i'm dara brown. we begin with breaking news.logists are calling it the historic image that will be studied for years to come. twin tornadoes side-by-side creating a massive path of destruction. two people are confirmed dead, and at least 16 people critically injured. pilgrim, nebraska's residents are now digging out of the rubble. >> really incredibly strong tornado with another secondary tornado, like i said, wrapping around it. >> there's two of them. one back over here and one coming right at us. >> one county commissioner says more than half the town is gone. absolutely gone. that is where we find nbc's jay gray this morning. jay, can you tell us what the latest is? >> good morning, dara. the sun coming up and really revealing the overwhelming devastation. a snapped phone and power poles like this one scattered about. look behind you. you can see some of the debris here. what's left of an suv there. we step over one of the utility poles. again, they're scattered all over the place. there's not a lot left in the path of the s

i'm dara brown, and this is "early today."'s just your first stop of the day on nbc. [ female announcer ] take skincare to the next level with roc® multi correxion® 5 in 1. proven to hydrate dryness, illuminate dullness, lift sagging, diminish the look of dark spots, and smooth the appearance of wrinkles. high performance skincare™ only from roc®. >>> leading the muse in usa today. u.s. judge upholds colorado gun restrictions. two laws are passed after a deadly shooting in a movie theater and sandy hook. they ban magazines that holds more than 15 rounds and require background checks for all private gun sales and transfers. >>> in the sacramento beat pregnant runner alissa montano finishes 800. nearly 8 months along, the five-time competed in the u.s. track and field championship in sacramento. oh, watch her go. she finished 35 seconds slower than her personal best. that is amazing. >>> and on to other stories that we're following. >> what did the president know, and when did he know it? >> howard baker, whose probing question

i'm dara brown. breaking news in the oscar pistorius murder trial. it resumed this morning after the double amputee olympic athlete underwent a month of psychiatric exams to assess his mental health when he shot and killed his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, last year. new this morning according to the official report from the panel psychiatrist there, pistorius did not suffer from mental disease or defect that affected his ability to know right from wrong at the time of the shooting. we'll be following this development to see how it affects the course of the trial this morning. >>> rumblings that are out there that there could be a major hang on the way for the troubled department of veterans affairs. today president obama is expected to nominate robert mcdonald to take over. mcdonald graduated in the top 2% of his class at west point and served as ceo of corporate giant procter & gamble. john boehner issued a statement calling mcdonald a good man and saying, quote, he's the kind of person who is capab

i'm dara brown. it was a wild primary day around the nation. starting with the republican party and the battle many characterize as the establishment versus tea party. mississippi's six-term incumbent thad cochran has won the primary over tea party challenger chris mcdaniel. the race was nasty at times and ended with a big blow for tea party activists that poured millions of dollars into mcdaniel's campaign. with 99% of the precincts counted, cochran narrowly defeating mcdaniel. with about 51% of the vote. democrats face an old versus new guard battle, 22-term new york congressman charlie rangel declared victory hours ago despite no major observing agency, including the associated press, declaring a winner as of yet. with 99% of the votes counted, rangel leads with 47%, compared to state senator adriano espaillat with almost 44%. in oklahoma, james lankford won the gop nomination to succeed tom coburn. he avoided a runoff by defeating six opponentrs including a tea party candidate with over 50% of th

i'm dara brown. more questions are being raised following the release of army sergeant bowe bergdahl as part of a prison of war exchange. he's now recovering at a hospital in germany after being held for five years in captivity by the taliban. moments ago, the president spoke about the controversy surrounding the prisoner exchange while at a news conference in poland. here's what he had to say. >> we saw an opportunity. we were concerned about sergeant bergdahl's health. we had the cooperation of the qataris to execute an exchange. and we seized that opportunity. and the process was truncated because we wanted to make sure we did not miss that window. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin is in landstuhl germany, with more. good morning, ayman. what is the latest. >> reporter: sergeant bowe bergdahl continues to receive medical attention here at landstuhl medical center where officials say his condition is stable. more importantly they say his condition requires him to remain hospitalized for the time being. in a

