And good morning. Wealth come welcome to today at 7 00 on the west coast. And welcome back. Thank you how was your trip . How was your honeymoon . What do we call it, a honeymoon . Honey baby moon. I dont know, the honeymoon is over. It was wonderful. Youre all tan. Look at you. Its amazing what selftanners can do these days. You were actually in new jersey. You said to me on friday, the people in this part of the country, arkansas going to be in for a bad weekend. We could see it setting up. Unfortunately, it has come true. This is going to be a longlived system. This is our top story this morning. Devastating storms. Theyve impacted at least 17 states so far. Thats right. The hardest hit areas in arkansas just north of little rock, where the most powerful tornado of the year touched down. So a state of emergency has been declared in four counties there, and the National Guard has now been activated. Nbcs Janet Shamlian is in the town of mayflower, arkansas. Janet, good morning to you. Reporter hi, matt. Its heartbreaking. 16 people have been confirmed dead. Take a look at what the community of mayflower is waking up to this morning. This storm came in after dusk last night. This is the first chance to assess the damage. Deadly and destructive. The tornadoes hit with a vengeance. Deadly and destructive, the tornados hit with a vengeance. This morning, rescue workers are continuing to dig through the debris, trying to find people still trapped. Cutting a path nearly 80 miles long and half a mile wide, the twister flattened homes and buildings, many completely gone. Residents of hardhit mayflower, arkansas, had to be evacuated, as officials worried that gas leaks could cause explosions. Kevin kevin we need help someones stuck reporter just outside of mayflower on interstate 40, ordinary citizens became first responders. All right . Anybody else in there . Reporter dazed and hurt families huddled together. Car rolled out. Reporter telling harrowing tales. All of a sudden, it just got black, started flipping on the opposite side of the highway, ended up on the other side of the highway. Lucky to be alive. Reporter officials describe the nearby town of vilonia as a mass casualty situation. Bryan pruitt was with other residents in church. The building was shaking and youre thinking, im ready, lord, here i come. Reporter forecasters believe as many as 31 tornados may have ripped through the midwest and south in the last 24 hours. In quapaw, oklahoma, one person reportedly died after a twister caused extensive damage to the towns main street. Residents say they had little warning. It just went like this. I said, tornado and just about that time, everything was hitting. Reporter earlier, that same tornado hit baxter springs, kansas injuring several people and causing significant damage. This is the dining room area and this is my sons room and all this came down right behind me. I could feel the wind. It was just like it lit up. It was kind of like a bomb went off. Reporter the worst part of this is the weather is still a threat. More tornadoes and more hail as the system moves east. Matt and savannah. All right, Janet Shamlian, thanks very much. Well pick up right there with the Severe Weather occurring today. We have a tornado watch in effect from texas all the way into northern mississippi. Right now, we have a Severe Thunderstorm Warning and you can see heavy thunderstorms moving across i20. That is causing problems there. Here is what we are looking at during the day today. We have the systems firing up. They weaken during midday. The heating of the day will keep this going. Storms redevelop and as we move on into tonight on into tomorrow, look at how they reform. Stretching from western tennessee back on into central alabama. We have this area of Severe Weather, slight risk, stretching from texas to illinois and indiana. The strong risk right now from southern mississippi all the way into parts of tennessee. Tomorrow, this all makes its way further to the east. Ohio, into the carolinas and down into the panhandle of florida, and wednesday, it settles into the southeast. Less potent, but damages winds and tornadoes cannot be ruled out, guys. This is a longterm event. Really unusual for this kind of a risk for three days. Al, thank you. A bit earlier, we spoke to brad mcnew. The chief of police in hardhit vilonia, arkansas. I asked him earlier to describe the damage he has seen. Widespread. Its houses completely down to the foundations. A lot worse than it was three years ago. And i know youve seen many tornados and storms come through that area in your time as police chief. What is the status of the recovery today . Are you still considering this a rescue operation . Yes. As soon as it gets daylight, were going to go through searching one more time to see if we can if we missed anybody. The sheriff in your county called this, quote, a mass casualty situation. As far as you know, how many lives have been lost . How many have been injured . Im not sure out in the county. Weve got six in the city. I know thats the number is a lot higher. This happened late yesterday. Do you feel that folks in your community had sufficient warning . Did the tornado sirens go off . Yes. The storm warnings went out fairly early. I went to a tornado shelter myself with my family. Which was a couple miles away from where we were at. A lot of people in the community were there. And so, it did work. If you see the destruction that is here, even though weve lost some lives, theres many lives that was saved because of the storm warnings. I mentioned that youve been police chief in that area quite some time now. Youve seen storms come through. How does this storm and the damage youre seeing now compare to what youve seen in the past . It is just a lot worse. Its just a wider area that its hit. Of course, it went through the main part of town, so just devastating to our city. Well, police chief brad mcnew, we know you have a lot of work before you this morning. Thank you for sharing your