as long as house republicans make the decision that they will no longer obstruct economic progress, that they will choose progress rather than partisanship, things can get even better than they are now. >> let me bring up something with jim cramer now. i want the congressman, you're chairman of the campaign

committee for the democrats. you want a majority to pick up the 17th seat so you can get the full majority in the house. jim, this is a question, i don't know if we talked about it when we bumped into each other in puerto rico a while back. this is my saw. this is what i believe in. i look at the numbers. the low interest rate now. you can get money if you've got a good project. you've got a public employment that's gone way down. it keeps going down. we're following breaking news out of oklahoma. a vortex is on the ground one mile south of i-40. that's 30 miles west of oklahoma city. residents in batoning down the hatches. it's producing rapid and large rotation. grapefruit size hail is possible. we're continuing to follow the coverage. let's listen in. >> we have a clear view of this and it's familiar that we're seeing large tornado on the ground and if you can get a clear shot of our screen it has

multiple vortices. it's a wedge and seeing this is very concerning. i think it will grow in size. is this moving directly east? mike, is this moving directly east? >> this is going to hit the el reno airport. i-40 is closed. i-40 is closed. let's go to the south doppler. we'll show you what it looks like. this is not good. there's the eye of the tornado there. if it continues it's going to destroy a significant part of the el reno airport. it had an eye. the eye is quarter mile wide right there. this is baseballs and softballs. el reno resumed all the way in. it has an eye that's about a quarter mile wide. we can see the donut hole.

this is a violent tornado. you've got to be below ground to protect yourself. you don't want to be in a mobile home or interior closet or bathroom. you have to be below ground or safe room. you can see the eye and it's going to hit the airport directly in about two minutes time. from there it's going to head up to yukon. who do we have here, emily? go. >> mike, which way is this tornado moving? >> it's moving due eastward. we are just north of this tornado and it has multiple vortices. it's very concerning. it's going to grow in size. are you looking at our stream? >> we are and it's turning hard to the right down towards mustang and union city. this could put south oklahoma city in definite danger.

it's going to go on the south side of the el reno airport. look at it turn hard right. this is a mayor tornado. look at the turn that it's ma making right now. emily. go. >> mike, right now this is a violent tornado. multiple vortices. it's churning around. it's growing in size. folks prepare for a violent tornado. we are going to head closer towards it. we are due north of this tornado right now. i'll turn towards it.

here is a closer view of it if it's moving toward the south and east. is it mike? >> yes. reed, what do you have? reed's audio is terrible. mark. >> it's off to my north and east by about a half a mile if not a quarter mile. it's large rain wrapped tornado. i would put it on a scale of what we've seen from the 20th and the 19th. it's a very, very large, very violently wrapping, rotating tornado. i'm going to be at the corner of southwest 49th and reno road. southwest of el reno and it's literally just cranking a way to my northeast here from this intersection. it's going to cross 15th, 29th

right on top of 15th right now. i can hear the rushing waters down as this thing is cranking a way. i would put it at almost a mile wide. i wouldn't be surprised if this thing is at least some high end ef-3 damage. there's not many structures out here but it's going to be a lot of trees. you can see the definition on the backside here. it's a total wedge on the ground right now. full blown wedge. it's bad news coming in so folks south of el reno over towards mustang, this is it. you have to take cover now. i'm not going to be able to get out ahead of it again. i'm going to be able to get right behind it. i'm right here with it. i've got water off of ponds and taking down trees off in the distance. back to you. >> let's go to reed.

this is heading for mustang, north union city and south oklahoma city and more. large tornado. an eye in it that's about quarter mile in diameter. >> can you hear me? >> yes. you're good. >> it's growing fast. can you see it? >> we can see it. it's down. it's knocked power lines down there. it's a very violent tornado. knocked down power poles. looks like it hit a barn. looks like it's east. you got me? >> we have it.

it looks like it has grinding debris. >> we're in circulation and it hit a barn. it knocked down bunch of power poles and lines. this thing is getting stronger and getting better. this is a tornado we dop not want to intercept. >> you're looking at all of our trackers here on it. this is a may 20th tornado. thp is a violent tornado.

