it's tuesday, may 26th. right now 49 million americans are at risk of severe storms today. texas and oklahoma have endured historic weather events and a homecoming queen killed on the way home from prom. a dozen people are still missing. officials are warning people of the dangers. houston rockets fans are asked to stay inside the stadium. this bounce house was thrust into the sky by a water spout and rip tides forced hundreds of beach rescues. the fbi is looking into chemical weapons threats against a passenger aircraft. that and much more.

"first look" starts right now. >> good morning, and thanks so much for joining us today. i'm betty nguyen. severe weather in the south again. >> it's on the ground again. i'm getting it. >> this tornado touched down in southeast texas inside the flood zone. new heart ache. at least eight people dead. 12 still missing. in houston, flood waters inside a popular mall. the city hit with almost 12 inches of rain in may. along the border a killer twister. cars thrown on top of homes. >> we want to search some of these large debris piles. >> reporter: a desperate search for the missing as this historic flood sinks in. >> i would describe it as a flood of biblical proportion. it's nothing like wife ever experienced. >> reporter: in the air on the

on the ground. >> these are people in our community, it affects us on a personal level. >> reporter: the texas army national guard scours the banks of the blanco river. >> we have drones gis, you name it we're bring it. >> reporter: saturday night it crested at 43. >> i had the opportunity to fly over the river and to observe firsthand what the devastation looks like and you cannot candy coat it. it's massive. >> reporter: jonathan mccone somehow survived by his wife and two young children were september away and are among the missing. >> my daughter-in-law was talking to her sister on the cell phone saying this house is floating down the river and then the conversation ended. this man is now praying for his two grand kids. there's no report of my finding

whatsoever which is i guess good in that there's still hope. >> reporter: a homecoming queen on their way back from home when her car was swept away. at least 13 people were killed in the mexican border town. a tornado tosdsing cars into buildings. in oklahoma the fast moving storms have prompted dramatic water rescues. those first responders made it out safely but in the town of care car moore, a heart breaking loss. a memorial day many here will never forget. >> let's get the latest on the weather out there. bill karins is watching it for us. it looks rough in some parts. >> we're almost done. in houston and new orleans,

still dangerous weather heading your way. in houston, up to 11 inches of rain. our flash flood watches are confined the southern texas and southern louisiana. the red coloring is flash flood warnings that have been in effect for much of the houston area. we continue to watch them until at least 6 :30 in the morning. the radar still shows one last thunderstorm still in the south side of town. i'm sure there's a lot of flooding and lightning with that heading from houston south down interstate 45. this map estimates how much rain has fallen. there's one blue spot on the southwest side of town estimating 11 inches. and city wide numerous spots around 8 inches. beaumont heavy rain and flooding overnight too. the radar, as i mentioned, a lot of the storms pushed east.

still a tornado watch in areas around new orleans. that's still a threat. as far as today goes 49 million people at risk for tornado. the majority of heavy rains and flash flooding is over with. weather pattern change. dry it out the rest of the week. >> a lot of people at risk. we appreciate that. now to florida. a fightening scene during a beautiful beach day. this time it was a water spout. it formed over the waves and moved onto the shore and uprooted a bounce house with three children inside. police say when they still decided or determined how high it got, it was as high as 20 feet in the hair before it was hurled to the sand below. two of the kids are home from the hospital. the firdthird is in stable condition. one woman's daughter and stepson

were both inside that bounce house. >> i was crying and i was like oh, my god, oh my god. i can't believe this. and she's going to be okay. >> police say no pedestrians or vehicles were hit when the bounce house fell back down to the ground. also along the florida coastline, rip currents. in daytona, 300 people were pulled from the waves over the holiday weekend. reports of three people killed in that and the threat for swimmers, that is not over. the national weather service says rip currents could turn dangerous from palm beach to miami dade today. the floibz is hunting for a man. one of them prompted the military to scramble fighter jets. pete williams reports. >> reporter: two u.s. military jets were scrambled to escort a

flight after an anonymous caller said a chemical weapon was on board. the plane landed safely and nothing was found. >> thank god it's over and we're safe and the plane is safe. >> reporter: it was one of ten flights that were the subject of telephone threats. the fbi says the a calls apparently came from the same person a man who phoned them in. the calls for made to local police including in oregon m.d. illinois and new york. among others a delta flight from paris to boston. a saudi arabia flight. and delta from london and from canada to due buy. the threats were not considered credible but they were passed along to the airlines to be extra cautious. >> they told us to be get off the plane and pick out our luggage and don't touch it.

