thanks. >>> we saw some of the devastation in branson, missouri. a lot of americans know it as a very popular tourist destination. weather channel meteorologist mike bettes is there for us tonight. mike, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, to you, brian. branson known as the live music show capital of the world taking a hard hit from the ef-2 tornado. windows are shattered. debris litters the street. this hit in the middle of the night. this took a the love people off guard. keep in mind, this is not the peak high holiday season for them where they see a lot of tourists that come here. about 10,000 people this time of year in town. they are working very hard to get power restored. this is branson strip. you see the crews trying to get those poles back up as quickly as possible. about 12 of the hotels here sustained significant damage. half a dozen of the music theaters sustained significant damage. we talked with jay nixon, the governor here in missouri. he declared a state of emergency and saying at least tens of millions of dollars here in b

warning system worked in branson in. >> fortunately, it did work in branson.you may know, we're fairly closejoplin, missouri, and our residents have been watching and paying more attention than we might have been years past. so we had watched the storms develop in the late afternoon, and our sirens went off in an appropriate time before the storm hit. i believe that saved many lives and kept people save. >> your city relies on tourism. i have seen numbers of $2 billion a year coming into your economy. that central area appears to be incredibly damaged. what does this do to branson coming into spring/summer is tourist season. >> we are a few weeks away twraum the start of our spring season. fortunately, while some of the images are quite disturbing and we have had some theaters and hotels damaged, the vast majority of the attractions such as silver dollar city and sight and sound theater and titanic are open for business and are undamaged or slightly damaged. we have been very blessed. >> that's certainly a city that is synonymous with tornadoes, not branson, b

referring to branson, missouri. the mayor of branson is going to be with us in just a couple of moments. more of our breaking news coverage of the tornados today. medical centers, churches danielled, but open. we're going to talk to the people helping their communities through the crisis. as i said, we're going to branson, another community that has been devastated. >>> also, the teen in ohio accused of a school shooting. we have new information tonight about what was in his juvenile background. we're going to share that with you and talk to the relatives of one of the victims. the other office devices? they don't get me. they're all like, "hey, brother, doesn't it bother you that no one notices you?" and i'm like, "doesn't it bother you you're not reliable?" and they say, "shut up!" and i'm like, "you shut up." in business, it's all about reliability. 'cause these guys aren't just hitting "print." they're hitting "dream." so that's what i do. i print dreams, baby. [whispering] big dreams. >>> the weather service se

to me them telling customers to accept the rises or pay off their balances talk about markets sky branson you look at those big. who. own who are who are the rort. and then he buys it of course he's part of the club any jacks people's rights up and he commits financial hole because he can financial part time he's an ugly ugly british muppet who is basically also on his knees in front of osborne performing services well the credit card rates they're charging are now twenty four point nine percent let's begin fifty percent we're just going to string you along go away these you piece of trash so here we have. our governments taking out one hundred year mortgages on our country essentially in order to give these banks to which goldman sachs executive director has just said are continuing to defraud the population's right so forcing us to continue to use their products. now look at this next headline max f.b.i. says paying cash for coffee is a sign of terrorist intent so apparently the f.b.i. has sent around this memo and saying using cash for small purchases like a cup of coffee gum and other

card for small purchases because if you're doing god's work you would use a card so that richard branson can make fifty percent of your money otherwise if you don't make progress on your money you know you're anti-god your infidel and of course the call of be a big and they call up george cameroon and they call of all of these are they say let's go kill some people out there let's go invade a country most people kill iraqis let's go kill of palestinians so the richard branson to go over charge of part of the lose the people in charge fifty percent to go get a cup of coffee so we step program for a ten year program like oh you look for police. and then finally you know we have these bankers trapping us all into their high cost loans and trying to basically criminalize owning or using cash so however what about laundry detergent max grime wave it's a dirty job police nationwide take on soaring tide detergent theft law enforcement officials across the united states are puzzled over a crime wave targeting an unlikely item tide laundry detergent so tide has become a form of currency on the st