the tornado is multivortex. the whole tornado is a half mile wide and it's getting larger. let's go storm tracker. where is this headed? it may still come right down interstate 40 potentially in to west oklahoma city. now is the time. you need to go to your friend's place if you don't have a storm cellar or basement. get ready to get in it. don't try to go through this above ground on interior closet or bathroom. you need to go below ground. i'm talking about yukon, mustang, north union city and everybody in between. then we'll be talking about

oklahoma city. white water bay at 6:52. the oklahoma city university at 6:56. let's go back to reed looking at it. go. >> it's one violent tornado. there's debris coming out of the sky. there's debris flying through the air. we're still in a rural area but debris flying through the sky. it's growing in size as you can see here. we have big problems here. see that. another one right there on the backside of it. that's on the backside of this tornado right there. >> reed, we show it could be approaching a mile wide from here. what do you think? >> yeah, i agree. it's a mile wide circulation. this is just like a couple do i

have days ago. there's the left side. debris flying through the air. >> you're looking -- control room we have our satellite truck down in mustang. let's go back to the storm tracker. it's heading more mustang. these are feeder bands into circulation which is beyond those roof tops. it's right down here. thest still on the ground. it's a multivortex wedge. violent tornado here. okay. who do we have, emily? let's go to emily. >> we still tracking the tornado on our right. we got hit by the rain bands and

got slammed. now you can see the rain bands swirling around the main circulation. still a violent tornado. earlier we saw some debris falling from the sky. this is doing damage. >> emily, what is your location right now and where's the tornado from your location? >> we're on tenth street and heading towards 81. the tornado is located to our south. >> okay. that's tenth street. that's south tenth treat near highway 81. the tornado is to emily's south. she's on north ten street. she's on north tenth near 81. the tornado is right to her south. here is oklahoma city coming into view here. that's the highest probability either side of that red line of this tornado heading your direction. it's a violent, large tornado.

it's about a mile wide right now. let's go back to -- do we have mark? >> yes, mike. i'm at 29th. south of el reno. i've got -- i can only describe as whipping vortices in front of me. it may be trying to reform. satellite right behind the circulation. i'm going to have to stop. try to figure out what this wind is doing here. i have a funnel forming right on top of us. it's going down 29th. i'm at 29th and east. it's going to be off to my north and east from this location with

a lot of wrapping rain currents behind this large vortices rotation area. back to you. >> they become looking like cloudings on the ground when they get this large. you folks need to be below ground in mustang, southwest, oklahoma city. i-4. now is the time. you need to be talking to your friends next door or whoever had a basement if this thing comes into oklahoma city do not try to ride this out in an interior closet or bathroom. it's starting to get into some populated areas. it's crossing ining highway 81. it's moving up towards mustang and the southern half of oklahoma city.

there's still four inch diameter hail. let's go to reed. >> there's down power lines and the tornado ripped it off. this is a violent tornado. this is bad. p get under ground. this thing is violent. i've never had the hood ripped off and it's gone. we have the bare engine exposed. >> tornado warning up north. we can get mike on. we talked about mulhull a while ago. tornado warning northern logan county. that's a second -- okay. doesn't include stillwater for the tornado warning yet.

we're back down to the tornado at the mustang area. mark, what do you have? >> a very violent, looking at the backside of it. >> i've got poles down on 29th. i'm going to have to backtrack. coming into the damage track. i have livestock out on the road. there's been some farm out here. my winds are picking up.

it may be trying to anchor back down. it's going to the right again. >> let's take a look at the storm tracker here. let's look another where this thing is heading. it's turned a little more easterly again. let me update the path. it's turned easterly. it's not lifted. it's still a large tornado on the ground. it's definitely turned more east ward. >> you've been listening to tornado coverage from kfor where a confirmed multi-vortex has touched down west of oklahoma city. it's heading toward union city. it's sitting north of union city right now where we have a storm chaser who is there watching this as this happens. what are you seeing now? how far away are you from this storm? >> we are exactly about two miles south of it right now. the traffic is terrible in the

city. people are out watching. anybody in the path of this needs to get in shelter immediately. anybody on the roads need to get off and get on the shelter immediately the this is a dangerous and deadly situation. there's a large tornado right behind us. we're stuck in traffic right now. we're having a hard time getting through here. >> would you say those are a lot of people trying to chase the storm themselves? is it normal traffic would see. what are people doing right now? >> looks like most people are trying to flee this thing. there are a lot of storm chasers. anybody that wants to get out and see this thing, do not. you're putting a lot of people in danger including yourself. get under cover and protect your life. >> what kind of debris are you seeing? a lot of times with these situations it's debris in the sky that is flying around that creates so much injury. are you seeing any of that? >> right now it's currently --

it's really dusty and rain wrapped. we have a small visual on it. it's a pretty large tornado but right now we don't have a visual. we're dealing with a lot of traffic right now. >> aaron, it looks like just looking at the radar from what i can see here that storm is taking that sharp right turn. it has multiple vortexes. would you say this storm is sort of to your north right now? you said you're south of union city. >> i have a hard time hering you but it's large multiple vorte s vortexes. it's a very large, very deadly tornado. >> okay. thank you so much. please be safe and hopefully the traffic does break up.

