joplin to help more. "nightly news" begins now. good evening. tonight, the same weather system that slammed into joplin, missouri, on sunday is not only still churning and active, it has intensified in some places. it's widen and that means 14 more people have died since we last spoke in tornadoes outside of joplin. this 120r78 storm system means 45 million americans were at some time today at risk of severe weather. because we all go what the colors mean, the deep red, the core. from shreveport to north of cincinnati, some forecasters put the threat of severe weather going into tonight greater than it's been all week. weather channel meteorology jim cantore has been out all night. jim, good evening. >> folks in the midwest are once again reeling. three states effecting, 13 people louzing their lives, scores wounded, and hundreds left homeless. it's a killer tornado. absolute lieu kille eer tornado. >> as a series of tornadoes ripped through town, they ripped through everything that wads in their path, including eight people. one twister roared through shawne, seen here passing i-25. nbc station klof was on the raid. >> it intensified and almost got us. >> jim gardner explains what he s saw. >> look at this tornado. this is unbelievable. gets off i-35 now. it's growing and growing and putting everything in. >> left behind, a path of destruction and homes flattened right down to their concrete slabs. >> reporter: in northeast piedmonte, a frant. search for survivors. they quickly found a mother and two of her children. this morning, the 15-month-old died while the search continued for the missing 3-year-old. irn arkansas, three were killed and another tornado whipped through central kansas. it erupted and blew over an enormous tree on a van, killing the people inside. it's sad news every day. everytume we geet a watch box, there's a loss of life. over 500 people have lost their lives this year. this is the deadliest since the 1940s and unfortunately, we still have a couple weeks to go. if you look at the kinds of tornadoes, that's what's amazing to me, ef-4s, ef-fiechbs, that's why people have been losing their lives frk in the dozens with the outbreaks. >> itejim, thanks. now we want to go back to joplin, missouri. more than 2,500 dead. some 700 injured. this is now the single deadliest tornado in the country since the 1940s. the search for survivors continues on the ground. we get our update tonight from n nbc's ron ralline. >> reporter: with more possible tornadoes in last night's forecast, hundreds from joplin came to this shelter. >> everybody down. >> reporter: suddenly, unbelievally, the sirens warn again, sending everyone to the basement. a foalse alaurd who left carol and steve yagal shaking. >> i was freaking, i wanted to freak. get away from it, get away from the sound. >> your stomach just gets in knots. all i could do was sit there wlisenning. >> reporter: tammy beardly had ridden out the tornado in her car. today, like so many here, she was picking up the tornado. this aerial photograph shows the tornado's path. six miles long. >> we are going to rebuild. this community is going to survive. >> reporter: meanwhile, throughout the community, it was a day to try to begin moving forward and in some places. find precious gems in the rubble. >> it's not mine, but it could have been one of my neighbors. >> evelyn wright feels she was fortunate she was away when the tornado destroyed her house. she found a $1. she thinks it's good look. >> i will frame it. >> reporter: there's been a lot of confusion about the number of people missing. some estimates have been as high as 1,500. today officials say after checking all that out, they believe most of the people are safe, that they have left the area to be with family and friends and the winds are gusting again tonight. >> thanker for your story tonight. we have one more story from joplin. this is the story of bethany and don. two people married six years, struggling in the economy, but well enough to have a house. bethany works at the local health facility. don worked at a machine shop. they had a lot of plans before a tornado bore down on their house sunday afternoon. >> i mean, the house was ripping apart. honestly, it happened so fast. all the pillows were flying off us. the only thing where managed to do was keep one right in front of my face. >> don landsaw, a former high school football star and the love of bethany's life knew his body over his as their house and their world was being ripped apart. he covered you. >> he just has so much love. in his heart. and you know, people keep saying that he wouldn't have wanted it any other way, but if i could have taken twice as much damage just to have him alive, i would have. and he got on top of me to take the brunt of most of it. and you know, he's -- he's my hero. >> reporter: in the strange period of calm after the tornado. bethany thought she could still save her husband who was lying in the bath toob. the houses on the street were gone. her neighbors were either dead, trapped, or walking around stunned. don was turning blue. she didn't know it, but he had a puncture wound in his back. she flagged down a good samaritan, asking for help and getting an ambulant, but don was already gone. >> he just -- he did what he could to protect his family. and i did everything i could to get him help. >> reporter: oddly, in the house where the storm took don's life, it didn't take their high school varsity jackets. it didn't take all the books off the shelves or all the stuff out of the cabinet under the sink. friends found their wedding photos and brought them to the house where bethany is now staying. >> just a great, great man. and loved by so many people. and there's a little guy that misses him fully. >> bethany and don were dog sitting with a spaniel. he stayed with don's body after the storm had passed. don's dog whisper knows something is wrong, so they're keeping him occupied while bethany tries to put one foot in front of the other and go on. >> to people who have tried to he help, i do want to say thank you because we tried. >> reporter: bethany is just a nice person from joplin, missouri, just like everyone we met there. and like a lot of folk said there, she remains pretty banged up. friends have set up a memorial fund at a local bank and we have put the information for you on our website, nightly.msnbc.com. later tonight, the people making a difference in joplin by showing up and doing the hard wurng. now we go overseas to london where they have been rolling out the red carpet for president obama, and tonighter he did his own by hosting a dinner for queen elizabeth and his husband, philip. earlier, it was about serious business. chuck todd traveling with the president, with us from london tonight. