a devastating tornado outbreak tears across the south leaving at least five people dead. over 120 twisters reported over the weekend and hard-hit oklahoma the storm leveling entire neighborhoods.

meteorologist michelle grossman tracking where the severe weather is heading next. the world central kitchen getting back to work in the wake of tragedy. chef andre' back in gaza after seven aid workers were killed in an israeli strike. and the new push for a ceasefire this morning. heated clashes on campus end with hundreds of arrests over the country. the nfl tackling safety with controversial new helmets that can reduce head injuries but will players actually wear them on the field? and the timberwolves bring out the brooms, all the action from the nba playoffs including minnesota's huge sweep against the suns. it is monday, april 29th. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm richard lui. we're going to start with the deadly tornado outbreak that tore across the south and

midwest over the weekend. in oklahoma at least five people were killed including a four month old, about 100 others were injured. saturday night the small town of sulfur their downtown area was decimated after multiple twisters reduced buildings to rubble. red cross oklahoma said it was opening a shelter to help assist residents and the state's governor declared a disaster emergency. one man telling nbc's marissa parra how he rescued neighbors trapped in their shelter underground. >> we opened the door. >> you had to rescue them. >> yeah, i rescued them. if they would have been in there for a while they would have been trapped, they probably would have drowned. >> reporter: in marietta, oklahoma, the roof of this dollar tree were shredded to pieces, massive semis piled on top of each other like toys. it is all part of the massive storm system that officials say brought over 120 tornado reports in two days from texas to missouri. let's get straight to nbc meteorologist michelle grossman

more what he is happening in the region. it's been busy this morning. >> it's already busy. lots of lightning, storms along the gulf coast states. that will be the bull's-eye for the storm today. we are looking for storms today in the midwest, too. as we look at this morning at radar we're seeing lots of lightning with these storms, a couple watches and warnings out, where you see the yellow box that is a tornado watch and in the orange there is severe thunderstorm warnings. that's what we're going to be watching, this is through this evening. heavy rain falling, we're concerned about flash flooding where you see brighter colors is where the heaviest rain is falling, hearing the thunder this morning as well. afternoon and evening hours we are looking at the threat for severe weather, winds could gust up to 60 miles an hour, that's going to bring down trees and power lines, could see hail and even a few more isolated tornadoes from corpus christi, galveston, jackson and new orleans. we're also watching the chance for flash flooding. when i come back we're going to talk about a summerlike warm up

to the 80s and 90s in the east coast. the charity world central kitchen is resuming operations in the gaza strip four weeks after seven employees were killed in a series of army drone strikes from israel. the atrocity sent shock waves among the aid community and led to a sharp rebuke of israel, this comes as president biden speaks to israel's prime minister for the first time in two weeks. let's go to matt bodner in london. let's start with world central kitchen and what's coming out of the region right now. >> reporter: richard, good morning. world central kitchen yesterday issued a statement saying that of course they continue to mourn the loss of those seven colleagues who were killed in that april 1st idf strike but that the work must resume. they suspended their operations following that incident. the organization is one of the largest international ngos that has been doing work in gaza. the idf has apologized for that strike on their personnel calling it, quote, a grave mistake.

world central kitchen has been grappling with the very hard decision in their description of it choosing between either, quote, stop feeding during one of the worst hunger crises ever or keep going knowing that aid workers and civilians are being killed in gaza. they've chosen to do the latter. they've been putting out social media videos showing construction of a new field kitchen in gaza. they're calling it damien, naming it after one of those seven colleagues. meanwhile president biden yesterday did have a phone call with his israeli counterpart benjamin netanyahu, the white house readout of the phone call says they discussed several relevant things, one of them being u.s. concerns over this operation, proposed idf operation, offensive in rafah, that southern city in gaza where more than a million people are currently sheltering. u.s. opposes this operation, very publicly biden has spoken out on t however, he has also insisted that u.s. support for israel remains, quote, ironclad. a strong example coming last

week when congress passed the $26 billion aid package to israel despite these sometimes very public concerns. >> matt bodner, thank you so much. the war in gaza also continuing to upset college campuses across the united states with hundreds of protesters arrested over the weekend. in los angeles pro-palestinian protesters clashed with israel supporters at the ucla campus. adrienne broaddus reports from the scene. >> reporter: tensions spilling over at ucla as protesters clash on campus. demonstrators storming past security barricades, dueling ll pro-palestinian protesters calling for an end to israel's war in gaza. >> enough is enough. the violence has to stop. we are here for a ceasefire. >> reporter: a counterprotest supporting israel with some saying pro-palestinian protests have fueled hate speech. >> do students, jewish students feel safe? >> absolutely not.