it's unbelievable when you think about the fact there's so many people stuck in traffic with a tornado bearing down. please be safe. we want to bring in melissa. you're from the area and you're familiar with these types of storms but to see a multi-vortex tornado touch down. explain what's going on right now. >> i've never even heard of a multiple vortex tornado before. it looks and sounds very threatening and it's heading in the direction of the place that was just hit hardest, moore. that's right up to southwest oklahoma city. this is very, very scary. another scary factor is it's probably rush hour. >> it's a highly populated area. you get into the bigger populations. >> it is getting closer to the

oklahoma city area and that's the most highly populated area of oklahoma. before when it was in el reno you see lots of field and the occasional farm and barn house. this is heading into a populated area and it's rush hour there. you'll have a lot of people in their cars. they are stuck in traffic. that's not where you want to be. >> i was listening to the local meteorologist, mike morgan and he was saying getting into an interior room is not enough. you need to find underground shelters. have you been in a situation like that where underground is the only safe location? >> may 3rd, 1999 would have been that situation. i was working at the time. we were out storm chasing like you see people doing so tonight. typically with people who are experienced and they know how to do what these people are doing which is to stay parallel from

the tornado and follow half a mile away so you have a get away if you need to. as you've been listening, they do change directions and can do so very quickly. >> i did find that very interesting that the storm was heading due east and all of a sudden it took this sharp right turn. >> just like that. the may 3rd tornado did the same thing. it hit a highway overpass and took every car underneath and killed a woman and then banked immediately right and that's when it headed toward moore all that time ago. when you're talking about a storm this powerful, as you've heard this warning people on the 20th, underground is the way to go. it's the only safe way to ride out thoese storms. you saw people popping their heads out of their storm shelters. none of them was injured and that was a monster of a storm. >> it's amazing there aren't more underground facilities to

go to. >> i'm hoping that will change. i'm hoping this tornado season that we're witnessing is going to bring about change. i think that when you live in a place like moore or oklahoma city or south oklahoma city or edmond which is just to the north where i used to live, i feel like you have to have a storm shelter for so many people per square miles, at least. ideally, you should have several in the neighborhood that could fit your own family plus anybody else who needs to get in there. as we discussed a couple of weeks ago, a lot of people are discouraged from doing that and it could be costly and it's not the easiest thing to do to dig into that red clay dirt. >> thank you so much for your insight. we're keeping an eye on this tornado that has touched ground and it is on the ground. it just touched west of el reno. oklahoma is about 30 miles west of oklahoma city. this is a multiple vortex

tornado. you know what a tornado looks like just looking at pictures and it has are that classic wedge shape. it's that funnel that drops from the cloud and hits the ground. when you're talking about multiple vortexes it's not just one area of rotation, it's multiple areas of rotation and as the storm chasers are out watching this storm, and keeping an eye on what is happening from the ground, they are noticing as they go around the different sides of the tornado that separate vortexes indicate the strength of this tornado and it's estimated right now that it's about one mile in diameter and it's possible that it is the same intensity as the tornado we saw on may 20th. unfortunately it's right in this area. it's south of oklahoma city. you can see on the bottom right side of your screen there just south of oklahoma and with this tornado warning creeping closer and closer to that area that is

the last thing you want to see. let's bring in melissa again. i'm not from an area that gets hit by multiple tornadoes in a season. this is tornado alley. people expect it. it's typical in the area but when you get hit been an ef-4 tornado, how do you bounce back and watch another one come right at you? >> well, this is a very different kind of tornado season than they're even used to. people say they're used to this. they're not used to this. they're used to a series of smaller tornadoes crop up during they're smaller tornado. a smaller tornado it's okay to hide in the bathroom or a small closet. they have been told to go under ground so many times this season. they are not used to that. >> you feel like you go through it the first time, you're not thinking anything in regards to doing it again. >> i compare it to almost living

