A pilot arrested after crashing into a shed. His young son on board. How quickthinking air Traffic Controllers may have been prevented something even worse. And great white quest. Its the oceans most feared predator, and nbcs Kerry Sanders is setting off on a live journey to find one in the wild today. Thursday, may 28th, 2015. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a thursday morning, live dive with sharks. Apparently no volunteers at this table. Thats why we have Kerry Sanders. Hes going to go in search of those wonderful creatures. Were going to watch it. Exactly right. Get to that in a couple minutes. Lets start with our top story this morning. Problems from storm after storm, now mounting in texas. Rivers rising near houston and dallas. Some neighborhoods are being told to evacuate. And to top things off, there was a tornado outbreak. Our Gabe Gutierrez is in hardhit wimberley, texas. Reporter the death toll is now up to 23. Rivers and creeks throughout the state are swollen, leading to flash flood concerns. More rain is expected, as now we are hearing more stories of heartbreaking loss. This morning swollen rivers are now prompting officials to call for evacuations near houston. In warden about 60 miles southwest of the city, the mayor has asked residents to live in 300 homes to voluntarily evacuate due to the predicted rise of the colorado river. After relentless weather, rain, floods and a tornado that literally sounded like a Freight Train texas is reeling. She knew how to, like, make us happy. Reporter in divine, texas, the family of 18yearold Alyssa Ramirez just held her funeral. The homecoming queen was on her way back from prom when her car was swept away. Her father, tommy, speaking publicly for the first time describes those final moments. I got a phone call from her at 2 45 in the morning. When i was a sleep. And she wakes me up. And i say, honey, whats going on . She said, dad, what do i do . My cars been hit with water. What do i do . What do i do . I said, back the car up. Back the car up. She said, i cant, dad. The car is tipping. And i said im on my way, and thats the last i got to speak to her. I never got to talk to her again. Reporter Student Council editor, volleyball star, cheerleader, she was only a week from graduation. She wanted to study biology like her sister, and someday be an optometrist. Reporter in weimberley, officials identified one of eight people missing after a wall of water swept away a vacation home. We spoke with her sister and brotherinlaw just before the tragic news. Were going to survive this together as a family. We have faith that we will get through this. Reporter today the search continues for the missing and those already lost are being missed. I will not requestion, what should i have done, what could i have done because i cant fix it and all id do is torment myself. But ill let the grief come and ill let it come and it will pass. Reporter sadly officials here announced overnight that they have found the body of a young child. It has not been publicly identified. And matt and savannah, very difficult times here, but these families are incredibly strong. Gabe gutierrez, gabe, and i wish we had better news weatherwise, but that doesnt seem to be the case. No, we absolutely dont. Well get to that in a second. We found this video that just gives you a sense of the power of the water, the blanco river exploding into this womans house. Just listen to this. Can you imagine, youre on the upper level of your home, looking at that . Terrifying. Unbelievable. So scary. I mean, and of course, these folks survived, thankfully, but their home is a total loss now. As you watch this. Oh, gosh. It completely gets washed away. The electricity goes out. Its really frightening. Horrific. Then we move to yesterday. This was in nebraska. And a flash flood, you get the idea, the power of water. Just washing everything in its path right down what would be downstream. Its actually down a street. Unbelievable video there. And we want to now show you whats been going on overnight in oklahoma. This is in the last hour, the skies have lit up in Oklahoma City. Unbelievable lightning show as another frontal system starts to push in and bring more torrential rain. And to give you a sense, just so we can put it all in perspective for you, six inches of flowing water can literally knock you off your feet. Thats why you dont want to walk through that water. Two feet of water moving at about four Miles Per Hour can float a vehicle. One for a smaller vehicle. And water flowing at four Miles Per Hour is enough force to damage or destroy a home. As we can tell you, weve got rough stuff going on right now. In fact, you can see Oklahoma City under the gun with heavy thunderstorms moving through the area. Flash flood watches and flash flood warnings in effect over five states right now and were going to continue to track this activity. Weve got more today, severe thunderstorms, dangerous lightning, hail, flash flooding. 