A dramatic new outbreak of twisters in the midwest. One taking down this starbucks in indiana as customers were seeking shelter. And incredibly, everybody got out alive today, thursday, august 25th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everybody. Its thursday. Nice to have you with us. We have two big weather stories this morning. Al is about to join us. Hes keeping an eye on those tornadoes that you talked about. One in indiana and others in ohio. Then he has that storm hes looking at down in the tropics. He will be here in a couple of minutes. Still a tropical disturbance. Well see what al says in a couple of minutes. Lets go right to this overnight investigation into the devastating earthquake in italy. As we just mentioned, the death toll jumped dramatically overnight. Officials now say at least 247 being slowed by hundreds of aftershocks that have shaken that region. One area of focus in amatrice where a hotel is suspected of having dozens of guests trapped inside. Lets get to nbc correspondent bill neely in that hard hit town this morning. Bill, good morning to you. Reporter good morning, savannah. There are now thousands of rescuers here in amatrice and in all of the other small towns hopior and amid all the death and destruction here, some of which you can see behind me, there have been moments of hope and of joy. From the rubble, a small voice. Rescuers find a little girl trapped in the ruins. Come on, julia, they urge her and then pull her out. Julia is bewildered but alive clinging to her rescuer. Beautiful girl they shout. Nearby, a little boy is carried away after 12 hours buried in a collapsed house. Life amidst so much death in the broken town of amatrice that woke this morning to aftershocks and a rising death toll from a massive quake that struck tuesday as everyone slept. Its clock stopped. They worked overnight to pull people out but mostly its bodies. Just visible under the concrete, an 80yearold woman. Her daughter killed. A rescuer telling her to stay calm. Amatrice was hardest hit reduced to dust by a quake felt 100 miles away in rome. Like a bomb fell down on it. Theres nothing there anymore. Town thats shaking still. Theyre going through the rubble here by hand trying to match the bodies they found with the possessions here to more easily identify them but mostly theyre using these earth movers. It is now a case here more of recovery than of rescue. This was amatrice before and after. An Historic Town nearly every building now cracked or destroyed. Many slept outside overnight fearing more buildings would collapse. Its a small place where everyone knows everyone and where they all know the death toll will rise again. Well, the rescuers admit they dont actually know the exact number of missing because there were hundreds of tourists here as well as the locals, and they are working amid aftershocks. There was one this morning. 4. 7 on the richter scale. Thats enough to bring down fragile buildings. Is still very real. Matt, savannah . Indeed it is dangerous work there as well. Bill neely, thank you. Meanwhile, here at home the cleanup is under way in the midwest where a series of tornadoes caused substantial damage. You can see one of them lifting up and destroying a building in ohio. Parts of indiana also very hard hit. Nbcs Tammy Leitner is surveying the damage. In coke cuomo kokomo, 15 people injured here and no one was killed when you take a look at the intuxes intsh starbucks behind me completely flattened except for the restroom where customers and employees were hiding. Mother natures wrath caught on cell phone video in indiana. Oh, my gosh. Starbucks just got blown over. Reporter in the town of kokomo, a tornado taking down a starbucks with customers still building right now. Reporter and then relief. Three or four of us Work Together and got the doors off and got them off. Reporter eight tornadoes confirmed in the state. The intense storm system bringing loud cracks of thunder and spawning massive funnel clouds that left behind a twisted path of devastation. Glad you are all right. Reporter george pena took shelter in his bathroom as his quick and not very painful. Reporter he made it out unharmed, but his neighborhood is nearly destroyed. Thankful my kids werent here. Reporter Late Wednesday indiana governor and republican Vice President ial nominee mike pence left the campaign trail and headed home. Well be here as long as we need to be. Reporter this morning a familiar heartbreak. A community again picking up the pieces. A residential neighborhood now, this neighborhood was also hit by a series of tornadoes that came through here three years ago. Were told about 22,000 people are still without power this morning. Matt and savannah . Thanks very much. We have that going on in the midwest and then in the tropics, some areas of disturbance. Thats right. We also said the bathroom is the best place to be if you cant get into a basement. Thats good news. As you did mention, savannah, were watching the tropics. We have hurricane gaston. Its going to stay out to sea. Investigation area 99l we expect this to become a tropical system over the next several days. Chance of formation is 50 in the next 48 hours. 