in a city where terrorism threats are real. you can't stop it from -- you can't stop going to work because you're under the threat. you can't stop going to the grocery store or running your errands. it's a way of life but this really is probably starting to feel like too much. >> absolutely. thank you again. we want to bring in jay gray who is on the phone joining us from oklahoma. what are you seeing right now? >> i want you to listen first and see if you can hear the sirens beginning to sound in downtown oklahoma. take a listen. you can definitely see the clouds moving this way and moving in. people physically running on the streets when the sirens began. there's a lot of emergency vehicles out as well. a notice was given very early especially in the downtown area to businesses. a lot of people left early and headed to their homes to make sure their families were safe

and get out of this area. as you've been talking about we know that we've had tornadoes on the ground. they are headed in the direction of downtown oklahoma city. multiple vortexes as you talk about. at least one more than a mile wide and causing problems but most of that isolated in farm country just outside of the area. i don't know if you can now hear the sirens going off here as well. they are taking this very seriously, obviously. there's a very big concern about the direction that this system is heading, ladies. >> very ominous sound among looking at the ominous clouds. how does a city the size of oklahoma city, how do they repair whrepa prepare and the sirens are going off. how do you clear out a city? >> the initial move was to let people leave early and that did happen. i saw a lot of people leaving

earlier in the afternoon. getting out of downtown area there are several public shelter areas down here. the convention center is one. we're getting an announcement now in the hotel where we are. i'm looking right out at the convention center and you can see people moving into that area just to be safe. it's getting much darker here and the clouds that we've been watching outside the city at least the leading edge of that system beginning to move into the oklahoma city area. >> looking at the radar looks like it is taking that turn towards oklahoma city. it was moving from west to east. it is dipping to the south. >> let me interrupt for a second. this announcement that we're getting here is to evacuate the building. there's obviously a very real concern here right now.

>> wow. okay. jay gray, please be safe. do whatever you need to do to be safe. >> we'll be back with you. thanks. >> thank you so much. we are keeping an eye on this multi-vortex tornado that touched ground. it could be a mile wide. it has multiple vortices within the larger tornado itself. we have been watching coverage from kfor, the local nbc station where they have many storm trackers on the ground and chasers watching this storm as it develops. let's listen in on their coverage. >> we're going to try to work as fast as we can east and northeast to try to get around it. and try to give you some sort of picture. i-40 is shut down right now. i'm going to try to get ahead of it. >> let's go to the south doppler. we're going to go to reed timer. the tornado appears to be on

i-40 north. it's occluding. it's wrapping up into the core. it may or may not dissipate but often times this is the first step toward possible weakening. there's still an eye with it. it's right here. that's one, two, three, four, miles from west yukon right now. reed timer joins us live now looking at it. tornado emergency for all of west oklahoma city all the way far north as briton road, 36th, 23rd, 10th and south 15th at least. tornado emergency for all of you folks. talking about council, county line, rockwell, mcarthur, putnam city west and possibly north.

all the of the town of yukon in ten minutes if it didn't lift, it has slowed down some. >> large lines down across 66. i'm going to try to go north. i was almost a banner at 66. i've got lines down. i'm going to have to back all the way out of it and try to get around this power line situation. if rain is wrapping back in. back to you. >> it's over banner right now and route of 66 and i-40. let's go to the storm scanner.

here is the tornado warned storm for mulhall. it's heading toward stillwater and payne counties. you folks up here stay alert. folks are just to the south. these are severe. these are hailers here. tornado warned storm here. you folks in stillwater, everybody west of stillwater, tornado with this could be forming at any time. mike bennett is up there. no immediate confirmation it's on the ground. from there we go down to this monster storm coming into west yukon. this is all of it right here. this is all of it. we'll see if we still have the eye. it's really slowed down and sitting on the west side of banner. do we have mark continuing? >> yes. i'm having to fight this rain wrapping back here on this large

tornado. i'm having to deal with the power lines down and try to get across some way back north and east. not the optimal way to chase this thing. i-40 is closed down to my south. we've had a lot of power lines down and some real damage out here the last half hour with this thing on the ground. the bottom line is get down, get out of its way. take shelter underground or drive away from it. that's the best option to give you. it's a really bad situation as this thing rakes across south of i-40 and right here at banner. back to you. >> still showing 150 mile-an-hour with wind sheer. le let's go to chase. >> we're near the mustang area now. you said it made more of an easterly turn.