48 Million People at risk today. Possibility of tornadoes as well. And to give you an idea, we started slow with tornadoes, but so far through may 24th, weve had 273 tornadoes. Normally by this time, wed have about 214. So guys, we are about 28 ahead of schedule as far as tornadoes are concerned. And the Severe Weather looks like for that region from texas into oklahoma right on into sunday until we see a pattern shift. Oh, my goodness. Theres been weeks of that pattern. Unfortunately. Thank you very much. Now a glaring mistake involving a deadly bacteria. How did the Defense Department mistakenly send live anthrax using fedex to labs in nine states and also overseas . Nbcs Jim Miklaszewski is looking into that from the pentagon. Mik, good morning to you. Reporter good morning. Despite this deadly mixup, officials here at the pentagon insist there is no risk to the general public. But this morning as of now, as many as four civilian lab workers who may have been exposed to live anthrax are receiving serious antibiotics to counter any potential threat. The centers for Disease Control has fanned out to military and civilian labs across the u. S. To determine if theyve received live anthrax from the military. The cdc is also at the armys dugway proving ground in utah which somehow shipped live anthrax instead of inactive bacteria to as many as 20 labs in nine states and as far away as the u. S. Military base in south korea. Theres no known risk to the general public and no personnel have shown any signs of possible exposure. Reporter the potentially deadly came from a branch of anthrax produced at dugway more than a year ago. At the time it was radiated to kill any active spores. But only last week a civilian lab in maryland discovered it received live anthrax. Since all samples came from the same stock, odds are high other labs also received the deadly bacteria. While exposure to anthrax can be fatal, everyone in that delivery chain will be under intense medical scrutiny. The symptoms can manifest themselves in 12 to 14 hours, and there will be time to give them preventive antibiotics, or if the symptoms occur, to treat the infection rigorously. Reporter there is concern, however, how the anthrax was handled when it was believed to be inactive. It was shipped commercially in protective packaging as inactive, but defense Officials Say live anthrax would have required even more secure packaging and warning labels. Lab workers would also have been required to wear full protective suits to guard against any possible exposure. Now, this anthrax is being used to try to develop defenses against the deadly bacteria, but it turned out to be a threat in its own right. Now, both the cdc and pentagon have launched intensive investigations to figure out how this potentially deadly, catastrophic event occurred in the first place. Matt . Savannah . Yeah, mik, it seems very hard to understand. Jim miklaszewski at the pentagon, thank you very much. Now the pilot who had been drinking about to take off with his young son on board. Willies been following that story this morning. Willie, good morning. Good morning. This one could have been a lot worse. That pilot under arrest after crashing into a shed while taxiing. Fortunately his plane never got off the ground. Reporter airport Officials Say the pilot, Christopher John hall, had his son on board a twinengine Cessna Skymaster wednesday when the plane skid off the runway, crashing into a Communications Antenna at Melbourne Airport about 70 miled southeast of orlando. The 57yearold pilot was arrested for reckless operation of an aircraft while under the influence and neglect of a child without great bodily harm. Halls plane wandered into a restricted area just after 4 30 p. M. , catching the attention of air Traffic Controllers who began to question his flight plan. Hold your position, i didnt tell you to move. Return to your hang garrar and call the tower. Where are you going, sir . Twin cessna 32 mike turn your engines. Kill your engines. Reporter Officials Say air Traffic Controllers then alerted police after hall ignored their command to turn off his engine. Sir, anything at all, all were going to know are the charges against you, anything you can say for yourself and or your son . Reporter hall and his son, who is a minor, both declined medical treatment. Hall was taken into custody by the Brevard CountySheriffs Office just before 11 00 p. M. Investigations are now being launched by both local police in florida and also by the faa. This is a shocking idea that you first of all get behind the controls of a plane, and secondly, with your son on board. Right. Fortunately it didnt get a lot worse. Willie, thanks. Lets turn to politics, the president ial race and the issue of money facing Hillary Clinton. She kicks off a fundraising swing through florida today while facing some new scrutiny over her own personal wealth. Nbcs Andrea Mitchell has more on that. Andrea, good morning to you. Good morning, matt. Hillary clinton is appealing to middleclass voters with economic policies aimed at the democratic base. But could all the talk about the clinton money get in the way of her populist message . Reporter Hillary Clinton in South Carolina wednesday, campaigning as a champion of everyday people. Were going to have to stand up to the people who want to keep the deck stacked in favor of those at the top. Reporter but both hillary and bill clinton are being trailed by questions of money, including donations to the Clinton Foundation and their own finances. After raking in 25 million in paid speeches since the beginning of 2014. Fueling the controversy, recent revelations from the a. P. That bill clinton had a shell company, wjc, llc, in which money could pass unreported. Hillary clinton is taking heat from the only republican woman in the race. Carly fiorina who showed up outside clintons event. People expect basic questions to be asked of Anyone Running for president. What have you done . Are you trustworthy . Are you transparent . Will you answer questions . Reporter clintons sole democratic challenger so far, senator Bernie Sanders, is going after her highdollar