i think what's happening right now is making everyone feel extremely unsafe. we really do fear for our lives and the future. >> reporter: across the country this weekend hundreds arrested or detained for protesting on campuses from arizona to missouri where 80 people were arrested at washington university, some now released. >> there are people who don't have the choice on whether their life is risked over this or not. if, oh, i have to risk is maybe sitting in a cell for a minute to help that, i will. >> reporter: at usc saturday the school's famed trojan statue vandalized and these images show tactical police units surrounding the campus, they were later called off. that stand down despite students returning to the very same area on campus police cleared them from last week. all of this calling many to question the decisions colleges across the country are making about how to handle the protests. >> it's a very difficult thing and this particular political

issue is especially hard because there are no good guys. this one has been a real challenge to find the right words, the right choices between freedom of speech and safety for students. >> thanks to adrian for that report. ten people were shot and injured in florida early sunday morning, it happened at a late night private event at the cabana live venue in sanford. about 20 miles north of orlando. the suspected gunman a minor was subdued by a security guard and arrested. the sheriff's office says none of the injuries are life-threatening. tank dell nfl player also shot in sanford sunday his team saying but officials unable to confirm whether he was among the victims at the cabana life specifically. the 24-year-old houston texans wide receiver suffered a minor wound and was treated at a hospital and released the team said in a statement. as donald trump continues to jab at the current president he seems to be making amends with a formal rival.

six sources telling nbc news trump had a private breakfast with ron desantis sunday, one source said the breakfast was nice and friendly adding that desantis helps raise money for trump while the sources say that the meeting was mutually agreed upon and trump campaign officials says desantis reached out to bury the hatchet and discuss fundraising. protests against the war in gaza made their way to d.c. this weekend. some demonstrators crashing the red carpet of the annual white house correspondents dinner. inside president biden using the roast to launch a barrage of jokes at his 2024 rival, donald trump, including a rare swipe at his current legal troubles. >> donald has had a few tough days lately, you might call it stormy weather. yes, age is an issue. i'm a grown man, running against a 6-year-old. >> trump reacted on social media sunday calling the dinner really

bad. he also called out the dinner's host saying colin jost bombed. both trump and biden are expected to be on the campaign trail at the same time later this week. april is still not over, but it's already starting to feel like summer in the northeast. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman here. good morning to you. i think we might take that heat right now. >> i will totally take that heat, yeah. yesterday was a warm day, it's going to be even warmer today into the 80s and 90s in some spots and this is why, the jet stream so far to the south allowing high pressure acting like a heat pump to pump in all this warm air so temperatures are 5, 15, even 20 degrees above normal this time of year and we're going to see temperatures soaring into record territory in so many spots. columbus 83, the record is 86, might not make it there. as we head to the mid-atlantic, the northeast, temperatures d.c. today a forecasted high of 91, the record is 91. 88 in philadelphia, 88 degrees in salisbury, charlottesville 92 degrees at the end of april. we are looking at another warm

storms that are expected, could bring flooding rains, even the chance of a tornado. and that's your very warm monday forecast. >> suddenly summer. thank you, michelle grossman. a utah couple has been reunited with their cat after she was accidentally shipped with an amazon return all the way to california. the feline was found in a warehouse there surviving without food or water for six days. a worker took care of her before taking her to the vet. her owners say she likes to play in boxes and is particularly skilled at hiding. they think she jumped into the box before it was shipped. welcome home. "early today" is back in a minute with the first big sweep