time, sir. Appreciate it. Uhhuh, thank you. We will continue to follow the story and continue to talk about the storm threat. Meantime, we have new developments in the search for malaysia air flight 370. Officials are announcing a new phase in the operation as they decide to end the Aerial Search for the debray. Debris. Nbcs katy tur is in perth, australia, again. Katy, good morning to you. Reporter good morning, matt. Certainly not the news update they wanted to have out of here today, announcing that they are suspending the Aerial Search and entering yet another new phase of the underwater search. Meanwhile, bluefin21 is still doing its dives. Its on number 16 right now. But things are not looking good. On day 52 without a single piece of wreckage, australian officials were forced to admit their most promising lead may not deliver. Were still baffled and disappointed that we havent been able to find undersea wreckage. Reporter overnight, australian officials outlined a new phase that includes hiring private contractors with side broader area. The time span, six to eight months. The cost, 60 million. As for families, still questions without answers. In an email, sarah bajc, whose boyfriend phillip wood was on the plane, wrote, you continue to pour assets into a search in an area that has not been validated to be correct. Why not pour those same assets into first confirming if the area is correct. Many of the families have that same sentiment, that theyre just not looking in the right spot. All in all, a pretty disappointing day out of australia today. Nobody said that this was going to be a quick search, but certainly no one was believing, at least in the search party, at least they werent hoping that it was going to be six to eight months. Matt . Katy tur in perth this morning. Katy, thanks very much. Now closer to home, the major scandal, it could cost the owner of the nbas Los Angeles Clippers his team. Donald sterling was allegedly recorded making disparaging comments about africanamericans. Now everyone from hall of famers to the president is weighing in on this. Nbcs joe fryer has the latest this morning from los angeles. Reporter good morning, savannah. The clippers returning here to Staples Center for tomorrow nights game. Their playoff series now tied at two games apiece after a lopsided loss and a silent player protest. Despite losing, the clippers say their owners off Court Controversy was not a factor. Just like every other game. It really was. Thats not, you know, sugar coating anything. Reporter but before this game, there was a silent protest, players dumping their warmups on center court, revealing insideout shirts concealing the clippers logo. This all comes after tmz sports posted what it says is an audio recording of a conversation between clippers owner Donald Sterling and his then girlfriend v. Stiviano. Nbc news cannot verify the recording, but according to tmz, sterling was upset stiviano posted this photo with Magic Johnson on her instagram account. Yeah, it bothers me a lot that you want to promo broadcast that youre associating with black people. Do you have to . Reporter what would you like to see the league do at this point . I dont know. Honestly, i havent even thought about it. The leagues going to do what they need to do. Reporter Magic Johnson talked about sterling during the abc sports countdown show. He shouldnt own a team anymore. And he should stand up and say i dont want to own a team anymore. Reporter in a statement, the clippers president says its not clear if the audio is legitimate or has been altered, adding the remarks are the antithesis of who sterling is. Stivianos Attorney Says the audio is legitimate, but that stiviano did not release the tapes to any news media. As for sundays game, sterling did not attend, but his wife did. Now the playoff series moves to l. A. Id the lying to say i wasnt nervous about what it was going to be like, because our fans have been amazing all season long, and obviously i hope that it will be the same. Reporter sterlings wife released a statement to tmz sports saying, our family is devastated by the racist comments made by my estranged husband. She says her family does not share those views. The nba is promising a quick investigation into this matter. Savannah and matt. Joe fryer in los angeles, thank you. Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson was a threetime nba allstar. Hes advising the leagues Players Association on how to respond to these alleged remarks. Mayor johnson, nice to see you. How you doing . Thanks, matt, doing well. You were with adam silver over the weekend, the nba commissioner. Did he tell you that he believes, in fact, this is Donald Sterling on those tapes . Well, i dont want to get into specifics, but i will tell you what was important. That all players feel that these comments were reprehensible and unacceptable. We called an emergency call with an executive committee and player reps. Players weighed in. And they wanted me to communicate a few important points to the commissioner, which i did. One is they wanted immediate investigation. They want to make sure that those tapes are legitimate. Due process is deserved. Number two, mr. Sterling should not be allowed to go to any clipper playoff games or participate in the playoffs throughout the duration. Number three, they were very clear that the players voice has to be front and center. The players dont want to be passive participants. They want to make sure they have a seat at the table. Number four, they want swift and decisive action. And lastly, they want to make sure that the maximum sanction that adam silver, our commissioner, can do that is allowable under the bylaws is what he does. So again, if this is mr. Sterling on the tape, do you want to see him stripped of his ownership . Can the league do that . Can they force him out or simply treat him like such a pariah that he has no other choice but to give up the team . I think its a good question. And from a player standpoint, one, we want