And rift over the riff. Its one of the most recognizable rock songs of all time, but did led zeppelin steal stairway to heavens famous melody from another band . The case thats now heading to court today, tuesday, may 20th, 2014. From nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning. Welcome to today on a Tuesday Morning. Never has so much air guitar been played by so many dorks on one set. Wow. Possibly stolen merchandise. My entire High School Prom was a fraud. By the way, this band spirit, way to get right on it. How many decades has it been . 1969 they toured together. Its crazy. Were going to have a little more on that coming up. Also ahead, were going to take an emotional trip back. It was one year ago today, we were all in moore, oklahoma, after that devastating ef5 tornado. I recently went back to moore to find out how the people there are doing a year later, how the town is doing, and well take you there in just a little while. Look forward to that, but we want to get to todays top story. The investigation into a frightening nearmiss between two passenger planes at Newark International airport. Nbcs tom costello is on the story for us this morning. Tom, good morning. What happened . Hi, savannah. Weve now learned that these two planes came within just 400 feet of each other. There were 161 people onboard a plane arriving from San Francisco. 50 people onboard a plane, a regional jet coming in from memphis. They came very close to a midair collision in the skies over newark. It was a nearmiss at newarks liberty airport late last month. United flight 1243, a 737 was cleared to land on a runway that intersected with another runway where an express jet regional plane was cleared to take off. Okay, yeah, were putting the nose down and he was real close. Contact departure. He was real close. The planes lost what was visual separation, prompting the tower to order the larger plane to change its flight pattern. They came within just 400 feet of each other, just a little more than the length of a football field. This is a tower issue that they cut the landing and takeoff far too close. The pilots both behaved exactly as they were told. The preliminary report is assigning no blame yet. United airlines is cooperating with the investigations and both planes landed safely, no one was hurt, but it was a very close call indeed. Back to you. Tom costello in washington, thank you. We are learning more about a massive ground beef recall leading to illnesses in four states. This is the largest u. S. Food recall in nearly two years. Peter alexander has the latest. Peter, good morning. Matt, good morning to you. This is Serious Business were talking about here. Three people were actually hospitalized, and this morning, food safety inspectors have expanded their warning. They now believe this potentially contaminated beef was sent to Distribution Centers nationwide. With many restaurants preparing to cook up burgers this Holiday Weekend, Health Experts warn this e. Coli outbreak is the strain that worries them most. It can release a toxin into the blood that attacks the kidneys, and frequently, it can cause lifethreatening illnesses for young children. Already at least 11 people have been sickened in four states, michigan, missouri, ohio, and massachusetts, forcing detroits Wolverine Packing Company to recall nearly two Million Pounds of ground beef sold to restaurants. The company says no product tested positive, but it was prudent to voluntarily recall its beef and its redoubling its efforts to assure Safety Standards exceed customers expectations. Its the same strain that hit jack in the box, sickening hundreds of customers and killing four children back in 1993. The biggest concern, undercooked meat. Health experts warn cooking a burger medium rare or medium may not be enough to kill off all the e. Coli on the inside. Unfortunately, hamburger is never considered really safe unless its thoroughly cooked. It can be tough, almost like a hockey puck. A couple more details. This e. Coli strain can take up to ten days to get people sick, so right now its still unclear just how widespread the outbreak may be. Again, though, experts say as a general rule, you want to err on the side of caution. When youre cooking your own burgers, make sure that that burger is welldone. All right, Peter Alexander in washington. Thanks so much. Meantime, it is primary day in six states across the country. Voters casting ballots in several heated races that will show who really holds the cards in the republican party, among other things. Chuck todd is nbcs political director and chief white house correspondent. Chuck, good morning to you. Well, good morning, savannah. It is the closest thing we have this year to a supertuesday. Voters going to the poll to cast primary ballots. Coast to coast, six states. Most of that action, though, is on the gop side where the ongoing family feud between the tea party and the establishment wings of the gop festers. But unlike 2010 and 2012, it appears the establishment has the upper hand on the tea party, and nowhere is that more apparent than in kentucky. Right here in kentucky, the biggest race in the country. In kentucky, the gop establishment is set to strike back against the tea party today. With Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell expected to defeat matt bevin. Bevin claimed he graduated from prestigious m. I. T. Not true. Mcconnell who has seen past Senate Colleagues brought down by the tea party has raged a ruthless cam page to undermine bevins credibility. Bevins company got a taxpayer bailout. 