in branson, missouri, haphazard is the word of the day.hose tornadoes hop scotched through there as well. the swath was seven miles long of destruction and damage. and you know as well as i do, branson, missouri, is known for its country music entertainment district. and that swath was seven miles of commercial district that was damaged. 120 to 130 mile an hour winds screaming through that community. many people said a direct hit. but i'll tell what you, that hit, whether it was direct or hop scotching, was on the ground for 20 minutes. it did a great deal of damage. joining me live to talk about where that community is and where it's going to be going is the mayor of branson mayor presley. thank you so much for being with us. i heard you were in your basement when the tornadoes hit your community. describe for me how this happened for you and when you jumped into official mode. >> well, we seen the storm coming most of the evening. and i think that was a great lep to our community as well. and, of course, following the joplin storm we pay

en los hospitales se reportan tres fatalidades pero aquÍ en branson, no las hubo. noches. muchas gracias por tu informaciÓn. su familia creyÓ que estaba desaparecido pero estaba muerto. se trata de un bombero del sur de la florida cuyo cadÁver fue hallado y cuando comenzÓ la investigación, tambiÉn empezaron a salir a flote detalles que nadie podrÍa imaginar. >> jerry fue reportado como desaparecido por su esposa hace casi dos semanas. yo solo quiero hablar con Él. esto es lo que ella decÍa antes de conocer el trÁgico final que tuvo su esposo. dijo que Éste saliÓ de su casa para ayudar a un amigo y nunca regresÓ. >> yo lo amo, es mi amor, es mi Único amor. >> pero su desapareciÓn tomó un giro inesperado. la investigaciÓn se trasladó a este lugar donde encontraron su cuerpo. >> ¿usted estaba comerciando con drogas? vÍctima y victimario comerciaban con drogas y porter le debÍa dinero al bombero. estaba jugando billar, discutieron y le habÍa pegado un tiro en la cabeza al portorriqueÑo. los investigadores encontraron fragmentos del crÁneo y sangre. segÚn un primer repo

en los hospitales se reportan tres fatalidades pero aquÍ en branson, no las hubo.branson, missouri, regresamos contigo a los estudios ilia. >> buenas noches. muchas gracias por tu informaciÓn. su familia creyÓ que estaba noti usaparecido pero estaba muerto. se trata de un bombero del sur de la florida cuyo cadÁver fue hallado y cuando @@noti uni-ed noct rptunivisiont >> jerry fue reportado como desaparecido por su esposa hace casi dos semanas.univisun yo solo quiero hablar con Él. n Único amor.noti uni-ed noct rptn no peroni-ed desapa rptÓivisiom@ n@@noti uni-ed noct rptunivisioi noct r univnnotinoni-ed rptivÍ estaba jugando billar, discutieron y le habÍa pegado ni-ed noct rptunivision@@noti u investigadores encnoti uni-ed Ú @@los se habÍan amenazado mutuamente. el bombero habrÍa dicho que es porter @@lo ti unÓv @@noti urierond noct perdounion ti uniamantenoct rmayne,univnno controlar. mba@@sin ponoti uo >> y noni-ed rptivisiouno de l bomberni-ed rtorri rpto ivision viajÓ varias veces noyne ni-ed vender drogas sintÉticas que entregaba a porter, es decir, a su presu

that's the mayor of branson missouri.your time, ma'am. >>> let's turn to what's happening in kansas. governor sam brownback is in kansas this morning. appreciate your time. can we talk about haleyville for a minute? that's a town that was reported to have very severe damage. can you update me -- hare adviceville. >> significant damage through much of the community. we had an ef-2 tornado that went through there. it went through without some warning. there was a tornado watch. sirens didn't go off. and it sustained substantial damage. we had a couple people injured as well. people starting to pick things back up. power is starting to come back on and people going to start putting their lives back together. but the town itself was significantly damaged. >> the reports i heard said somewhere between 40 and 60% of the town is either damaged or destroyed. does that seem accurate to you? >> it does. that's about accurate. it's a town of about 250 people. i'm headed there today. we've declared an emergency. i've declared an emer