to make sure and i want to be clear, whatever the maximum thats allowable is what we want the commissioner to impose. If that allows him to force the sale of an owner, if it allows him to determine whether the fitness of this person is intact and something in question. If it doesnt allow the commissioner to take those acts, it is very clear that all of our players in the league want to explore the option. I mean, i ask you, matt, what player exactly would want to play for this owner . Yeah, how could he ever go into a players meeting . How could he attend a game again . Let me ask you, mr. Mayor, theres another side to this. Donald sterling has a track record here. According to the new york times, they wrote that he has an outrageous and public track record of antiblack behavior. There have been some public and legal battles over this in the past. The league knew about this, but he was a rich guy who owned a team. They turned their cheek. They turned their back. Does the league bear some responsibility then for some of the headlines that are now exploding . One of the questions that the players wanted me to convey to commissioner silver was if he has such a history and a track record of doing things that were improper and that do not represent the league, why were there not sanctions and consequences in the past . What answers did you get . Thats one of the questions that we had. He said, absolutely. Its a fair question. And he said, you know, going forward, he wants to make sure that he acts swiftly and decisively. Hes got to be forceful on this. And quite honestly, you know, matt, its a very good question. And we believe as players theres got to be a twoway accountability. Players want to be held accountable to a High Standard of conduct. Certainly owners need to bheld to a High Standard. As an africanamerican and a former player, are you confident the league will distinguish itself in this situation . Its a defining moment in the history of this league. And i am very confident that the commissioner will act in the best interest of the players, the owners in the league and i feel like the only way to do that is to do the most severe sanctions as possible and i do expect him to do that in short order. Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson. Mr. Mayor, its always nice to see you. Thank you. Thank you. Defining moment for the league. Lets get the other headlines from willie whos in for natalie. Some big news coming from the president s overseas tour. Good morning, everyone. President obama announcing tough new sanctions on russia over the crisis in ukraine. Nbcs Peter Alexander is in manila, philippines, where the president is wrapping up a weeklong tour of asia. Reporter willie, good morning. Those new sanctions will target Vladimir Putins billionaire cronies and Russian Companies in what president obama described as a calibrated effort to change russias behavior. President obama was welcomed here in the philippines today, the fourth and final stop in his weeklong asia tour. But its the crisis in ukraine that keeps demanding the president s attention. We are keeping in reserve additional steps should the situation escalate further. Reporter in this region, u. S. Officials signed a tenyear agreement to preposition fighter jets, ships and american troops at philippine bases. Two decade after the u. S. Controlled bases here were forced to shut down. After visiting troops here tomorrow, president obama will head back to washington. Willie . All right, Peter Alexander in manila, thanks. Some new video out of south korea shows the captain of the sewol boarding a rescue boat as the ferry sank. The ferry tilted about 45 degrees as captain lee joonseok moved to a vessel. Wearing only a sweater and underwear. Only 174 were rescued. The captain and several crew members Face Criminal Charges in that accident. The search is on this morning for the pilot of a small plane after a midair collision north of San Francisco. The coast guard is scouring the waters of San Pablo Bay looking for signs of a cessna. The other small plane was able to land safely. The pilot and passenger of that plane not injured. A bit of sad news. Coach jack ramsay has lost his battle with cancer. He led the portland trail lasers to the only championship in 1977. He spent the last two decades as an analyst on tv and radio. He was 89 years old. A florida dad has been temporarily banned from a skate park over video that is sparking outrage across the country this morning. You can see a 6yearold boy at the top of the ramp. Moments later, youll see it here. His dad kicks him down the skate ramp. Then turns and walks away. The boy reportedly not hurt. Was seen skateboarding later. The Florida Department of children and Family Services is investigating this incident. Another child actually approached the dad and asked him why he did it. The dad reportedly said, my son has to learn. Dark moment in the history of parenting there. Way to build up the trust. Yeah. Mr. Roker, what do we have . We have a banner day on tap. Sunshine and 60 degrees. 68 for l. A. Denver on the cool side at 55 degrees. Windy into the plains as well. Phoenix, toasty and 89 degrees. The rest of the country with the strong risk combination from the coast. Boston today, 54 degrees. Showers move into washington with a temperature of about 62 showers move into washington with a temperature of about 62 degrees. Let our magic do the rest st just think of all the fun, cherie, your time will be the best meet a princess, what a treat. Youve booked ahead, so heres a seat. Get on rides in less time, makes every memory divine introducing fastpass plus at walt disney world, included at no extra charge with theme park admission. Reserve attractions in advance and spend more time having fun together. Be our guest be our guest be our guest nbc bay area microclimate forecast is sponsored by yakult probiotic drink. Happy monday to you, bay area. Temperatures nice and chilly to start and Crystal Clear out there for now. Really comfortabl