attorneys will emphasize her young age and lack of criminal record. let's get the latest on what's happening because a lot of this is moving right now. nbc's diana alvear is outside the courtroom. >> reporter: you're right. they adjourned for the day. the short court session was jam-packed. the defense made a motion for a mistrial of the penalty phase after seeing that one of their character beenes had been intimidated to the point where she didn't want to take the stand in defense of jodi arias. that was denied by the judge and then they made a move to withdraw from the case, the defense attorneys and the judge denied that motion and then they said okay. we're not going call any witnesses in the defense portion of the proceeding and then they took a short recess and now they learned the court has adjourned. what does it mean for jodi arias taking the stand in her own defens defense. she would prefer the death penalty over life in prin. there was talk she was going present her art work. at this point that's not going to happen today. court is supposed to go back into session tomorrow, but i've said this before, we've learned to expect anything in this case and anything happened today. >> absolutely. so there was a delay, diana, at the beginning of the day as we understood. was this all related to this witness who said that she had been intimidated or threatened somehow? >> reporter: absolutely, tamron. here's what happened. they had a character witness named patricia will mack, a childhood friend of jodi arias and she was going to speak about her character and abusive childhood and saying she had gone through so many things in her life and talk about the good of jodi arias. she said she just couldn't take it. she'd had death threats on her life, and she wanted to talk about the good that jodi arias still had inside her and why the jurors should spare her life and she felt conflicted about travis alexander's family and a life was taken and i just have problems with that. as you can see, a lot of conflict going on with this one character witness and that left a very short list of people that would be speaking on jodi's behalf including darryl brewer, her ex-boyfriend. >> thank you very much. joining me now, defense attorney former prosecutor karen desoto. any and everything has gone down in this very bizarre trial. >> right. >> but we're still talking about someone who is convicted of brutaling murdering someone and waiting for here fate. what do you call about this defense witness, a friend of jodi arias saying she was threatened. >> there are ways to cure that, tamron. if there really is a death threat and she is scared, turn the cameras off. have them testify to that with the cameras off. clear the courtroom and then have them testify. so there are ways around that. so it sounds to me that unfortunately, she was probably very scared and if that's the case then there are remedies, but that should not stop you from actually testifying. >> one of the tactics from jodi arias' attorneys to call for a mistrial based on this wednesday that said that she was threatened. >> listen, this is a death penalty case and you will ask for a mistrial if the light goes off. that is something, a strategic thing that you do because obviously there is going to be an appeal and you will throw everything including the kitchen sink. >> strategic tactics to show that she wasn't exactly given a fair trial, that the cameras in the courtroom and the media attention, just the fact that she's a woman and she's being charged with the death penalty to begin with is a very serious issue because, again, that's one of the arguments that people are making. so few women. >> she would join three other women on death row in that state. the judge says they will be back tomorrow. these are live pictures you are now looking at. we now know this will will resume tomorrow. the big question here is will jodi arias take the stand and, karen, if she will say i'd rather die, let's forego all of this. >> right. give me lethal injection or if she will plead for her life and she said she'd rather die. >> of course, whether she means it or not we'll know when she takes the stand. as an attorney, the main thing you're trying to do is save somebody's life. so putting a client on the stand that you know is going say i'm going request death. it's really not unusual if someone is given the death penalty or has a choice, they would, of course, always say i'd rather have death than sitting in a cell like an animal for years and years. that is a common theme and after 12 years of appeal you'd be surprised how many people don't want to die. in arizona the average appeal process is 12 years. >> the comment she made right after she was convicted in which she said she'd rather be given the death penalty. is that something that will be brought up when this finally gets under way again? if she testifies it will be brought up because they're going say isn't it true that you prefer death? it's really hard to make that argument and it speaks to her sanity at this point. >> karen desoto, breaking news there and court resumed for the day in the jodi arias death penalty phase for the trial and will she plead for her life and utter those words. thank you very much. >> we are watching a new round of severe weather now threatening to hammer parts of the u.s. where two people were killed by tornadoes yesterday. in fact, take a look at this video, it's out of wichita, kansas, where staffers at our affiliate had to take shelter because a tornado was headed right toward their station. >> on ksn.com. who are no doubt watching us right now as it bears down on the city of wichita. >> in 20 years i've never said this, but i think it's our time to go. i really do. we've been monitoring the conditions here downtown. so at this point, folks, we here at ksn are moving to our shelters. >> we've got a live report coming up on the threat today. some ominous weather already on the horizon. we'll have the urgent latest details for you and join our conversation on twitter. you can find us at tamron hall and our team is @newsnation. we'll be right back. i think she tried to kill us. 