we're going live to the dallas-ft. worth area where there's widespread damage and an ongoing emergency. stand by. >>> president obama is now riding hard for re-election. he's am slaing the republican budget plan as a radical vision that would simply help the rich get richer and threaten, in his word, the american dream. >>> and with primary voters at the polls in wisconsin, maryland and d.c., is this rick santorum's last stand? can he convince republicans that the race isn't already over? i'm wolf blitzer. you're "in the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> let's begin with the breaking news. tornado emergencies right now in the dallas-ft. worth area. look at these pictures that have been coming in. this was the scene in the dallas-ft. worth area just a little while ago as the sky turns dark. we see a massive funnel cloud draw closer and then this monster tornado descends on a truck park, picks up giant trailers as if they were little toys and sends them flying. look at this. flying through the air.

>> i'm on the eastern edge of dallas trying to -- the storms are so scattered all over this part of the worth. they were trying to figure out the best place to go at this point. i think it's important to bring out at this hour that we're about 20 minutes or so away from public schools or most schools across the dallas-ft. worth area that are breaking for the day. these storms are coming across and that's crow eighting a lot of personal problems for many people across the area as they try to figure out how to get their kids home from school safely and how to understand thattel these situations. you'll be urged to stay off the roadways because it comes at a difficult time as people try to figure out how to get their kids home from school. >> that's a great point and an absolute headache for parents trying to figure out how to get their little ones. one of the public information officers out of dallas county. she made the point that folks in the dallas area, for the most part, don't have basements so that's why she was advising so many people, look, you have to get in the middle of your ho

>>guest: well, this has been an extensive day of storms here in this metro area across the dallas dallas. i am standing in arlington which is in the center of both dallas and ft. worth and as my photographer zooms in we are looking at what was the roof of a nursing care facility here. the tornado skipped through a couple of different neighborhoods, crossed a couple of highways and ripped a chunk from the roof and made part of wall fallout. there is plumbing and gasolines and electrical systems interrupted. this is just one of the examples of what the storms have done across dallas-ft. worth area today. we did not have numbers yet because the storms are not entirely done with us yet. we have other thunderstorms that are continuing to build and come through our area, but at least at this point it appears the danger of the tornadoes could be done but there were up to three tornadoes, at least in the preliminary examination of in event on the ground in, perhaps, half an hour to an hour of each other and stretched for miles across the dallas-ft. worth area. >>neil: what may standout and get p

or the area around dallas. onal weather service saying storm spotters reported what looked like a funnel cloud on the ground. janice dean will be with us in moment with more. a dusty piece of government data, more than 70 years old. so wildly popular the sheer number of people checking it out crashed the government web site. when has that ever happened. the story behind the 1940 census just ahead. and she is loving it. but her co-workers apparently are not. coming up in "kelly's court." the mcdonald's lotto pool, alleged pool, that won $110 million, and the woman who claims she point and won't share it. >> i don't know whatments going on. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to

the one between dallas and ft. worth. the one farther to the east on the east side of dallas. still showing a hook echo but it is not as well defined. that tornado actually dissipating in real-time. with the live aerials there but it was a well defined tornado. we saw quite a bit of debris. >> thank you very much. i'm join by my colleague, tamron hall. you have family members who are actually here in the path. >> my entire family is in the path. my mother just texted. my mother, she and an 11-year-old home sick from school today and a 2-year-old are in the home where my father has always told them to go for safety in the hallway. i just got a text from my nephew in high school. i said where are you guys? he texted back to me, they're in the high school's hallway. i asked him if he is afraid. i've assured him you're okay. and he said i'm fine. my brother works at a bank not very far from that high school. according to him, they're no longer in a lockdown situation. they had taken she will at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. 1:00 p.m. local time, martin. so that's the latest. but they wer

dallas. a tornado, a possible tornado on the ground south of dallas. is is video from johnson county, right outside of ft. worth, texas. in fact, i'll have to be honest with you. i am getting text messages from family members in the area right now and they are telling me that they are preparing, if they need to, to get into safe spots within their homes. and perhaps hunkering down. we've seen some extremely volatile weather in the midwest and the south, as you well know, which we've covered on many of these being fatal tornadoes ripping through parts of the midwest and the south. so we'll keep you up to date. right now, a possible unconfirmed tornado on the ground, south of dallas, texas. some very ominous video coming in out of johnson county. that's right outside of ft. worth. and we'll keep you up to date. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪ ♪ you make me happy when skies are gray ♪ [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the