i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today."y. >>> from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >>> good morning everyone, it's 4:30 i'm scott mcgrew. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to, first let's say hello to christina loren. >> hey good morning, scott, laura, everybody at home. you made it to tuesday, we have a good looking day shaping up. it will be a good looking week. we are still counting on those showers for tomorrow. we're going to extend the chance into thursday as well. we'll show you what you it likes like in just a few moments on your foouch cast. for this morning, comfortable conditions, uniform numbers out there. westerly flow continues. another nice day in the bay. showers coming up. right now let's welcome in

i'm dara brown. president obama today will unveil plans for a major overhaul of air quality stop dards across the country. under the plan, existing power plants will need to slash carbon emissions by as much as 30% by 2030. the regulation hopes to prevent a staggering 430 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the air. if the new rules do pass legal and legislative hurdles, it will be the toughest course of action undertaken yet by the administration to combat climate change. but it is already facing growing opposition with house speaker john boehner saying it will raise costs and cause job losses. >>> after being held five years in captivity by the taliban, army sergeant bowe bergdahl is now in american hands. the 28-year-old is getting medical care at a facility in land landstuhl, germany. in exchange, five detainees who used to be high ranking members of the former taliban government have been released from guantanamo bay. for more on the p.o.w. release, and the criticism it is dr

i'm dara brown. investigators are investigating a triple shooting that happened in a parking lot outside of the red rock amphitheater. according to sheriffs, the shooter targeted the occupants of a white suv and fled the scene after the shooting. when deputies found the suv, three victims were taken to the hospital. the amphitheater has been shut down while police search for the shooter. the incident took place after a performance by rapper naz, school boy q, and lotus. >>> a major health scare for hundreds of america's top scientists. roughly 75 scientists working at atlanta's centers for disease control may have come into contact with anthrax. researchers apparently didn't follow safety procedures when working with the live bacteria. none of the scientist advisory shown any symptoms so far, but as a precaution, they are undergoing treatment to prevent infection. >>> a prime minister is facing growing calls to step down as iraqi troops struggle to stop militant attacks sweeping the country. it comes

i'm dara brown. in the history-making upset, house majority leader eric cantor lost his republican primary election by double digits. cantor, the second most powerful republican in the house, was defeated by tea party challenger dave brat. brat won by a commanding 12% margin. it was an astonishing upset for cantor whose own internal polling showed him with a 34 of-point lead just last month. and cantor outraised his opponent by 26-1. nbc's tracie potts joins us live. tracie, what is this going to mean for washington? >> reporter: certainly a shuffle, dara, in the republican leadership. and we're already this morning starting to see names of people popping up who are interested in that position. speaking of leadership, cantor was actually here starting today in a leadership meeting and not back in his district when those votes started. >> this is a miracle of god that just happened. >> reporter: it's certainly unprecedented, never has a house majority leader lost his seat in a primary. >> and it's dis

i'm dara brown, and this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc.er that's clearly healthy? benefiber is clear, taste free, and dissolves completely. and unlike other fibers, you'll only know you're taking fiber by the way good digestive health makes you look& and feel. and benefiber is so easy, you can feel free to add it to everything you love. and that's clearly fabulous. benefiber. clearly healthy. see benefiber work and save on facebook. revlon photoready primer and shadow. add sparkle, or use wet, so you can create whatever eye you're in the mood for. dare to be revlon. >>> leading the news in "the washington post," jacqueline kennedy's letters to irish priests pulled from auction amid controversy. officials from the college in ireland that own the letters say they're working with the former first lady's family to preserve them. >>> and from nbc chicago, nine sets of twins graduate from the same class. it happened at a middle school outside chicago. three sets of twins are identical. the rest are fraternal. >>> police have arrested and charged

i'm dara brown. we're learning more about the las vegas couple who shot to death two police officers, a civilian and themselves over the weekend. it turns out nbc news interviewed one of the shooters, jarod miller, earlier this spring when he turned up at a standoff against the federal government in arizona. nbc's mike taibbi has more from las vegas. >> reporter: for the las vegas metro police department, an agonizing salute to two fallen comrades and then the daunting task of figuring out why this young couple, jared and amanda miller, turned from anti-government conspire ty buffs into alleged killers. the conclusion so far, they were not part of a conspiracy or broader group. >> we certainly believe that they're connected to a certain ideology which is anti-police, anti-government. but as of right now we have not been able to find any additional links or any additional suspects. >> reporter: but there were plenty of hints that something awful was brewing. jared had briefly joined the armed proteste

i'm dara brown. president