it was going southwest. you can see this amazing shelf crowd. we're in the mustang area. this will be tracking through the yukon area and north of mustang. off to the left we're watching another circulation that started to tighten a bit. a second circulation but the main one we can't see it from here. it's rain wrapped. we'll follow the storm closely. back to you. >> just to give an update there's one large circulation over banner. there's a thousand people in the tunnel down at will rogers on the access tunnel to the parking lot. there's are a thousands people down there now. that's a safe spot. tornado emergency continues. nothing has changed in that regard. bethany, yukon, putnam city west. as far north as nickels hills. if it comes north you folks will be in the red line center line.

there's your time arrival here. that's when it arrives at your location. it's slowed down a bit. it's slowed the progress into yukon. there's been extensive damage out here. cars flipped, possible injuries. it's bad out here as far as folks that got in the way. it's so large it made a violent san die zigzag turn. i'll show you the wind speeds. boom, right there. it's still violent. it's still large and there's no sign at least not at this juncture. there's the xerox plant. you can see the bright colors and how large that area is right on i-40. i-40 is closed. mark, are you there? >> yes, mike. i'm downtown trying to get north

and east. it's as far back to the east ahead of this thing that i can. i've been cut off three times by down power lines try to get back ahead of this thing. it has multiple vortices and came down into a mile wide tornado. we're seeing the worst situation we could have happen through a metro area happen now. my confidence is that you've got to get under ground to survive this thing or get out of way. >> the eye is still visible. let's go to the south doppler. >> you've been listening to kfor. the live coverage of this tornado. multi-vortex tornado with 150 mile per hour wind sheer. it's right over banner, oklahoma on route 66. interstate 40 has been shut

down. that leads into the oklahoma city area. you're at the oklahoma city airport but you are in an underground shelter at the airport with several other passengers. what is the situation like where you are right now? >> i would say within the last 15 minutes the sirens went off and people who live here knew what to do. they started heading for the underground tunnel which connects the tunnel. i would guess there are 500 people down here. i can hear in the background now tornado warnings. stay where you are. stay away from windows. this includes tsa. there are pilots down here, airport workers and passengers. i would say a good 500 people. it's very crowded. this tunnel goes for about i would say a third of a mile.

it's lengthy and it is under ground. they said the tornado was heading this way. that's where we are at this point. >> the tornado warning has just been extended and right over the oklahoma city area. that's where the storm is expected to head right now and we are getting just advice from the local meteorologists in oklahoma city saying that under ground is the only safe place to be right now. what is the mood of the people you're with? they are used to this sort of thing but another possible ef-3, ef-4 tornado. how are people feeling? >> people are calm. i've seen some people that are upset but people realize that under ground is the place to be and there was no hesitation in coming down. the elevators and the escalator were shut off immediately. you were carrying your luggage downstairs and there was no pushing. there was no shoving but it's quite crowded down here and no

one hesitated to come down. it was orderly by quickly done. an entire airport evacuated in under ten minutes. >> that's unbelievable. they are prepared for this type of situation and i'm glad to hear that you and all the other passengers and the pilots are safe under ground where everyone is recommended you be. please be safe. >> we are hearing sirens right now. we are hearing the tornado sirens again over the airport. >> okay. we're hearing tornado sirens over oklahoma city right now as that tornado warning does start to spread east. you can see just looking at the live pictures we have. there are a lot more homes showing up. it's started off in more of a rural area and now this whole system is spreading east ward. it did take a turn to the south but now it is moving back towards the oklahoma city area. the hotels in oklahoma city are starting to be evacuated. many people were allowed to leave earlier today once they

knew they were under this severe threat. when you have a city that large with this ominous threat of a tornado bearing down on it they now how to clear out the city and make sure everyone can get ideally to an under ground bunker which is what we're hearing is the safest place to be. i want to bring back in melissa. you're from this area. you were describing a typical tornado season you get these storms where you can just go to an interior room. you can just go to the bathroom and have the cushions and feel safe. how do people feel safe in a situation where a week ago were we were talking about an ef-4 tornado, possibly ef-3. we don't know how strong just yet. what do you do in that situation if there isn't a place to go? >> i worked there for three years. i never saw a season like this. this was the biggest out break.

