i might have been in prison. i might have been unemployed. >> and aloha. we have made our way to hawaii to kick off our week-long great american adventure today. monday, may 20th, 2013. >>. >> from nbc news. this is a special edition of "today." "today's great american adventure." with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. live from honolulu, hawaii. [ cheers and applause ] >> good morning. welcome welcome to waikiki beach. >> we have a lot to show you from this beautiful place. we want to get to the breaking nuchlz al made the trip with us. overnight he has traveled to tornado ravaged shawnee, oklahoma. >> the system that pronounced the devastating twisters there is on the move this morning. by the time it is finished it could impact half of the u.s. population. we go right to you, al. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt and savannah. this is the latest this is what has happened here in shawnee. this is the bricker family. they hunker fd down with 14 neighbors in a next door neighbor's sherlt when these tornados hit. members of their church are helping them get through this. they watched the weather channel and their local affiliate. this is what the radar looked like last system as the systems spawned over a three-state area. the good news is only one person was killed. it could have been worse. more than 20 injured. scores of homes damaged or destroyed. as you can see here's what will happen today with the same areas under the gun. we have a lot of warm, moist air coming n. colder air behind it with a strong jet stream. as you can see we are looking at a big problem with the future cast. there's lines of shower and thunderstorms starting to fire up once again. we have a slight risk of strong storms from brady, texas to michigan but a strong risk making its way from dallas in to parts of southern missouri. that's going to be the big problem. somebody who was here watching this all unfold yesterday was janet. it had to be terrifying for these families. >> how heart breaking is this to watch them clean up? you are right, al. familiar sirens. people taking cover and for the same thing to happen the next few minutes. these storms came through very quickly. they were devastating, as you can see here, it wasn't just here. they put millions of people across several states at risk. >> we are littered with debris right now. >> watch out, guys. windows up. windows up. >> reporter: terrifying moments as a tornado ripped through edmond, oklahoma on sunday. caught on camera by a tornado hunt team traveling with the weather channel. >> stop, stop, stop! >> it stretched from north texas to minnesota. rough hail and heavy rain. >> obviously it was very close. from the basement hearing through the fireplace. it was awesome sound. we couldn't really tell where it was. >> reporter: a tornado barrelled through rural homes on the outskirts of wichita, kansas. forcing road closures. >> no sooner had we got in the basement than we saw heavy wind and heavy rain. and after it subside we came out and saw we sustained quite a bit of damage. >> reporter: while the region suffered severe damage there are few deaths or injury, giving credit to the weather service for issuing storm warnings for the region as early as wednesday. >> we are telling people not to drive in this area whatsoever because we have roads shut down because of the lines down over the roads. >> around shawnee, oklahoma three large tractor-trailer rigs flipped over. one had been blown off of a highway overpass. 490 reports of severe weather across the region justette yesterday. the bricker family has a lot of help because they are expecting more storms later today and they could be just as severe or worse. back to you. >> thank you very much. as we said the weather channel's jim cantore has been in the elements tracking the worst of the storms. good morning to you. you are chasing some storms yesterday. what was it like on the ground? >> good morning, matt. we punched through the first storm, which had a track possibly of 20 miles long. we went through it three times. every time we went through it got stronger and stronger. of course we didn't go through with an automobile but a essentially designed automobile that weighs 10,000 pounds. it can go all the way down to the ground if it has. to it has harmer on the outside so it can take debris. it is meant to go through a tornado. there you see us actually going through it. the first time. it only got bigger and bigger and finally we met debris on the road where we couldn't go new further and move south down here to chase the shawnee cell. what we learned along the way, matt, is people want reassurance that a tornado is on the ground. through obviously helicopters and vehicles like we have yesterday with streaming video they can see that. they tend to take tornado warnings more serious. >> yeah. al and janet have talked to us about the damage left in the wake of these tornados. talk about warnings because you talk about people needing that assurance that they know where this is. the weather people have been talking about these storms for the better part of six, seven days, right, jim? >> yeah. we saw this coming a long time ago. through research, especially after the tuscaloosa tornado, 27, april, 2011 we learned people need to be reassured. prove it to me. if you are asking me to uproot my life and change what i am doing we want you to prove it to us. when you see monsters like these you will take cover. luckily, as al mentioned only one person lost