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the knicks star's historic 47-point performance helping to steal game four from the 76ers. new york is now just one win away from bouncing joel embiid and company from the post season. there's a major shift in nfl safety. the league is approving controversial new helmets to prevent head injuries on the field but the question here is will the players actually wear them? george solis reports. >> reporter: the nfl now taking perhaps its most visual and polarizing steps in drastically improving player safety. the league expanding the use of these admittedly far from fashion forward soft shell helmets. athletes now given the option to wear guardian caps beyond practice to regular season games, engineered to enhance protection against head injuries by as much as 20% according to league data. the league cementing their stance. >> if you are going to take a punch from mike tyson would you rather put a pillow on your race

or this helmet. >> we saw the guardian cap this year. guardian cap had a 50% reduction in concussions for the players who wore it in training camp. >> reporter: nbc news on the field with saahdiq charles. >> i wasn't sure what to think about it but i'm open for change. >> reporter: the nfl mandating their use for most players. >> we've seen players sacrifice looking cool to be safe in the past. talking about cte and helping avoid those things that affect you later on in life. if they're able to prove that it does reduce it players will get on board with it. >> reporter: even now reaction to the beehive-shaped covering has been mixed one player writing this is the craziest thing ever. it's not just the pros, high schools have been using them for years. >> when we first started wearing them i had coaches coming up to me making fun of us. >> reporter: churchill high school football team in michigan has been sporting them since 2017. >> i think we've been a pioneer

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you don't know what tennis is. it's a relationship. we went somewhere really beautiful together. i'm taking such good care of my little white boys. >> i assume you planned this. >> not this part. >> well, it is nothing but love for zendaya at the multiplex, "challengers" the tennis drama in which she starred and introduced served up a top debut at the box office with $15 million.

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another launch for spacex, the fall come 9 launched 23 starlink satellites to orbit last night. this is the 13th flight for this type of booster. so celebrate the 70th anniversary of godzilla a building in tokyo used projection mapping technology to display an emergency of the beast. probably scared a lot of folks, too. thank you agent state farm. like a good neighbaaa, state farm is there. cut! hey arnold, i'm hearing “neighbaaa” - it's “neighbor.” that's what i said. neighbaaa. let's go again! like a good neighbaaa, state farm is there. cut! neighbaaa. still no. neighbor. neighbaaa. -br. -baaa. get me out of this choppa! like a good neighbor, state farm is there. cut! inez, let me ask you, you're using head and shoulders, right? only when i see flakes. then i switch back to my regular shampoo. you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back.

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looks like. that's medical student norman harris ii now one step closer to making his dreams come true. that letter he opened, a notice that he had matched with his first pick texas children's hospital where he plans to start his residency to become a pediatrician and help care for underserved kids. it was a sense of bonder in south carolina. >> wow. >> oh, my gosh, there it is. >> see that woman? it's alicia from oklahoma, there with her uncle breaking down in tears, seeing the ocean for the very first time.

and near dallas, the mayback high school baseball team scored a grand slam for what they did off the field. seniors from the squad signed baseballs with messages of thanks. >> oh, i'm going to cry. oh, i will be there. >> reporter: giving them to the teachers and staff who changed their lives. senior j.j. flores gave his so auto shop teacher rop bert griffin, it read thank you for always being there for me when i needed someone to talk to throughout the day. >> it was kind of emotional, i have never had anything quite like that. i loved that. >> you know, small things can have the biggest impact on people. i know he's always there to listen and talk to me through what i need. >> reporter: for staff here -- >> oh, this is so sweet.

thank you. >> reporter: it was a home run from the heart. >> oh. >> i invite you to the game on tuesday. >> the power of small gestures, a small handwritten on baseball didn't only make my day, it made me week, made my month. all right. thanks, josé, a great start to the week as we were saying. thanks for kicking off your week with "early today," i'm richard lui. have a good one.

more extreme weather across the plains, bringing a devastating slew of tornadoes that killed at least five people in oklahoma. michelle grossman here tracking what's next. an nfl wide receiver hurt in a shooting in florida. this mor