>> reporter: telephone threats to airplanes are distressingly common but this one was unusual because it involved so many flights. the penalty for threats like this can be up to eight years in prison. >> many of you are headed back to work following a weekend remembering our servicemen and women. today there are new concerns about the future. yesterday the vice president spoke with iraq's prime minister to reaffirm support in their fight against isis. chris jansing reports. >> reporter: the crosses at arlington national cemetery were bathed in sunlight as president obama laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. he said hello to a 107-year-old world war ii army veteran and before a crowd of 5,000 paid tribute to fallen heros. on this day we honor the

sacrifice of thousands of service members who gave their lives since 9/11. >> reporter: this is the first memorial day in 14 years without military in a major area. >> the iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. >> reporter: the defense secretary's comments, the harshest since the fall are raising questions about u.s. strategy in iraq. largely a kpi nation of iraqs and training and equipping iraqis. >> the number of forces on the ground are going to help if they're not going to seize and hold the terrain. >> reporter: the iraqi army is attempting to retake ramadi. >> many of us are disappointed and upset. many of us are frustrated. it ultimately highlights the fact that men and women in the military are willing to defend

our nation regardless of when and where. >> reporter: in cities around the u.s. that sacrifice is remembered. the american and pow flags flew over the white house and were raised up again, a symbol of american resilience. >> that was chris jansing reporting. there could be a new power house in the cable industry. charter communications is nearing a deal to acquire time warner cable. details are expected to be announced today. this would combine the second and third largest cable operators and it comes a month after come cast dropped its offer for time warner due to concerns raised by the fcc. it's usually one of the biggest box office weekends of the year usually. the estimated four-day total was only $190 million in the u.s. and canada. that is the lowest on memorial day weekend since 2001 and

consider how much less you paid for a ticket back then. 44% according to national theater goers. the headliner tomorrowland did not do well. it only raked in just over a third of what last year's main attraction the newest x man flick earned during that same period. now to sports. rockets come out on fire scoring 45 points in the first quarter. second quarter now nbc mvp takes a nasty fall as he flips over a player. he left the came with a head contusion and later returns. james harden had seven threes and a playoff career-high of 45 points. the rockets avoid elimination. black hawks take on the ducks in anaheim. series tied at two. it took just 45 seconds for the

ducks to score in ot. ducks win it making them just one win away from the stanley cup finals. at the french open sher poe va was booed after her victories monday when she refused toed r to do a post match interview. they announced her voice is broken which only increased the booze. five-time grand slam winner is said to be fighting a gold. >> the university of denver made history winning the la crosse national kroip on monday. they defeated the university of maryland 10 to 5. prior to denver's victory, the university of north carolina chapel held was the western most school to win the championship. was foul play to blame for the death of bb king and a volcano roars to life after being dormant.

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15 minutes past the hour. cleveland has reached a deal with the department of justice on policing report on nbcnews.com. it reported excessive use of force. details of the settlement could come out as early as this morning. the settlement comes days after a judge acquitted an officer for his brawl in the fatal shooting of two unarmed people in a car in 2012. officers thought the sound of the car backfiring was gunshots. a story involving blues legend b.b. king. his body has been examined by a coroner. allegations of foul play in his death. king's daughters are accusing two aids of poisoning him. >> a volcano erupts and lava pours down the sides. no one was in danger. no one lives near it. the volcano had been silent for 33 years and here is your moment

of the day. an 8-week old baby hippo at the san diego zoo. he went for a swim with his mom. the clintons are on parade. a big day for bernie sanders. scrambled politics is up next.