their life yesterday. that is sad but it could have been a lot worse. >> lmplt jim cantore in oklahoma, as well. jim, thank you very much. now to washington with new developments this morning on the irs scandal. when the white house became aware of the targeting of conservative groups. chuck todd is nbc's chief white house correspondent. chuck, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. the issue of when did the white house get informed that the irs had been audited by the treasury department and that the report about the targeting of conservative groups was completed and was out there. last week, jay carney, the press secretary, admitted that the white house counsel's office had been informed in late april. this morning, we are learning that it wasn't just the office but the counsel herself, that was informed. the question is why did she choose not to tell the president? did she tell the white house chief of staff? all of these issues. what was the decision around not telling the president at the time? of course the president himself has said he learned when we, in the media, reported this situation. so it goes through at what point did the white house find out about this? it is a difference of three weeks. as for the president, he spent his sunday in atlanta. he was the commencement speaker at morehouse college. he had an interesting message there, particularly aimed at african-american men. take a listen. >> sometimes i wrote off my own failings as another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. i had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. but one of the things that all of you have learned the last four years is there is no longer any room for excuse. >> it was an interesting message. both president obama and michelle obama have given both have them have given commencements at historically black colleges this year. >> chuck todd, thank you very much. bad news for drivers this morning. gas prices are on the way up. tamron hall is in new york with the details. good morning to you. >> drivers are paying more at the pump days ahd of the memorial day weekend. for more on this turn to cnbc jackie at the stock exchange. news that no one wants to hear. what do the numbers look like? >> gas prices jumping 11 cents in the last two weeks according to the lundberg survey. the national average for a gallon of regular is $3.66. as you said we are approaching memorial day weekend than critical summer driving season. yahoo's board agreeing to pay $1.1 billion to purchase popular blogging site tumblr. yahoo held a press sflent new york city later today. headquartered. we may get more news on that. violence overseas in iraq. a string of car bombings targeting shiite neighborhoods in baghdad has killed at least 40 people at markets and bus stops today. blood shaeds been on the rise in recent weeks sparking fears that widespread sectarian violence could return to the country and bring it to civil war. meantime n northern afghanistan, a suicide bomber targeting a group of local leaders killed at least 14 people. the taliban has claimed responsibility. yet another missile launch on north korea this morning. the fifth projectile in three days. officials in south korea are analyzing the rockets to see if they contain a new type of artillery. the missiles have all landed in north korea's own waters. the embattle sod-called dreamliner takes to the skies today as united resumes flight of the 787s today. the jets were grounded in january because of battery problems that caused one emergency landing and a fire on another plane. a big night for taylor swift as she swept the billboard awards. the pop star won eight trophies, count them, including top artist. it is her reaction to some pda from justin bieber and her besty selena gomez that got her on-line. she caught the pair kissing backstage and like any good friend she made the eww face. and miguel tried to leap across a mosh pit of fans but land on one woman's head. thankfully she is okay and i think he owes her free concert tickets, if she wants them. it is 7:11. back to savannah, matt and natalie in honolulu. aloha. >> aloha. >> fabulous crowd here. >> huge round of applause. >> maybe you think it is a little hard to get the feel for hawaii when it is pitch black out. this is what it looked like yesterday. it was just that beautiful. >> like a promo for weather. >> i wanted everyone to have an idea of it. >> cool dress. like. that mr. roker, let's check on the weather now from you, al. >> all right. thank you so much. here in shawnee, oklahoma, you can see the damage in the back. farmlands, barns destroyed. however, we have more of the same coming, and part of the reason this contrast in temperatures. as you look at the jet stream, it divides the country. one half, the western half, chillier than usual. the eastern half way above normal. syracuse today going to be 80 degrees, 11 above normal. columbus 89, nashville 90. then behind the front and look at rapid city, 51. durango 65, cheyenne 56. that is cold air slamming in to warm air and add the energy of the jet stream and that's why we have a risk of severe weather once again today. that's what is going on first but let's get the latest weather after this message. that is what is going on. first, your latest weather after this message. strong hitch! this thing is built to tow, huh, jan? 