dallas. another one just to the east of dallas. this was the one that came through that we did have some of that video. let's show you some of that video that we do have out of the dallas area. just down to the south and east. look at that tornado. you can see it right now, lifting up those semis. these are semi trailers. these are most likely empty semi trarlsz, but just picking them up like it's nothing, with winds most likely upwards of 120 to 140 miles per hour. we're going to continue to watch this dangerous situation. and we'll have much more from dallas coming up. right now, brian williams with a special report. >>> this is an nbc special report. here is brian williams. >>> good day. we're coming on the air to update you on a violent day in texas. numerous tornadoes in and around the dallas-ft. worth metroplex. this was the scene, a lot of it was recorded by television helicopters on live television. the storm ripped through the schneider truck yard south of dallas, texas, there along the lbj freeway. those are truck traile

three twisters struck the city of dallas. go to meteorologist gary england monitoring the twisters in the storm. what is the latest? >> calmed down a bit. mere moments ago we had report that tornado hit school northeast of the dallas area, five to ten minutes ago. that report is step sketchy. dallas/forth worth, five large ones and other ones. they have calmed down a little bit in the dallas/forth worth mote replex, moved northeast. we had indication east report of cools hit. right now they are tornado from the northeast of texas. northeast of texas to northeast texas. it looks like it should calm down. but sometimes they do not. a line of storms to southern, oklahoma, east of dallas, all the way down. almost to san antonio. line of storm. we only have three tornado warnings at this time. earlier there were several tornado warnings, what appeared to be a huge tornado on the ground. you have can't tell the strength by looking at a tornado. you have to look at the damage later. >> eric: a lot of people in the area, dallas/forth

and following the severe weather at dallas-ft. rth airport there are inspections for hail damage with a number of flight delays and flight detours moved away from the dfw airport so if you know a loved one coming into the airport the flight could have been detoured into airports outside the squall line. >> we have a severe weather situation continuing across north texas and a squall line and ahead of the squall line we have rotating thunderstorms, the super cell thunderstorms capable of rowing tornadoes. >> video from arlington, earlier, the picture you are sighing in the right portion of the screen, heavy tree damage, damage to moves and we did not know of injuries in this area. >>shepard: local coverage from fox four news in dallas of a [ mujahid ] there was a little bit of trepidation, not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be,

tornadoes rip through the dallas/ft. worth metro area this afternoon, producing incredible scenes of destruction. we watched tractor trailers lifting high in the air, spinning around, and then smashing to the ground. homes were hit, too. we have seen roofs peeled off, power lines down, and trees plinterred and uprooted. the damage is widespread. >>> dallas county sheriff lupe valdez tells cnn her ofrszs are going house to house, checking on casualties until warnings that more severe storms were on the way. the emergency lasted for hours. this call came into cnn over two hours ago. >> if you go north, there's warnings all over the place. it's raining. people are scrambling to try to get out of the offices just to get home, and now it's caused a big problem, a big problem on the streets. the sirens going on. even if you're not even in the tornado warning places. you don't know which way to go. you really can't decide if you want to make a run home or stay where you are. >> cnn's ed lavendera is on the phone right now from l

in the northern part of dallas. i saw were almost baseball sized hail. >> cowboys football stadium okay this morning? >> as far as i heard. i haven't heard any different. i'm sure mr. jones would have told us if it had been damaged. >> sure. i am hearing that 47,000 homes are without power. is that likely to be restored pretty quickly? >> overnight myself and members of the sheriff's department have been out in the lancaster area, and i can tell you there's a large number of repair crews that are working down there, slowly getting some of the power turned back on, and i'm sure that is the same throughout the dallas county area. >> well, lieutenant patterson, we're happy to report that there's no one so far that's been reported killed, but we are sorry for the damage that you're going to have to assess today. thanks for talking to us. >> you're welcome. >> it is 36 minutes past the hour. >>> a disturbing mystery in manhattan. a prominent french political scholar and political adviser richard dequans was found dead, n

one there and one to the west of dallas. they have a whole lot more activity sitting out here to the west and is going to be pushing in their direction throughout the afternoon. very scary weather throughout dallas. back here in the bay area we have a couple of clouds moving through, a chance of showers developing in the north bay and then it looks like a chance around the rest of the area into the evening hours. breezy conditions and a chance of showers on and off tonight in cooler days ahead. high-pressure weakening allowing this very week system to drop into the bay area. so the cold front moving in has not much energy with it but it could get a couple of showers and to the afternoon. garrido, its first to fall apart and by 7:00 there's a chance of scattered showers outside but not much and then moves by with a lot colder air behind that could spark more showers. other than that we're looking and much cooler air headed in our direction to read today we will sneak in fairly mild interest. 70 degrees in santa clara and 69 in