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[ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. in about two hours another round of severe weather is expected to strike parts of the midwest ravaged by deadly tornadoes over the weekend. two people were killed and dozens injured southeast of oklahoma city. several neighborhoods in the town of shawnee have been wiped out. at least 19 tornadoes were reported in other parts of oklahoma, kansas and iowa. >> oh, my god! oh! >> oh, my god! damage! that's damage! >> are you shooting that? >> i'm all over it. >> we are being littered with debris. watch out, guys. >> windows up sfch! windows up! >> we begin our coverage with janet shamlian. you see the devastation behind you and we've watched your live reports throughout the day and we see clouds getting dark and we have people bracing for more bad weather there. >>. >> reporter: that's right, tamron. that's just urgency for the cleanup. this scene is playing up and down the street and through a number of communities in this part of the country and in fact, within the last few minutes we have a tornado watch issued for parts of oklahoma. i want to give you a look at what they're doing here. some of this home is salvageable. they're trying to make one pile of trash and one pile into what they can take and they'll try to pack it up and get it out of here before it starts storming again. the forecasts indicate that the storms that come in this afternoon or this evening could be strong or stronger than those in this area last night in a cone of intensity that's the worst between dallas and that it extends all of the way up into minnesota. as you indicated we have more than three dozen people injured, two deaths in oklahoma and 300 homes sustaining some type of damage. people will tell you that the early warnings worked. the local station, the weather channel was broadcasting as these funnel clouds were forming this time. so for instance, this family they were having a third birthday party for their grandson. they saw it coming in, cleaned up and left. they don't have a storm shelter, but they went to safety, so there were no injuries here, and here -- officials attribute the low number of injuries and deaths certainly to, is tragic, but it could have been far worse to early warnings and to people watching these storms roll in. we're expecting them again within the next few hours. >> with that said, looking at the activity behind you, i see people moving things. are local officials telling them there say cutoff point to air on the side of caution? >> reporter: they haven't said that, but everyone is aware of the danger and there is a danger you can't see and there's lots of plywood and nails around and we know we'll get high wind again so no one wants to be in this area when the winds come through. we're not saying we'll have another tornado and you combine high winds with the amount of debris already on the ground, and it could be a dangerous situation. >> janet, thank you very much. now let's bring in meteorologist vivian brown and vivian, you saw janet's live shot right there and the clouds quite ominous and that area could see stronger storms than yesterday. >> yes, tamron, that is why we are targeting this area today because this same system has quite a legacy and it brought the devastating storms to parts of oklahoma just yesterday. right now things look pretty calm on the radar picture even though the clouds are ominous. the storm prediction center has just issued a severe thunderstorm watch until 10:00 local time for parts of kansas and missouri. so all throughout the afternoon and for the rest of the evening hours, this is the area we're watching even through the nighttime through central oklahoma and extending to the lower grace area tonight. tomorrow, some of the same areas will be targeted, our severe weather expert dr. greg forbes has been given a three out of ten chance, a 30% of nrns this area and that's not very low because of the legacy of this storm, it is still very potent and as you can see, extending all of the way to the lower great lakes area and even tomorrow night and another 48 hours of being vulnerable for the severe weather and we are here keeping everyone updated. >> you pointed out it was 48 hours and it was just a couple of weeks ago that we were discussing that this season had not been a volatile tornadic season and here we are, boom, boom, boom here back-to-back, deadly storm snoops it seems like the overall atmosphere is getting juicier and juicier. the upper air winds are very strong and that is very conducive to the severe weather. >> vivian, thank you very much. i know you'll keep us up-to-date and we'll keep an eye on that weather and bring you breaking news. coming up, new reaction to news that the top white house lawyer learned back in april that the irs had targeted conservative groups, but did not inform the president. plus a new poll showing the president unharmed by the week of controversies. >> new york governor andrew cuomo versus a kardashian. the politician threatening to sue a company run by khloe kardashian and her husband nba player lamar odom. it's just one of the things we thought you should know. i don't make any decisions about who to hire without going to angie's list first. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. with angie's list, i know who to call, and i know the results will be fantastic. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. some brokerage firms are. but way too many aren't. why? 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>> that's right. that visit actually taking place right now. the first in 47 years. the authoritarian government of myanmar or burma. it will be interesting to see what language the president uses today. i think in the past they have been delicate in terms of the language in terms of making a visit to the united states. you know president obama went there several months back and the visit taking place right now will be historic for its own reasons and when i came to visit with you briefly there were protesters outside as well. >> peter, we appreciate it. senior political editor mark russo. showing an increase in the president's approval and that same poll showing that people believe that it's at this point not been an overreach by republicans in calling for these hearings and such. >> there were two conclusions on that poll, tamron. president obama's approval rating and the american public does think these stories are serious, but they're not connecting them to president obama and that's probably the reason why you're not seeing an erosion in the poll numbers as president obama's approval rating at 50% and there will still be more time and right now there doesn't seem to be any type of damage to his standing at least from these polls so far. >> you and the first team bring up is this a scandal or bureaucratic incompetency and right now jay carney made the comment in the daily briefing that says that no one in the white house intervened in the then ongoing investigation into irs targeting of conservative groups. i just got a copy of that, and you heard peter allude to that today, but you bring up a big question in all of this scandal, versus incompetency. the danger for the obama white house is that they want to be able to do some big things and implement the health care law to be able to push for a comprehensive immigration reform while using the power of the government to do these things and having -- even if you say they were bureaucratic mess-ups and folks that don't do their job well and this does erode the public's trust in the government when you are the party in charge of the executive branch and when you're the party that wants to do big thing with