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[ male announcer ] and now for a limited time, get 0% apr financing on a rugged and dependable 2013 tundra. the toyota time sales event is here. hurry in today. toyota. let's go places. monday. temperatures are going to be comfortable today. if you want to make outdoor plans, try to get it done early. it will be unseasonably warm. 75, san francisco. look at where we are headed. temperatures will drop like a rock for tomorrow. the low 70s for the end of the week. hope you have a great day. >> coming up in the next half hour we'll have a look at your week ahead. guys back to you in hawaii. >> well, al, before we let you go, we were having lunch with al yesterday in paradise when news of these storms really started to heat up so al jumped up from a table, jumped on a plane and that's how you ended up in oklahoma. >> that's commitment. we know you left a mai tai on the table. we were happy to drink it for you. >> thanks, guys. >> we could not have picked a better location for day one of our adventure. >> anyone who comes here to hawaii thinks could i live here permanently. >> some say it has its ups and downs. 2,500 miles from land an island oasis of sun, sand and surf. >> i would love to live here, sunny every day. >> who wouldn't want this? it's beautiful. >> weather is great, the people are nice. the food is great, we love it. >> reporter: picture perfect, but life here is not a permanent vacation. rafael jacinto gets that, raised in hawaii, he's left the island twice for a better job. >> living here in hawaii has its challenges and you don't have as many opportunities maybe as you would on the mainland. >> reporter: he and his wife, margie, are back in honolulu for good. >> there's something about hawaii t keeps calling us back. >> reporter: that something is the aloha spirit but it's one that can come with a hefty price tag. the median house price is over half a million dollars, compared to just under $200,000 on the mainland, and groceries, try nearly $6 for a box of cereal. traffic in honolulu is among the nation's worst. in 2011 the city beat out los angeles for longest commute times, but at the end of the work day hawaiians are driving home to this, beauty that provides a lifeline to the state's economy. tourism is a $14 billion industry followed by defense and agriculture. land, however s at a premium. >> we need to preserve the beauty of hawaii. that's what makes this place special and attractive to visitors. we're being very strategic in how we grow. >> reporter: high's unemployment rate is nearly a third lower than the national average, 4in' 4.9% versus 7.5% on the mainland. it's wills one of the most educated in the country and culturally diverse. >> there's a certain gentleness to the way people in hawaii treat each other. >> reporter: rafael jacinto knows that despite the tradeoff that's what brought his family back home. >> feeling of ohana, you feel like you're part of the place, you can find a sense of community living here. >> we're sold. natalie and i have been staying all weekend and ready to move. >> ready, bags are packed. >> we were spending time with people who live here, yesterday, and they said the weather is like this every single day. >> let's say hi to some people. hi, ladies. where are you from? >> i'm from here in hawaii. >> you got up at midnight to come see us? >> we've been up pretty much all night. >> what's your name? >> melissa. >> and randy and this is benjamin franklin. >> oh, benjamin frank slin heli here. >> a night owl. what is your name? >> carolyn, from maine. i actually live here. >> originally from pennsylvania, i live here now. >> pretty nice place to live? >> wonderful. >> do you miss the winter like natalie said she would? does anyone miss winter in. >> no! >> i thought so. >> i have cynthia here, you're a broadcaster with the navy. >> i'm originally from washington, new jersey, i've been here about seven years, retiring in a couple and not leaving. >> i wouldn't leave either. it's a good place to retire. nice to meet you. >> we have much more here in hawaii, a lot more to talk about but first this is "today" on nbc. ♪ we don't have a ten step filtering process for our water. we don't need it. because crystal geyser is made by nature, not by man. crystal geyser is always bottled at the mountain source. some of the photos that we took during our time here this past weekend, enjoying the sights and sounds. apologies for the mid winter white legs that we're showing you this morning, but we're back here on waikiki beach. >> the real reason everyone wears sunglasses here your white legs oh my goodness. >> it's been a tough spring. >> we have a taste of hawaii, a little bit of the famous shave ice. >> coming up we'll take you for a tour of historic and humbling pearl harbor, we'll get to that in a you canal of minutes. >> we'll get some of the sights and sounds and tastes and traditions of hawaii, a place steeped in tradition and natalie is going to show us her expertise the hula dance. >> also got up on a surfboard. i'll show you how that went down. first this is today on nbc. and you're talking to your rheumatologist about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. for many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira , your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your doctor if humira can work for you. this is humira at work. introducing the mccafé blueberry pomegranate smoothie. made with a luscious blend of blueberries and raspberries with a splash of pomegranate juice. hurry in and try a small for just a dollar. ♪ how old is the oldest person you've known? 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