the you know newfangled absurdism well with these low rates we have the next headline max richard branson is plastic financial apartheid with rates from borrowing by banks at record lows this type of rate rape is truly sick so you remember sir richard branson was able to buy northern rock the state owned bank in the u.k. by promising that he was going to introduce competition and innovation into the market well sir richard branson of virgin money which recently bought northern rock has increased interest rates on its credit cards by almost fifty percent and the latest blow to consumers already hit by rising mortgage rates the bank rupe has issued a take it or leave it all to me tim telling customers to accept the rises or pay off their balances talked about muppets at the start branson has had those big did not know who to. call who who wrote. and then the buzz it of course he's part of the club any jacks people's rights up and he commits financial hole cause he could financial part time he's an ugly ugly british muppet who is basically also on his knees in front of osborne performing ser

. >>> and sir richard branson on oil prices and big banks. one business lesson you don't want to miss. [ kareem ] i was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. [ mike ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. at ge aviation, we build jet engines. we lift people up off the ground to 35 thousand feet. these engines are built by hand with very precise assembly techniques. [ mike ] it's gonna fly people around the world. safely and better than it's ever done before. it would be a real treat to hear this monster fire up. [ jaronda ] i think a lot of people, when they look at a jet engine, they see a big hunk of metal. but when i look at it, i see seth, mark, tom, and people like that who work on engines every day. [ tom ] i would love to see this thing fly. [ kareem ] it's a dream, honestly. there it is. oh, wow. that's so cool! yeah, that was awesome! [ cheering ] [ tom ] i wanna see that again. ♪ >>> well, in sky, sea and soon space virgin group founder sir richard branson hopes his high standards for quality set him

the people in branson, missouri know that they were luckier. no one was killed there. officials in branson tell us today that they'll be open for tourist season a little bit later this month. a few music venues and hotels were seriously damaged when the tornado hit, but the folks there got more warning than usual because of a new kind of radar, and we asked mark strassmann to show it to us. >> reporter: at 12:58 yesterday morning, forecasters issued a tornado warning for branson, missouri. people there had 25 minutes to take cover, double the national average. that's because local forecasters used a new technology that identified the tornado. it's called dual polarization radar, or dial-poll, the most significant upgrade to tornado tracking in 20 years. jack hayes is the director of the national weather system. >> when a tornado forms, with the radar we have today it's like a one-dimensional view of that storm. we're going to get a two-dimensional view that will allow to us detect the difference between heavy rainfall that occurs in storms all the time and debris that

richard branson, who's also racing to get to the bottom of the sea, he's with us next.l these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget; it's what i'll have to live on... i live on branson street, and i have something to say... [ male announcer ] aarp is bringing the conversation on medicare and social security out from behind closed doors in washington. because you've earned a say. >>> a story i have been waiting all day for, a dive more than 350,000 feet below sea level, cameron spent several hours on the ocean floor, even tweeting from down there, all in the name of deep sea exploration. i got to understand how this twitter thing happened, 35,000 people. anyway, famed thrillseeker richard branson, you're a thrillseeker yourself, i want to get your thoughts on what qualm ron has done, what do you think about that? >> it's remarkable. i mean when you think that no nation has managed to go below 17,000 feet in a submarine, only a few people have been further down before and they were