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ed schultz will be covering the event live tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. john murphy convicted. murphy represented staten island before being caught taking money in the sting operation in the 1970s. republican senator married a long time aide. she has worked for him since 1981. their relationship is under scrutiny under the primary last year. former president bill clinton and hillary clinton took part in a memorial day parade in new york where the couple owns a home. it was their first appearance together since she announced her presidential bid last month. from the pennsylvania post blogs, the koch brothers try to reign in the presidential crown show. he said the roughly $900 million could be used to support several

different accounteds. and a mayor settles a bet by singing let it go following a loss to the ducks. ♪ ♪ let the storm rage on ♪ ♪ the cold never bothered me anyway ♪ >> i guess we are never letting that song go are we? the mayor of calgary had to sing in front of city counsel after losing a bet and he told the counselors nothing scares him more than singing in public. that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. i am joined now by political analyst and best selling author plus a singer ellis henican. >> no no. >> there is a reason. >> there is a reason the mayor is reluctant to sing. let me leave it at that. some people are good at some

things. some are good at other things. >> bernie sanders is jumps from the presidential race today. he may be a long shot but he has made a career out of these unlikely long shots, right? >> can't really rule him out. >> you always have to call him bernie. nobody calls him senator. it's bernie. it's the brooklyn collides. it's still in his voice. you can still hear a lot of new york in his voice. he has had a career of winning races he wasn't supposed to win and he connects with voters on the left and great support for veterans and rural vermonters. it's going to be a tough run against hillary but bernie has shown some stuff over the years. i just want a campaign. >> you just want to see some kind of a race. >> right. >> what kind of edge does he have over hillary clinton? >> i don't know that he has much of an edge except that he does create passion among the progressive wing of the democratic part. a lot of left-leaning democrats

feel like clinton is too in the middle. the same way people like elizabeth warren. there is a part of the democratic constituency that want that. >> joe bide season doing damage control after someone said isis is taking key forces because iraqi forces show no will to state. but now there are mixed messages from the two. >> i have a lot of americans with the secretary f. if those people don't want to fight, why should we be fighting for them? you hear that across the board. if you want us to come over and help you, you have to do something for yourself, don't you? >> you have a point, but then you're hearing that from the defense secretary but then you hear the white house saying something else. what are we supposed to believe? >> i think you got the word right. damage control. yes, we want to send a message to baghdad but also let americans know these guys are on a pretty short leash now.

>> thank you so much. no singing this time but work on that voice. i'm not letting you off the hook. >> i'm not doing it. >> you will one day. just ahead an illinois couple reaches a big milestone on their family tree plus more fallout for johnny depp. how the actor could be facing jail time after flying his dogs to australia. eep your chin up. for years, heinz ketchup has been with the wrong mustard. well, not anymore. introducing heinz new better tasting yellow mustard. mmm! i have type 2 diabetes. i started with pills. and now i take a long-acting insulin at night. i take mine in the morning. i was trying to eat right, stay active. but i wasn't reaching my a1c goal anymore. man: my doctor says diabetes changes over time. it gets harder to control blood sugar spikes after i eat and get to goal. my doctor added novolog® at mealtime for additional control. now i know. novolog® is a fast-acting, injectable insulin and it works together with my long-acting

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rise. yesterday a the temperature in. johnny depp could face up to ten years in prison for bringing dogs into australia. he was in hot water earlier this month after breaking the strict quarantine's law. if he is found guilty he could face up to a ten-year sentence or a maximum fine of $265,000. right now we want to take you to illinois where these two are celebrating their 100th grandchild. the couple had 12 children. 53 grandchildren, 46 great grandchildren but this little guy who was born on april 8th is their first great, great grandchild. >> they look great. >> you know how many birthday phone calls that is a year? >> you know home presents that is. and to puerto rico a man held a

wheel at his own wake. he wanted to use his cab rather than a standard coffin. that's what he wanted to do and people came to pay their respects. thanks for joining us. "way too early" starts right now. ♪ good morning. it's tuesday may 26th. welcome to "way too early." we begin with deadly storms that continue to ravage parts of texas and oklahoma. at least seven people were killed in tornadoes and historic flooding over the weekend. and eight people are missing including three children. among the dead an 18-year-old homecoming queen whose car was swept away by raging flood

waters as she drove home from prom on sunday. >> this can't be happening right now. she was a good person. she was always competitive. >> she was at prom with her date and laughing and dancing next to her. >> she did the right things. she called 9-1-1 and her father. it was too much and too quick. >> officials in texas say at least 72 structured were washed away and more than 100 damaged after the blanco river rose to 34 feet in three hours. the governor described the storms as manage a tsunami like power that proved too much for the most experienced first responders at times. >> do you need us to get the other boat to you right now? >> yeah. >> okay. we're going to do that. i can't walk any further. >> there is also a scare for beach goers along the florida coast. hundreds had to be