the second. san jose beat dallas, 5-2. the stars are now on life support. >>> sidney crosby and the penguins are ready for the postseason. crosby has 22 points in 12 games since coming back from a concussion. the pens win 5-3. >>> basketball, the heat clinched a playoff spot. lebron james had 14 straight points in the fourth and finishing with a season high 41. heat beat the sixers 99-93. college hoops, if you think kentucky had a good year, you've not been watching the baylor bears. they won the national title. bayl baylor, the first team, men or women, to finish the season a perfect 40-0. >>> finally they say it's not what you wear but how you wear it. for the nfl slim is in. nike and the nfl unveiled their new uniforms. it's a slim and trim jersey that form fits the equipment. most of the unis remain the same except for the seahawks. they added hints of neon green. nothing says football like neon green artwork. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >>> "early today" sports is brought to you

all of the flights going in and out of the dallas fort worth area, you can expect a backup all across the country and right here in the capital. 1,400 miles from the destruction in dallas, the effects of the texas tornados are being felt in flight cancellations. >> it is the only time to get to austin. >> like her, others were left scrambling to find a way home as airlines canceled 400 flights going to or coming from the dallas-fort worth area. randy sorenson thought he was getting ahead of the travel mess by heading toward oklahoma. >> we saw the tornado on tv and we immediately switched our flight to chicago to avoid this. but i can i get my ticket to the automated thing so i am standing in line. >> this ministry to get home to his family in corpus christi. now he is -- this man is trying to get home to his family in corpus christi. >> i was here on u.s. government orders. they want to know why i will be here an extra day appeared >> -- extra day. >> it is ok but kind of scary. >> more than 100 airplanes have hail damage alone at dfw. 1 spokesperson at american airlines says that ha

now, this was the storm that came up into dallas county, in the southeast side of dallas. you see the power flashes there. we've seen a pretty good bit of damage. most of what we've seen seems to be in the realm of ef-1 or ef-2 damage, so low to moderate in terms of the amount of damage. when you're looking at there is what we call the condensation funnel. that's the actual cloud that is formed by low pressure within that circulation, but then at the interface there, the bottom, that is the suction spot, the dust envelope, and it was not only dust but it was debris that was being picked up by the storm, hurled about and then thrown out. you've got a lot of different motions within that storm. you've got inflow there, you've got lateral motion, you've got upward vertical motion, so this was a very well defined tornado that probably lasted a good 25 minutes or so as it passed to the south and southeast of dallas, and there you see some of the results on the left there. dylan? >> again, to what degree, carl, does the current meteorological technology allow the national weather

you're the mayor of dallas. is that true all in the entire dallas-ft. worth greater area? aching out to the whole area, and we're not hearing of any fatalities at this point. >> really? that's really great to hear. >> everybody is still assessing and getting all the information back in, but the information we've got is that while there's been major damage done, that people are walking away with their lives. >> that's good to hear. mayor mike rawlings, the mayor of dallas. we'll stay in close touch with you. thanks very much. >> thank you. >>> we're following some other stories on this busy news night as well. susan hendricks is joining us with a 360 news and business bulletin. >> reporter: hi, wolf. forensic investigators are back on the scene of yesterday's deadly rampage at oikos university in oakland, california. police say a 43-year-old killed seven people, wounded three others and is showing no signs of remorse. we are getting our first listen to dispatch tapes recorded during the police response. >> there's a female bleeding down on the ground, face down on the concre

the key is, no lob to the front of the rim. >> mike: dallas, brought out haywood. they down size and so do the lakers, bynum is out and kidd will trigger, 1.5 to go. game tied at 98-98. kidd, looks, looking. to nowitzki for the win. let's play five more. dirk nowitzki, who has missed the majority of his shots here today, has missed 17, had the shot at the game winner, didn't get it. and the only unhappy people are the 40 people who have to change it over for the kings game in a few hours. a word from your abc station. @ >> mike: first overtime in a month nor the lakers. they are 4-1, their only loss in detroit to the pistons. it was a well played five or six-minute stretch until the last minute and nobody got a good look. >> hubie: give the defense great credit. they ran four options before they could get the ball to nowitzki, and that was a difficult shot, no doubt about it. the mavs, think about i, only six turnovers in the game, have allowed them to stay around and hang in there, no matter what happens. >> mike: that is a season low for dallas, six turnovers, the