back then was the reason why there was as many shelters as you expect. they had gotten used to life without them. there's definitely been some sort of change and people do live with the threat of this kind of thing. as i said earlier this kind of a tornado season is odd. it's very scary. i'm thinking that their reaction time has definitely changed. they are on alert. they have their radios on and the apps on their phone telling them when there's a threat of an out break. they turn on the news. they are very aware. i think people just react differently. they say i'm going to close up shop and head home and make sure i've got a safe place to go and i don't want to do that at the last minute. >> right. you have to take these warnings seriously. >> we were listening to the sirens going off. the scary thing is it means it's on the ground in your area. that's not an advanced warning.

that's telling you the tornado is upon us. you want to be hiding before you hear the siren. >> when you hear the siren it's too late. earlier today it was a tornado watch that went up across oklahoma. it wasn't just a tornado watch. it was a pds which stands for particularly dangerous situation. >> as you know these meteorologists are absolute experts in their field. they know exactly what is supposed to be going on in the sky that warns them this could happen, not just one but multiple. that's the good news. the good news is there's a lot of warning. you just don't know when or where or how big the storm will be. >> you know the area to warn. exactly. we are hearing reports that the storm is waeakening. it's still on the ground. it did have 150 miles per hour

wind sheer. it's weakening which is still a very powerful storm and we are watching now our live coverage from kfor, the nbc affiliate down in oklahoma city. let's listen in to their latest updates. >> we're looking at this lowering. not terribly organized but it's definitely a clear lowering. we're getting a strong east wind. we've been watching this. can you pan to the right? there was a power line just snapped in half. you're looking at it right now. this is left over damage. we have snapped power lines and lots of emergency vehicles from the flipped over cars and damage along 81. >> appreciate that. all right. we're going to go to chase coming up. here is what we have going on. tornado emergency continues. that hasn't changed. this doesn't appear to be

violent. there's rotation increasing rapidly now north of mustang. this one spinning up right here north of mustang. the bottom line is oklahoma county is under a tornado warning. okay. we have one back wels of tst of reno airport. you need to take your mobile device and you need to go where ever you are to be safe. anywhere in oklahoma county especially like the village and lake hefner south all the way down into moore. all the way down into moore. south 89 because there's rotation. the computer just picked it up. i saw it on velocities and the computer just picked it up. this is the big violent tornado which is weaker. tornado emergency continues. all of oklahoma city. let's go to chase. what's happening?

when you get him let me know. let's go back to emily. >> mike, we're still seeing all these emergency vehicles. we're going to drive a bit south because we don'twet. but we're getting now a strong west wind. very strong west wind. and that lowering is behind us. we have a secondary storm headed our way and we don't want to get slammed by this since we don't have a big windshield. oh, here we go. oh, we just got slammed by an east areally wind. >> from south oklahoma city. all right, folks, okay. there's a lot going on right here. there is rapid rotation now, developing just west of the airport. this is coming up incredibly fast. it is going to be located at south 15th and county line.

and i would venture to say this will produce a tornado really fast. is reid on tthere? >> reporter: yes. in mustang, if that's what you're talking about, west of mustang. there is a rp id circulation, huge base. is that what you're talking about? >> yes. a rapidly rotating circulation center at reno and county line. >> there is major damage back there. we pulled mike bettes out much his car. there was a direct hit from his tornado. he was okay. and now we've got -- injured back there, providing emergency first aid. there was a house destroyed with a propane leak. >> but reid, hang on. what do you see going on at reno

and the county line? this is going to be north northeast of mustang just northwest of will rogers. what do you see right there? >> reporter: yeah, i see a huge base with rapidly rising and too much dust on the ground. right now, tornado is imminent. there's a huge base. huge cloud and no rain wrapped around the back side. just a lot of dust. hold on one second, you should be able to see it. >> folks, let me tell you something. in south oklahoma city, if things don't change, a tornado will form in southwest oklahoma city. every 50 second when our beam goes around, it is evolving incredibly fast, right here. this is for south oklahoma city. i'm talking about crossroads. downtown. i'm talking about state fair park. i'm talking about whitewater bay. also, south west in teg ris, the

airport, all in through there. this will happen fast. if it doesn't change, a tornado will drop out of that very, very quickly. this is south oklahoma city. you folks need to be -- if you can go south, if you don't feel safe, go south. reid t reed timmer. >>. >> reporter: there a wall cloud. based on what storm has done, i see the -- put my head out the win dehere. i would treat it as a tornado. >> reed, i agree with that. right now, i tell you what, state fair park. whitewater bay, south 15th, reno, south 15th, rock well, mcarthur, may, pen, southwest integris, whitewater bay, state