the one in branson was pretty bad.he one outside of topeka, kansas that was pretty bad and in tennessee late yesterday. right now not a lot of severe storms and watching a couple of storms in areas of alabama and into atlanta. this storm system is leaving us. the next one is right on its heels. no big severe weather outbreaks today but as we go into friday we expect another tornado outbreak and damaging winds and unfortunately the same areas that just got hit. much of tennessee, northern portions of alabama, kentucky and into indiana and areas of ohio. we will watch that that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. areas in new england are still watching the exiting winter storm. kind of a wintry mess from boston to albany, springfield, mat, southern new hampshire and other areas of the east coast and midwest is just fine. looks like we are into one of those spring patterns. it's been so warm this winter, i guess it shouldn't be a big surprise that now we will start trac

jenna: on the screen, we say branson, illinois but it's branson, missouri.be clear about that. because when you mention op lin, op lin of course is fresh in our minds when we think about tornado damage. and you say you actually, your town and other city officials learned a lot from op lin in the experience that they went through. tell us about how that changed maybe how you approached this disaster this time around. >> certainly we are not knowno missouri is not known as well as other states for tornadoes but after that last year in may and we saw the devastating power that that tornado had, we really kind of kicked into gear our own preparations for this kind of event in the future. over the last year i think we've made a lot of efforts in making people more aware of what they need to do in the case of a tornado and also emergency response, and i think because of the preparations that were made, the damage was far less here in our community than it could have been. jenna: of course, we'd rather not see any damage at all. you know, that's the tough thing abo

. >> sir richard branson. >> you are just jealous. >> bernard, what do you have? >> i have the imus in the morning show on fox business every morning, folks, from 6:00 to 9:20. check him out. check out the look on the faces of the guests while you are there. >> excellent. gavin, what is going on? >> please people who bought so shirts stop having paypal actions against me. i am sending out the citers. the shirts. please calm down. they are on their way. i am not. >>> jeer yen and this is not a scam. >> excellent. >> greg, anything you want to say? >> andy, about last night's show. it didn't live up to my expectations and our viewers at fox news deserved a better show so i scraped it. >> sounds good to me.

fisher, donald trump, trump tuesday, senator marco rubio, david bon derman, michael eisner and richard branson who needs to come in here to sign my thing. stay tuned. >> and we have a fewer who has everybody but -- oh, my gosh, jack was here and i didn't have him sign. >> busy bring still ahead. >>> when fed presidents talk, they talk to squawk. today at 8:00, a special extended interview with richmond fed president jeffrey lacker. and monday, we'll talk to dallas fed president richard fish ir. er

the severe storms come before branson's peak season. people would have been in hotels on any given day. >> it is wrong on public property to tell the president of the united states to go to hell. >> at the big story as you can his average go with this will add.y tells president obama to go hell. it will not be coming down any time soon. it was spotted at the clara than station. -- claredon station. anybodydless of where theirthe honest position, hands are tied. --llsaid this is political speech. one congressman says this is e takenty and should b down. >> it is about appropriateness. jim is more than mad about an property.ent done >> this is saying it is ok to tell the president of the states to go to. it is not ok. >> the ad is at a metro station where riders caught on and off trains. >> you can find other places to more politely. >> the was there was a who actually put the ad up there. >> the ad calls on readers to watch sick and sicker. >> if we did not say it is wrong, they will sink it is right. metro does it is not right and shoul

it's the off-season in branson. at the peak of the tourist season, as many as 60,000 tourists cram into downtown on any given day. >> pelley: anna, thank you. anna mentioned that new radar system called dual polarization. you can see more about that tomorrow on "cbs this morning." we were thinking in the newsroom today that tornadoes seem to be coming unusually early and often. we asked our research department, and it turns out there have been 121 tornadoes so far this year, according to an estimate by the weather service. and sure enough, that is more than double what we have seen on average in january and february over the last ten years. it was a close call for mitt romney last night in the michigan primary. romney won his home state by only about three points. he won by a stronger margin in arizona. romney took his campaign for the republican nomination to ohio today. that's one of ten states voting next tuesday, super tuesday, when about a third of the tlegates needed to clinch the nomination are up for grabs.