80 in five days. Somewhere along this area, the fiveday formation zone and the models are now coming more into alignment. Through saturday in better agreement over the bahamas between the european and the u. S. Model and then sunday both cross southern florida. Bring heavy rain, the european model is a little more aggressive, makes this a stronger storm, makes it probably a category 1 hurricane. Whereas the u. S. Model keeps it more of a tropical storm. Look at the rainfall amounts. Water temperature at 90 degrees. That means there could be intensification and where the rainfall amounts are anywhere from 5 to locally 10 inches in southern florida. So were going to continue to track this. But again right now were watching these models. All right, al. Thank you very much. The death toll is rising this morning from a terror attack on the American University in kabul, afghanistan. Gunmen storming the campus leading to an hours long siege there. Nbcs Kelly Cobiella has the latest for us. Kelly, good morning. Reporter good morning. Students are attending funerals for their classmates this morning. At least 13 people killed. Six of them students and a and fulbright scholar. This law professor was planning to return to the u. S. For his ph. D. Instead he was killed in a terrifying ninehour siege. Students barricading themselves in classrooms. Some desperately calling family members. She was worrying and crying and telling me please pray for me because maybe this is my last time that i talk to you. Reporter two attackers firing at will. They are just shooting, i classmates. Reporter the target the sprawling American University in kabul. A car bomb and then two men with grenades and guns stormed in. We didnt think it was safe so therefore we jumped from the second floor. Reporter Afghan Forces responded. U. S. Forces were there to advise. The security situation inside afghanistan is still one thats concerning. Reporter earlier this month in kabul, two professors, an american and an australian, were worse and the war now 15 years since the u. S. Invaded is intensifying again. This morning in kabul, more than 100 students trapped inside for hours were finally freed. Police say the two gunmen were killed. No claim of responsibility yet. It could have been either the taliban or isis. This morning at least three people are still in the hospital in serious condition and for now the university is closed. Matt, savannah . Terrifying. Lets talk about the president ial race in this country. Hillary clinton is now firing back at that report claiming her work as secretary of state was influenced by her familys charity. We have both sides covered this morning, beginning with nbcs andrea mitchell. Andrea, good morning to you. Good morning. Hillary clinton planning to go on offense against donald trump today as her husband joins in in strongly defending the Clinton Foundation from trumps charges of pay for play. Ceo tim cook Late Wednesday calling into cnn defending the Clinton Foundation from Donald Trumps attacks. What trump has said is ridiculous. My work as secretary of state was not influenced by any outside forces. I made policy decisions based on what i thought was right to keep americans safe. Clinton also questions about whether colin powell really advised her to use a private email account. Acknowledging her past answers about emails have gotten her into trouble. Ive been asked many, many questions in the past year about emails. And what ive learned is that when i try to explain what happened, it can sound like im trying to excuse what i did. And there are no excuses. Bill clinton also in campaign mode, promising he will stop corporate contributions if his wife is elected. I made it clear if she becomes president well have to do more than we did when she was secretary of state because if you make a mistake as president you cant. The democratic nominee shifting her focus back to trump, planning to accuse him of letting right wing conspiracy theoryists of taking campaign. He called bill crystal a renegade jew. And accused president obama of importing more hating muslims. Clintons message today will be that Donald Trumps new attempt to pivot toward moderation for the general election is a head fake telling those allimportant suburban swing voters Trumps Republican Party is still too extreme for you. Matt and savannah . All right. Andrea, thank you very much. Donald trump had strong words he called her a bigot. And this morning, the question, did trump just make a major reversal on his Campaign Promise to deport every undocumented immigrant . Nbcs Hallie Jackson following all of it from trump tower. Reporter good morning to you. Hillary clinton firing back at that bigot line you mentioned that wasnt off the cuff. Trump and his team scripting it. Meanwhile, the gop nominee is set to meet here at trump with gop africanamerican and hispanic leaders as he weighs what would be a dramatic change to his toughest immigration positions. Its one of Donald Trumps most amped up attacks yet. Hillary clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes. Reporter the reaction of this woman behind trump going viral. Watch. Hillary clinton is a bigot. Reporter clinton in a phone interview on cnn previewing how she will respond in reno today. Donald trump has shown us who he is. We ought to believe him. Hes taking a hate movement mainstream. Calling trump someone who is very much peddling bigotry and prejudice and paranoia. Clinton