fair park. if things don't change, this tornado will drop out in a very big hurry. let's go to the north doppler and take a look at it. look. look at this. here is reno and the county line right here. there is south 15th, south 29th, south 24th. you can clearly see, this is the wind. you can clearly see this. look how this is all wrapping up here. tornado out west of yukon. reed timmer is on it right now. there is whitewater bay right there. this is the terminal building at will rogers world airport right there. whitewater bay. state fair park. there it is, going gate it gate on county line between 15th and reno. it is going gate to gate right now. reed, is that dropping out yet? >>. [ inaudible ]

we are a little bit back. i would say probably a large tornado, i would treat it as a large tornado right now. it looks like a wall cloud right on the ground. huge funnel. >> new tornado emergency for this storm. new tornado emergency. gate to gate. reed, if that drops down. can you see it? >> reporter: will be very long. i'll be to the airport in about -- >> must be near union city. >> reporter: we're east of union city now. >> folks. emily? folks in south oklahoma city, you're going to have a tornado going through south oklahoma city right now. it is totally, and it could be a significant tornado. over to downtown. it is heading right for downtown. state fair park, whitewater bay,

downtown. all the way down to southwest integris, heading right downtown. then midwest city. if things don't change, you can see that -- look how it is wrapping the softballs into it like a sink drain. can you see that? look at the purple there. it is pulling it. pulling softballs, watch. pulling softball niece it right there. it is a sink drain forming. reed said it looks like a wall cloud going to the ground. storm cellar basement. if you can drive south, around whitewater bay, ballpark, downtown oklahoma city, southwest integris, u.s. grant district, roe state college, midwest regional medical center, midwest city and parts of dell city, drive south now or get below ground. i show gate to gate right now in between council and county line at south tenth street. reed timmer, what do you have?

>> you can see a clear spot wrapping around the back side. very low wall cloud with rapid inflow from the right side. i would treat it as a tornado. >> this is a tornado emergency for south oklahoma city. this is emily sutton here. this is a likely tornado. go, emily, near union city out west. >> reporter: which way is this moving right now. >> this is east southeast. half way through emerald city and el reno. >> we have a live view of it. we are located near union city one mile north of union city and we are looking off to the northwest. and it did drop a tornado earlier while you were talking, it dropped a weak tornado. it is back up now. but we have a very broad circulation. if it drops, it'll be a large

tornado. if it drops any moment. it dropped a weak tornado. so it is tornadic. we have been watching it lower and lower to the ground. and yeah, it is very concerning, mike. i think we're about to have -- >> okay, emily, appreciate that. tornado in oklahoma city, now on the ground. reed, timmer, do you have to it? i have the vortex at southwest 8th or southwest 10th. it is a parking lot of cars at the state fair grunds. i'm just relaying reports that i'm getting from here. d kevin, meg, at fairgrounds, heading down i-40. a tornado warning for south oklahoma city. what do you see? >> reporter: i see wall of clouds northeast. we are on 152 heading back east. it is moving northeast?

>> it is moving east. >> reporter: got it. >> county line and rock well between reno and 15th street is where it is right now. this is a tornado emergency. for whitewater bay, state fair park, south 15th, south 29th, south 44th, all the way down to south 59th. counsel, rock well, mcarthur, meridian, portland, may, western and santa fe avenues down to oklahoma city. tornado emergency. >> you are listening to live tornado coverage from kfor, nbc affiliate in oklahoma city. south oklahoma city is now under a tornado emergency. the storm is moving due east. and it looks like the latest storm revel opened just west of oklahoma city is now trying to reach the ground. the wall cloud ask trying to go from the cloud base down to the ground producing that tornado which does look like a very

powerful tornado and again, south oklahoma county is under oklahoma city rather, is under this tornado emergency that includes the airport. it also includes the state fair ground where a parking lot of cars, as it's being described, is there right now. we are going to continue to track this storm. again, it is a powerful tornado just west of oklahoma city and we will continue our coverage now with chris hayes. chris? >> good evening from new york. thank you for joining us. we have breaking news tonight out of oklahoma. a large tornado is on the ground in el reno, 36 miles of oklahoma city. it is reported to be a mild wide in diameter with multiple vort sees. this less than two weeks since the moore, oklahoma disaster. let's join ouril