it will be tough on branson and knowing the spirit of branson they're going rebuild. >> in harrisburg, stunned residents are trying to look forward, as well. >> my husband looked at me and said, well, i'm going ask you this question. do you want to build it back? >> i said sure. we've been here since 1972. who knows? we're not going anywhere. even though so much here is gone forever. >> and as they continue the cleanup they must also deal with toward's forecast. there is a big concern, a very real concern that more and most powerful storms could be here as latest as tomorrow. i'm jay gray, nbc bay area news. >>> back here in california, the sierra is seeing plenty of power this morning. brian hickey joins us now from sugar bowl. >> 52 inches of snow what they're reporting this morning and it continues to snow in the sierra, with the ultralight and very deep powder and more than four feet of snow since the storm started a couple of days ago and with the forecast calling for snow for the remainder of the day it keeps adding up, making this the largest storm of the season so far and we h

this is what's known as branson's strip behind me. it's highway 76.where all the tourists would come. and during the high season, this is not the high season, there'd be as many as 70,000 people in this town. the normal number of residents is about 10,000. but you can see the heavy machinery is here. they're trying to clear out some parking lots here. this is the mall in branson, and behind me there, you can see the flashing red and blue lights. they've barricaded a strip here to make sure no people come down this way and that the power crews can restore power as quickly as possible. this tornado was on the ground for 22 miles. it was 400 yards wide and we spoke with the governor, jay nixon, him saying about three dozen injuries in this town, but luckily no fatalities. and he says this. it may be the joplin effect. we all recall the devastating tornado last year in missouri. people very attuned to the weather here now and knowing what to do at the right time may be saving lives. and the mayor here saying that the welcome mat is open, larry. they thriv

they were on scene in branson, missouri when the storm passed through. eugene was trapped inside an elevator. he told us all about what he saw when the elevator opened. >> i got to the seventh floor, open the door and walk out and the windows break and all the lights go down. i find the stairs downstairs, go downstairs, and the place is flooding. i go down to the lobby. i was just down in the lobby probably three men's before. the lobby was destroyed. the revolving doors people walk in when they walk in a lobby, they were all tangled and crushed. i'm trying to get our gear out but it's stuck in an elevator now because the elevator has become like a vault. i'm sitting there for an hour and a half going where the [ bleep ] is my camera. finally got my camera and we shot the entire thing. people are nude. people are bloody. there was a guy, we interviewed him, he was a marine. he had no clothes on but his underwear. he was covered in blood but going door to door to try to get the old people out of their rooms. >>> in the convenience store nearby, funnion's,

. >> officials in branson are trying to find out why a tornado warning service did not go off during last week's storms. >>> it's unseasonably cold. that will continue in to the afternoon. before the week is over it will feel like spring. the details coming up. >>> checking in with local police jurisdictions to see how the morning commute is shaping up. we will have details straight ahead. oooohhhh yeeaaahhh!! can we show you something? wouldn't it be great to feel like this all the time? i guess so. well, with the chase freedom card, you get 5% cash back on up to $1500 worth of purchases. and new categories every 3 months. and on 1% on everything else. so that "man, this must be my lucky day feeling" can go on and ooooonnnnn. no, you look good, you look good. get your cash back chase freedom were you profitable last month?hat looks great. how much money is in your checking account? have the browns paid you for their addition yet? your finances are scattered all over the place. mm-hmm. what are your monthly expenses? you keep your receipts in plastic baggies? seriously? [ announcer ]