30 years worth of name recognition. Mcconnell nabbed the support of Tea Party Darling and fellow kentucky senator rand paul. Yet as tough as kentuckys been, its even nastier and more personal in other gop primaries. Oregons senate race features establishment favorite monica wehby. Her exboyfriend accused wehby of stalking him. That exboyfriend has since retracted the claim and is now helping her campaign. In mississippi, veteran republican senator thad cochran in the fight for his political life against Chris Mcdaniel has found his bedridden wife now part of the campaign. Police say conservative blogger and avid mcdaniel supporters Clayton Thomas kelly entered a nursing home and photographed cochrans wife rose, who suffers from advanced dementia. Police say kelly later posted that photo online. This would be one of the lowest blows ever in politics, if not the lowest. Just reading about it makes you want to take a shower. So, whats the motivation of focusing on a woman whos been bedridden for 14 years . For weeks down in mississippi, a Whisper Campaign has been waged to imply that cochran hasnt been faithful or supportive of his bedridden wife. For the record, the Mcdaniel Campaign says it has nothing to do with the incident, but the Cochran Campaign believes otherwise. Matt and savannah, its pretty nasty out there. Yeah, i was going to say politics still a nasty business. Thank you very much. Lets take a look at a Major Development at the trial of Oscar Pistorius. The judge laying out the specifics of the sprinters psychiatric evaluation. Today National Investigative correspondent jeff rossen is here. Hes got the latest on all this. Good morning to you. Hey, matt. Good morning to you. All this breaking overnight and it could change the entire course of the case. Oscar pistorius will report to a Mental Hospital next week. At issue here, did he know what he was doing when he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp . Can he be held responsible for it . This morning, the judge answering the big questions. Where and when hell be evaluated, and where the case goes from here. This is the first time weve seen Oscar Pistorius in nearly a week. The olympic track star rushing into court today. As the judge emerged to deliver her ruling. Starting next monday, may 26th, pistorius will report here to a Mental Hospital in pretoria. A panel of experts will perform a full psychological evaluation for up to 30 days. Pistorius will be analyzed here every weekday until 4 00 p. M. As an outpatient, hell be allowed to sleep at home. Inquire into whether the accused by reason of Mental Illness or mental defect was at the time of the commission of the offense criminally responsible for the offenses charged. At the heart of it, does Oscar Pistorius have g. A. D. , general anxiety disorder, and did it play a role when he shot and killed the woman he claimed to love, Reeva Steenkamp, thinking she was an intruder. His defense psychiatrist says yes, maybe. From the trauma of losing his legs as a baby, troubled parents, and a fear of crime. He was aware that he was a public figure and believed that this made him at an increased risk of being attacked or burgled. If they agree, he could be acquitted. This is massive. If it is found that he had no criminal liability, he could either be admitted to a Psychiatric Institution or found not guilty and discharged. As you can tell, this is a critical moment in the trial, and the real risk for the prosecution, after all, its the prosecutor who pushed for this mental testing. The panel of those experts may say pistorius doesnt have anxiety. He knew right from wrong and that would be a victory for the prosecutor, of course. But if they do find pistorius does have anxiety and he did know what he was doing, their entire case could fall apart. Court resumes on june 30th with the results of that full psychological evaluation. It is looking more and more like a verdict this summer. Maybe july or even august. All right. Jeff rossen, thank you. Natalies here with a multibilliondollar crackdown on one of the worlds biggest banks. This is a major victory for the Justice Department in an effort to stop wealthy americans from hiding their money in swiss bank accounts. Credit suisse agreed to pay 2. 6 billion in fines. Thats something no other bank its size has done in years. Officials say this investigation is far from over and to expect more penalties involving more banks. Tensions are escalating once again between the u. S. And china. Beijing says the United States is jeopardizing military ties by charging five chinese officers with cyber spying on american companies. Beijing calls the indictments absurd and demands that they be withdrawn. It also accuses the u. S. Of being the biggest violator of chinas cyber security. China has summoned the u. S. Ambassador and withdrawn from discussions on cyber security. Its a good thing it is not football season, because take a look. This massive threefoot sinkhole opened in the end zone of the football field at austin p. University in clarksville, tennessee. The sinkhole is the result of years of underground rain water eating away at limestone. Workers hope to have the hole filled by the end of the week. A Police Officers dashboard camera captures him jumping off the bridge to get out of a way of a crash. This happened just outside of houston. Police say officer Kenneth Lewis was conducting a traffic stop when an alleged jump driver slammed into his cruiser. Officer lewis jumped 30 feet off a bridge to get out of the way. He suffered a ruptured aorta and a fractured pelvis, but he is expected to recover, which is remarkable. Wow. Thats unbelievable video there. 