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evenievening, brian. this third day of the president's trip overseas is serious about war, peace, in libya and afghanistan. and today, not what is just special but what is now being called an essential relationship. a ceremonial wellm for president obama at westminster where he became only the third president to address both members of the parliament. >> after a difficult decade where we began in war and ended in a recession -- >> reporter: with no fewer than four former prime ministers in attendance, he got off with humor. >> ours got off on a wrong foot with a small scrape about tea and taxes. there may have also been hurt feelings when the white house was set on fire in the war of 1812. >> reporter: in what was touted by aides as his worldwide tour of 2012, the rising powers were still on the stage, like china a and india. >> these are for the future, and that it's for the past. that argument is wrong. the time for our leadership is snow. >> reporter: earlier, president obama spent the morning meeting with david cameron, discussing libya. they tried to downplay nato negotiations on the strategy. >> the two key things here are patience and forgiveness. that's what the alliance is demonstrating and needs to go on demonstrating. >> reporter: fafr the day, a pa farewell to the queen. while he kept talking when the music was playing. something he joked about today. in the meeting with cameron, he also endorsed president obama's comments about the peace protests. tomorrow, the president travels to france where he's likely to get even more european support for that vision. >> chuck todd in london traveling with the president tonight. from our pentagon outpost, nbc news learns obama has make his pick for army head chiefs of sfaf. he's a command veteran of the iraq and afghanistan. he would replace the departing mike mullen. john edwards is sastep closer to facing criminal charges tonight after the federal justice department gave the green light to prosecute for finance violations. they stem from the alleged coverup of his relationship with rielle hunter. who he later acknowledged having a child with. his lawyer said his client didn't break the law. when we come back, dramatic develops in the case of the man held for the shooting of gabrielle giffords wroorb. and later, they have been deployed before, but not to joplin, missouri, not before. and tonight, they're making a difference. one of our 9 models over 30 mpg highway. fuel up, rock on. very well qualified lessees can get a low mileage lease on a chevy cruze eco for around $159 a month. or qualified buyers can get no monthly payments for 3 months. fuel economy based on epa estimates. deferred payments offer ends may 31st. the morning after the big move starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now... and maybe up to 4 in a day. or, choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. smart move. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] doctors have been saying it forever. let's take a look. but they've never actually been able to do it like this. let's take a look. v-scan from ge healthcare. a pocket sized imaging device that will help change the way doctors see patients. that's better health for more people. jared lofner, the man of accused of opening fire, killing six people, wounding 13 people, including congresswoman gabby giffords was in court today. mike tiebi was in court with the bizarre scene in lofner insisted in court he had killed the congresswoman. mike, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. law enforcement sources had told nbc news before the hearing, that has been one of his dominant delusions all along, that he had killed congresswoman giffords and his own defense team is part of the conspiracy tocover it up. he yelled, thank you for the freak show. she died in front of me. you're changing it, and this delusional story he believes himself. he was removed from the courtroom, and the judge issued his hearing that lofner is for the niem now incompetent to understand the charges against him or stand trial. this could go on for months or years. and the assessment is due in december. >> that appearance today in tucson. mike, thanks. there was a stunned silence on the floor of the new york stock exchange this morning. not because of market news but in reaction to the news that marc haynes has died. he was the founder anchor of "squawk box" on cnbc. people used words like gruff and rumpled and erascible. but what they were trying to say is mark haines was real. he didn't suffer fools gradually, and in covering wall street, he encountered his share of them. he was an iefrby league veteran and a reporter, and he could report on the 9/11 attacks and the financial problems. he had a novel approach to his job. he tried to talk about only what was true. our friend mark was 65, and our condolences go out to his family and his cnbc family as well. we're back with more after this. 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[ male announcer ] make the switch. take action. take advil. i believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. >> that speech by john f. kennedy launching us to the moon was delivered before a joint session of congress 50 years ago today. he set a deadline of 1970, and while he didn't leave to see it, we made it by the summer of '69. they released audiotapes on the meeting with nasa. the president could be heard worrying it would seem as a stunt, but they were convinced it was for the good of the nation. >> i think it would be an asset, this program. but at the end of the day, we're glad we made it. >> the irony is, of course, we're about to end the manned space program when the last shuttle launches this july. neil armstrong was one of the three astronauts writing today, quote, john f. kennedy would have been sorely disappointed. for oprah fans, today, of course, this is right up there with the last program. it's hard to compare her influence with anyone else in the modern era. the lives she's changed, the books she's sold. her grip on the culture and the audience. but it had to end some time, and while she has her own network, called "own," today, the curtain came down in chicago. >> from you whose names i'll never know, i learned what love was. you and the show have been the great love of my life. so, with that show number 4,561 was soon over. oprah was last seen following the yellow brick road, ending the show praising god and taking the advice really the munchens gave dorothy, another woman known for her long and incredible journey. when we come brack, they're u.s. veterans and they happen to be what joplin, missouri needs right now. our making a difference report right after this. when you retire.enough e that's why i'm here -- to help come up with a plan and get you on the right path. i have more than a thousand fidelity experts working with me so that i can work one-on-one with you. it's your green line. but i'll be there every step of the way. call or come in and talk with us today. you have frequent heartburn, right ? yeah, it flares up a few days a week. well, we're the two active ingredients in zegerid otc. i'm omeprazole, the leading prescription heartburn medicine. and i'm sodium bicarbonate. i protect him from stomach acid so he can get to work. look, guys, i've already tried a lot of stuff. wow. with zegerid otc, you get 24-hour relief. so, this is goodbye heartburn ? gone. finito. zegerid otc. two ingredients... ...one mission. heartburn solved. chances are your soil is like this: compacted, drained of nutrients. it'll hold your plants but it'll also hold 'em back. the solution: miracle-gro garden soil. the perfect mix of rich, organic ingredients, and miracle-gro plant food. just mix it in. and turn bad soil into great soil. helps plants grow twice as big. instead of holding 'em back, they'll leap ahead. miracle-gro garden soil. and moisture control garden soil. miracle-gro garden soil. 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