targeted not just by trump, but a surprise guest making a mississippi if i was an american citizen, i wouldnt vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me. In fact, i wouldnt vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me. The sentiment behind brexit, anger with the status quo similar to what many say fueled trumps rise here but hes been accused of racism abroad muddling the message as trump tries to Court Minority voters immigration apparently changing again. A year ago here is what he told Nbcs Chuck Todd about deporting families of undocumented immigrants. Well keep the families together. We have to keep the families together. Youre going to keep them together they have to go. They have to pay taxes. Theres no amnesty as such. We work with them. Ive had very strong people come up to me and theyve said, mr. Trump, i love you but to take a person thats been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and mr. Trump. I mean, i have it all the time. At a town hall trump getting advice from the audience. Who does not want them thrown out . Reporter if it sounds a bit murky about trumps immigration position, hes promising some clarity. The candidate saying hell reveal details of a fleshed out Hallie Jackson at trump towers. Thank you. In other news, north Korean Leader kim jongun says the u. S. Mainland is in striking distance after a testfire of a submarine launched ballistic missile. Kim was shown smiling and hugging officials after watching from an Observation Deck calling the test the greatest success that puts the country in the front rank of nuclear powers. The south korean government says the launch of technical progress in the norths missile program. The Worlds Largest aircraft was damaged on wednesday during in england. The airliner ten is a hybrid blimp, helicopter, and airplane and the developer is trying to figure out what caused this 302foot aircraft to nosedive as it came in for a landing. The front of the flight deck sustained damage. The crew was fine. It can stay aloft for days at a time and could be used for surveillance, communications and even passenger travel but obviously still being tested. Star hope solo has been suspended for six months from the u. S. Womens national team. After losing to sweden at the olympics, the goalkeeper called the swedish team a bunch of cowards. In his decision the president of the u. S. Soccer federation labeled solos comments unacceptable and counter to the organizations principles. In a statement on twitter, solo said shes saddened by that decision. Lets get a check of the weather now from mr. Roker. Youre busy. Thats right. We could see severe storms in the same area we saw yesterday expecting storms from illinois through indiana on into ohio. Two areas of Severe Weather today from oklahoma and kansas on into Northern Ohio and parts of eastern indiana. We could see some main threats of damaging winds, isolated tornado risk. Very, very slight. Well get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 thats your latest weather. Guys . Still to come, how washington is know taking aim at the skyrocketing cost of lifesaving epipens, and wait until you hear who the father of the companys wellpaid ceos is. Can you tell the difference between an expensive outfit and one that came from an outlet store on our new rossen reports, how to dress for success without breaking the bank. Coming coming i have cervical cancer. From an infection. Human papillomavirus. Who knew hpv could lead to certain cancers and diseases . 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Coming up on channel 20. Good morning. Im corey rose. Heres a look at whats happening on channel 20 for 9news 7 00 a. M. Two u. S. Olympians in hot water after their behavior in rio. Hope solo, goal keeper for u. S. Womens soccer is suspended and ryan lochte is losing sponsorship deals but could be breaking out his dancing shoes. Channel 20. Surf is up, colorado, yes, you can now go surfing here in our landlocked state. If youre ready to test out the waves go to South Platte River and check out the naturally naturally gnarly waves. I25 northbound at Monument Hill where a major accident is blocking all lanes. Yes, the camera is a little blurry here but you will notice if you look off to the right, part of the screen, traffic is stopped. So we are going to work around our look at our cdot websites to figure out which exit they are detouring cars along i25 because the cars behind the wreck is stuck for the commute. Great shot there heading up towards ft. Collins. Back here in the metro commute, highways are packed in, get busy. Side street issues definitely federal. Weather today dry, hazy start but a stormy finish to the afternoon. Storms across the afternoon, evening and last until well after sunset. Going to be a lot of moderate rain in mountain areas and for Monument Hill to the south, get a couple of good downpours here for the metro area up into Northern Colorado as well. Temperatures stay on the cool side with 70s for our daytime highs and those afternoon storms developing, planning were back now. 7 30 on a thursday morning. Its the 25th of august, 2016. In a in a day d a concert will be tan over by were live streaming. It will be like you are on the plaza. You can learn more about that by going to today. Com. Looking forwa