speeches. Telling Cnbcs John Harwood when you hustle money like that, you dont sit in restaurants like this. You sit in rest raundaurants where theyre spending hundreds of dollars. We came out of the white house not only dead broke but in debt. Will you continue to give speeches . Oh, yeah. Ive got to pay our bills. Reporter with the election still more than a year away, Hillary Clinton is trying to avoid making her wealth a liability, like mitt romney in 2012. With voters like these southern women, clinton is downhome, trying to motivate her base. The questions about the clintons wealth come amidst the continuing controversy over Hillary Clintons private emails. In the wake of a judges ruling that the state department now has to turn over those emails on an excelaccelerated timetable once a month, faster than the state department had planned. Matt . Savannah . Thank you so much. Chuck todd is nbcs political director and moderator of meet the press. Good morning. You made the argument in first read that potentially the clintons wealth, their complex finances, this shell company, bill clinton being the latest example, is the potential liblgt along the lines that mitt romney faced a backlash in the last election . About 2011, Barack Obama Campaign did everything they could to make mitt romney seem like other. Us versus them. Hes one of them. Hes not one of us. Does he care about people like you . And his wealth constantly throughout 2011 and then 2012, whatever they could find, how he paid his taxes, would he release his tax returns . Everything all of it was designed to make it look like he wasnt about them. And thats whats going on right now with the clintons. All of a sudden theyre the wealthiest candidate running for president. Hillary clinton is. Wealthier than even jeb bush who, of course, comes from a wealthy company. And this whole idea of a shell company, llc. And what the clintons have succeeded on in the past is caring about people like you, like me, things like that. If that goes away, thats a problem for her. Weve already seen from the piece that some of her opponents on the left will slam her for that. Meantime, the a. P. Has a report out on jeb bush and on the Advisory Board he served on after he left the governorship. Is that a potential problem . Look, its a problem for him i think in the republican primary. The republican primary is turning into a sort of us versus them populous. You have other republicans like scott walker trying to make wealth an issue against jeb bush. This is where, in an odd way, the Hillary Clinton campaign, they dont mind running against jeb bush because a lot of them go away if jeb bush runs. Chuck todd, good to have you here. Reunited and it feels so good she loves that song. I do, peaches herb. And youre peaches now. What is it . Thanks very much. Well get you a picture. Thanks, chuck. Meantime, natalies here and theres a decision in nebraska that has people talking. Exactly. Abolished the Death Penalty. Senators voted on wednesday to override the governors video making nebraska the first traditionally conservative state to eliminate the Death Penalty since 1973. Nebraska joins 18 other states and the district of columbia in banning executions. Work begins at the white house today to improve security. This after numerous Security Breaches over the past few years. Contractors will spend the day getting the complex ready for enhancements to the fence which will eventually include sharp points to prevent people from trying to climb over it. Three Southern California beaches were closed on wednesday after tar balls washed up on shore. Cleanup is now under way from Manhattan Beach to Redondo Beach in the los angeles area. Investigators are now examining the substance, but they still dont know exactly where it came from. There is no word on whether it might be connected to that large oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara last week. Some good news for east coast residents weatherwise. A belowaverage atlantic Hurricane Season is in the forecast. 6 to 11 named tropical storms are expected. And just half of those may turn into hurricanes. But Officials Say while it should be a slower season, that it is no reason to become complacent. The Chicago Blackhawks live to see another day. Chicago beat the Anaheim Ducks wednesday night in game six of the western conference finals by a final of 52. So that means a seventh and deciding game will be played saturday night in anaheim with a trip to the stanley cup finals on the line. And as the saying goes, take it from the horses mouth. Watch what happens during a Birthday Celebration at an equestrian facility. Happy birthday dear j. D. Happy birthday to you thats great. Yep, j. D. Knew exactly what to do, blew out the candles. I wonder if he made a wish. He gets a big kick out of it. Hes a show horse, after all. Look at him. Can i get a tiny bite . Tiny bite. It was a carrot cake of some sort. Thank you. Mr. Roker. Given his birthday, im surprised he has the long face. Oh. Sorry. Wow. One of my favorite jokes, actually. That was a real stretch. A horse walks into a bar, yeah. Were going to get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds. Dont, dont, dont, dont stop the beat i cant, cant, cant, cant control my feet p p p people in the street cmon everybody and move your feet go everybody move your feet and feel united oh oh oh everybody move your feet and feel united heres a look at your local weather. Overcast skies in san jose. Look here at sunol, sunshine. Low clouds. Well see trivalley spots, areas of 680, warmer today. Mi