several large tornadoes hit the dallas, texas area. o just in of one of the funnel clouds. those storms are leaving destruction in their path. collapsing roofs and ripping down power lines. we have live pictures of the damage around the dallas area. there are no immediate reports of damages. but there are no flights coming in or out of dfw airport. >>> firefighters are trying to figure out what sparked a fire in a russian skyscraper. flames spread lieu the upper floors of moscow's federation tower, which is still under construction. when complete, it will be the tallest building in europe. no one is hurt, but the extent of the damage is still unclear. >>> this was video shot in a public park just before officers showed up. investigators say the fighters appear to be juveniles, but they believe at least one adult was there acting as referee. >>> powerful evidence is presented in the trial of a philadelphia priest accused of covering up dozens of sexual abuse claims. they say the letters from the 1990s show that william lynn didn't follow

multiple tornados, tearing through the dallas fort worth area. tossing everything in their path. >> you see it on television. we saw it, you know, in the midwest. but just, another thing when it comes to hit you personally. >> hours after the storms it is hard to believe. those tractor trailers, twisted and tossed to the side. neighborhoods tattered and torn. survivors who clung to life during the storm, now clinging to each other. >> oh, my god. look at the car. inside of the house. >> the wood from the -- from the back fence was going that way. so, i pulled back in. i heard a thump. turned around. and here was this truck. >> reporter: many say early warnings and graphic pictures look likely saved their lives. >> after seeing on the new the tornado was on the ground for ten minutes. i wouldn't for cover. >> reporter: this nursing hope lost a wing. some how not a single life. at dfw airport, hundreds of flights were canceled. more than 110 planes damaged by hail. a vsh us rouicious round of sto tornado season moves into traditionally its most viol

this is the dallas county storm. h area, eventually it will get into the piedmont edition area, which is much more populated than what you see right now. when you're into eastern dallas county, i-35 e, i-20 area, you need to be in your basement if you have one. if you need to be inside your home you do not have a basement on your first floor. >> look at this, one, two, trailer homes. three, four. power. power, power. unbelievable. live picture, watching a tornado wr ripping apart rvs in dallas county, texas. >> you can see the swirl, the rotation. what's closest to us is going left to right, picking up the trees, the homes. they may have been semitrailers. >> tractor trailer, thank goodness. hopefully there's no one in them. sitting in a field. >> this is not henryville. this is not the stuff that rolled through indiana, kentucky, tennessee two weeks ago. but this is still very dangerous. >> look at that -- >> it just picked those things uh. that has to be 130-mile-an-hour storm to do something like that. and here's t

stay with us. >>> up next, tornadoes ripped through the dallas-ft. worth area. we'll get a live update from the ground. >>> at least two massive tornadoes ripped through the dallas-ft. worth area. the twister tore roofs off houses and tossed tractor trailers into the air. the storm system was slow-moving about 25 miles per hour which means it had more time to cause damage. golf size hail was reported near the dallas-ft. worth area. hundreds of flights were cancelled and airlines are reporting more than 110 aircraft was damaged. so far more than a dozen injuries have been reported, but there are no reports of fatalities, which is nothing short of a miracle. joining me tonight by phone is lieutenant tim jones. he's the public information officer for the johnson county sheriff's office. is that the case, there are to fatalities? >> injohnson county we had no injuries at all. >> kwhafs the response? how did that work out. this is the most horrific tornado you folks have seen in years? >> yes, it was. we're in the southwest part of the metroplex. the tornado started t

you're the mayor of dallas. is that true all in the entire dallas/ft. worth area? been reaching out to the whole area, and we're not hearing of any fatalities at this point. >> that's great to hear. >> everyone is still assessing and getting all the information back in, but the information we've got is, while there's been major damage done, that people are walking away with their lives. >> glass mayor mike rawlings speaking with me earlier. just got to dallas is our reporter ed lavandera. you just got there. what damage have you seen? >> reporter: we're witnessing an incredible story of survival in the city of arlington. i want to give you a quick piece of video to set this up in arlington. the video you're seeing was shot by a neighbor who lives across the street from the lawrence family. nicole lawrence and her two sons were there. the family was having a hard time seeing through the trees just what was coming their way. as the video starts to progress, you can see the tornado -- what they came to learn was a tornado was getting much closer, and you can see the w