the mecca of branson, missouri, was struck. the destruction is enormous. the worst may be yet to come. meteorologists predict another strong similar could hit friday. >> relentless weather. and has a team of reporters spread out across the disaster zone, including chris bury. he'll give us a snapshot of the new normal in harrisburg, illinois. you can see how powerful this tornado was. the mayor told us he heard the sirens go off. and then, he knew in his gut that something awful was going to happen. at least six people were killed. entire shopping malls flattened like pancakes. homed ripped apart. cars turned asundayer. the damage took only a few moments to inflict. it may take many, many months to rebuild. chris bury, abc news, harrisburg, illinois. >> and mild temperatures where chris is. but the passive storm hit other states with a wintry vengeance. nearly two feet of snow in northern new england. powerful winds stirred up whiteout conditions. many schools were closed, flights were canceled. >>> a second wave of sno is zeroing in on upstate new york an

people in branson had 35 minutes warning.radio and television stations and the new twist in 2012 -- all of america's major cell phone service companies have agreed to send text message alerts like this to cell phones of everyone in a storm system. >> it will threaten you at some point in your life, knowing in advance that it is a threat, knowing that in advance to know what to do when that threat comes allows you to act. >> the goal is to save live in a moment of mayhem when every second matters. ask people in branson, missouri. >> mark strassmann is with us now. >> you brought the device. you can show it and tell us once more, why is early warning so important especially when tornadoes come at night? >> with tornadoes, you got minutes. every second really does count. what the national weather service folks are saying this is a really good investment as an umbrella policy for severe weather. you get one of these weather radios, you get information from national weather service and this will tell you no matter what time of day

some of those in the resort town of branson, missouri, where a twister stayed on the ground for 22 milesand the cleanup started as soon as the winds died down. forecasters warn it could happen again, with the possibility of more storms across the heartland through friday night. jay gray, nbc news, harrisburg, illinois. >>> the same massive storm system that brought all of that destruction also caused a dramatic snowstorm a little further north. in duluth, minnesota, wind gusts up to 65 miles an hour with more than a foot of snow in some places. it was a full-on blizzard leaving pretty much everything closed. nbc meteorologist bill karins will have more on the storm in a few minutes. >>> now to the campaign trail. four republican presidential hopeful be are ramping up their rhetoric before tuesday's ten-state matchup. nbc tracie potts has the details from washington. >> reporter: good morning. no question, super tuesday is a big prize or prizes depending on how the more than 400 delegates are split up. rick santorum certainly hoping to get his piece of the pie. he says this is a two-man r

crews are fixing up some of the music theaters badly damaged in branson. a tornado marched down the main street of this country music resort town. a tour bus was picked up and thrown across the road. >> a friend of mine is still in the back. they pulled him back. >> reporter: branson tourist season hits its peak later this this morning. they say the storm won't ruin the city's economy. >>> maryland will become the eighth state to legalize same- sex marriage later today. governor martin o'malley will sign the bill into law. opponents want to send the issue to a referendum in november. they'll have to gather 56,000 voter signatures to make that happen and a state board of elections gave them permission to start the process. >>> the man dubbed the aspen hill rapist will be sentenced later today. timothy busby is sentenced for rape cases dating back to the 1970's. the additional charges surfaced when he could be eligible for parole. he could be sentenced to two life consecutive sentences. >>> a fire in riverdale sent several firefighters to the hospital that w

hard-hit cities of harrisburg, illinois, and branson, missouri. the tourist town. >> and the last area hit, west of knoxville, tennessee. more of the same is on it way yet again. we begin coverage with tahman bradley. >> reporter: this morning, towns across the midwest are picking up after at least 16 tornadoes left behind a path of destruction. survivors say the twister struck in an instant. >> i heard the wind pick up. all at once, it felt like the house was coming apart. the windows blew out. the glass was flying through the house like big knives. >> like a train. just like they say it does. it really did. it sounded like thunder that didn't quit. >> reporter: among the places hardest hit, harrisburg, illinois. 175-mile-an-hour winds. two football fields wide. left six people dead. homing were shredded. a strip mall flattened. entire buildings knocked off their foundations. >> it's unreal. it's like war zone. if you have seen that area. >> reporter: in harveyville, kansas, half the homes in the small town were destroyed. debbie roberts and her