7 13. Lets get a check of the better from mr. Roker. Another beautiful, but frightening looking thunderstorm. This is near martin, nebraska, in southern nebraska. This is a low precipitation supercell with a shelf cloud. It is just really impressive. This is a time lapse, its been sped up. But you can see all the lightning that generated out of this system. We may see more of these today as we go into the day today. Were looking at some heavier showers and thunderstorms making their way through the upper great lakes. Weve got two areas of Severe Weather to look at. Slight risk of Severe Weather. Were looking at large hail, possibly two inches in diameter, and then as you move to the east, later this evening into tonight, from central iowa all the way into central ohio, were looking at the risk of strong storms and thunderstorms. Indianapolis, right now cloudy skies, but by later this evening, some heavier showers and thunderstorms will develop. Rainfall amounts generally about one to two inches. Heaviest rain right along chicago, right into northern indiana, with upwards of two to three inches of rain. Were going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. They keep us entertained. They keep us happy. Keep them safe. The eightpassenger chevrolet traverse, with the highest possible Overall Vehicle score for safety. Now get 0 financing for up to 60 months or 2,000 in total cash allowance on a 2014 traverse. Nbc bay area mike are climate Weather Forecast is sponsored by yakult probiotic drink. Good Tuesday Morning to you, im Christina Loren. Waking up with showers on the radar this morning and as you make your way out the front door you can see most of the activity well to the south of the Golden Gate Bridge and that is the case for today. As you head out and about this tuesday light mountain showers to kick off the day and isolated thunder over the hills and sunset at 6 09 and temperatures comfortable and low 70s coming your way p. All right, guys, thanks. Back to politics and one of the most talked about races in the country. Clay aiken, who you probably know as the former American Idol contestant, narrowly defeated keith crisco in this months democratic primary for North Carolinas second congressional district. But this was a race that saw crisco die tragically before those results were finalized. Clay aiken joins us exclusively, and good morning to you. Good morning. I have to say, congratulations on your primary win, but it is a bit bittersweet, isnt it, with your opponent so suddenly dying before the results were known for sure. Yeah, its a difficult thing to for everyone to have to deal with. Lets talk about this race. Youre definitely facing an uphill battle. Youre running as a democrat in a district that is largely republican. And youre running against an incumbent. So if youre going to win, youre going to need a big chunk of republican votes. Why do you think you can get them . This district is about a third independent. And so it has swayed conservatively in the past. But also more historically, even more further back in the past, its gone to a democrat. Actually, even in 2008, when the rest of North Carolina went for obama, this district went for mccain. It did, it did. But people are i think people are tired of partisan politics. Youve got everyone who votes because people in the media talk about r and d. But people at home, they dont talk about party. They talk about the things that are important to them. Lets talk about the other elephant in the room, which is, of course, your celebrity. A lot of people know you as the former American Idol contestant. Is this a blessing or a curse in your race . Its both. You know, youve got to get people to see me in a different light. Getting the opportunity to talk to people about the issues that are affecting them and talk about how i want to help people, gets people to see me in a different light. Its a blessing in the fact that it gets me in the room, but i have to overcome the fact that people see me in one way and not the other. Your opponent Renee Ellmers said apparently hes bored. Do you have to fight to make the politicians take you seriously . Of course. Its a mountain to climb, but weve had quite a bit of success in the past three months in climbing it and well continue to do that the next six. As you well know, ft. Bragg is in your district. Your brother served two tours of duty in iraq. Im sure youre following whats happening at the scandal at the veterans administration. Do you think Eric Shinseki should resign . I think we have a lot of people who are making decisions without being in the room. Im not going to be one of those folks who wasnt in the hearing and hasnt paid attention to those details and wasnt privy to that stuff and making decisions for that. But i will say weve got to do a better job of funding the v. A. Weve got to do a better job of organizing the v. A. I think the v. A. Should be possibly not in the Health Care Business so much as in the veterans care business and taking care of the needs of veterans. The veterans Unemployment Rate is 11 , four points higher than the rest of the population. Its a very mismanaged organization. And weve got to do better job at cleaning it up. Quickly, another issue. Gay marriage, something that youve spoken out in favor of. Youve been open about your own status and criticized North Carolinas ban on gay marriage in the past. But for observers of your race, i