worth area around the 2:00 eastern time. dallas, you are out of the woods now. the storms continue to move north and eastward. we still have what's left of this watch box until 8:00 p.m. local time. this new one issued until 10:00 p.m. for parts of eastern texas in towards louisiana. but the threat is not over. we still have several tornado warnings for many counties. red river county recollect titus camp. northern camp county and franklin county in northeastern texas. the line is going to continue to move eastward and the threat will remain overnight tonight and into tomorrow. so, eastern texas, parts of oklahoma, arkansas, louisiana, in towards mississippi, this is the area we could see the threat for more damaging winds as well as hail and isolated tornadoes. and the system is just going to creep along, shepard, as we head into tomorrow. again, serve the same areas, louisiana, arkansas, in towards mississippi and alabama across the mississippi river. and in towards the tennessee river valley as well. back to you. >> shepard: met

tornadoes like this one forcing the love field as well as the dallas-ft. airport to shut down for a time. scores of aircraft damaged. hundreds of flights cancelled. especially hard hit -- the cities of arlington, kennedale. so far, so far, no reported fatalities. we're thankful a man in lancaster vincent tang is all right. he didn't seek shelter. he went up to his roof to get this video. >> look at the debris fly. oh, my god. please. oh, my god, look at that. holy, holy smokes. it is about -- it's about a block or two away from my house. look at that. oh, shoot, oh, shoot. oh, holy shoot. look at that, oh, my god. holy moly. look at the debris, it's flying. oh. holy moly, oh, my god. holy moly. >> as they say, don't try this at home. the voice and the pictures of vincent tang who probably should have taken care. we're glad he is all right and we're glad that no one as far as we know, as far as we know died in this storm. i spoke about that earlier tonight with the dallas mayor, mike rawlings. >> i talked to families that saw those trailers coming towards th

the dallas-ft. worth area remains a severe threat. it trashed senior centers, elementary schools and destroyed houses and sent tractor trailers spiraling through the air. abc's weather editor sam champion brings us incredible stories of the people who weathered the storm. >> oh, wow! >> reporter: take a look at this as a pair of ferocious twisters hit in dallas today. the national weather service called the two twisters large and extremely dangerous. and just look at their power, bowling over tractor trailers, lifting several clean off the ground and hurling them through the air. take a look at that again, and keep in mind these trucks weigh anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 pounds. now watch debris fly and power lines go down. residents ran for cover, and roofs were blown right off their homes. check out this from a storm chaser on the scene as a huge funnel cloud touches down in forney, texas, destroying up to 30 homes. and listen to this incredible story of survival. lindsay eknock's mother sherry w

the storm line rolled in early this afternoon and covered the entire dallas fort worth area. a tornado emergency was declared by the national weather service. >> that storm will be moving in your general direction so take shelter now. >> reporter: highway drivers watched as one of the twisters formed and reformed in front of their eyes. chunks of metal and wood were suspended in the air as the storms closed in. >> i had three infants with me, three kids with me, i put them in the bathtub, laid on top of them, put a cover across them and we just prayed. >> reporter: stately homes in the dallas suburb of lancaster suffered significant damage. neighbors hugged each other in relief while others pointed out damage and lost landmarks. much of this footage of the on coming twister was shot on a camera phone. dawn henderson and her fiancee road out the storm in the bathroom of their business. >> i was praying mighty hard for what seemed like a really long time in that bathroom. if this concrete wall had gone the other direction it would have crushed us because that's where we were, ri

>> well, mary, the dangerous tornadoes touched down near dallas and ft. worth. u're looking live now at some of the damage. the storm was so strong it lifted tractor-trailers off the ground, tossing them like toys. this video shows the southern portion of dallas a short time ago, the video you looked at live. that is video of when the actual tornado hit. other videos in the dallas area showing homes without roofs, while other buildings were flattened. the storm pushed cars into fences, scattered lawns into streets. thethe dfw employees seeing severe weather near the city. >>> and we have meteorologist bernadette woods with more. >> reporter: this is a really bad situation, not quite over yet. we'll take you to the radar, showing you the massive tornadoes coming through. and at this point there are still tornado warnings in effect. a huge squall line producing massive signs of hail. we're taking you back to early this afternoon when the actual tornadoes went through the damage you just saw, it was from these tornadoes. those moved off to the northeast, and another