good monday morning. breaking news now on first look. deadly tornadoes. twisters kill more than a dozen and injured scores more. bill karinss reports, there is more danger ahead. racist, disgusting, a few comments made by donald sterling as his team voices a protest. deal making, president obama is in manila in the philippines where he capped off a four nation asian tour. good morning to you on this monday morning, i'm francis rive rivera.

we start with breaking news out of the heartland. more than a dozen people are dead after tornadoes and damaging winds tore through overnight. arkansas is one of the hardest hit areas with the most fatalities so far. forecasters say it's not over. nbc's jay gray has more. >> reporter: so far, some of the worst damage has been outside little rock where a tornado, more than a mile wide tossed homes and businesses and left a trail of debris. >> it's terrible. the tornado hit our neighborhood, homes are gone, part of our home is gone. >> reporter: the system turned deadly in northeast oklahoma where at least two people are dead. the severe winds in missouri rolled this tractor trailer, pulled up trees and pushed over power lines. in kansas city, a rough on ids side and the roof peels from this complex. a tornado ripped through eastern north carolina, killing an infant and damaging more than 200 homes and businesses.

>> this is massive destruction that hit a lot of neighborhoods in north carolina within a short period of time. >> reporter: the worst of the weather may not be over. forecasters warn the slow moving system could produce more violent storms over the next four days. >> we have a very dangerous system across the mississippi valley and deep south. >> reporter: with conditions just right for storms, millions in the strike zone are urged to prepare and keep a close eye on the sky. jay gray, nbc news. >> makes for a tough morning when you see those images, when you see the reality of so many people waking up with more to come. >> you have an hour or two of scrambling and then nothing. first responders have been out all night long in these areas. we even are continuing with our severe weather threat. one tore nard doe warning right now and that goes from areas here in louisiana.

this is this reef shreveport, l. nebraska, iowa, right on the border of kansas city and missouri. this line here, this was the main event as we went through this evening. last night, that was. it was one super cell thunderstorm that produced all of this tornado damage. one storm. a very strong storm that produced it appears about a 2 1/2 hour tornado. a large wedge tornado. that's the tornado that goes all the way to the ground. the damage i've seen so far, i'd say probably about an ef-3 or greater. 150-mile-an-hour winds plus and that damage path was 100 miles long. there's a lot of small towns, little houses out in the rural areas we haven't seen yet because we haven't gotten helicopters over the area.

as far as the storm goes, it's cranking over nebraska. it will be with us two to three days. as far as today goes in yellow, slight risk. about 28 million people. this area of red, potential for more tornadoes. a line from nashville to jackson, mississippi. >> tough morning. >> when we see the pictures, it will be sad. >> nbc meteorologist bill karins. thank you. also developing this morning, a racism allegation. the nba is investigating racially charged remarks allegedly made by los angeles clippers owner donald sterling. for the first time the team is responding. tracie potts is joining us. the fallout keeps coming. >> we saw the silent protest at the game last night. this has really touched a nerve, francis, around the country, not just in the sports world, in politics. there was a big discussion in washington, in d.c., and beyond.

>> when ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk. >> reporter: that's president obama in ma weighing in on comments about african-americans allegedly made by los angeles clippers owner donald sterling. >> yeah, it bothers me a lot that you want to promo, broadcast that you're associating with black people. do we have to? >> nbc has not verified the recording. the nba is investigating and could act as early as tomorrow. >> there must be sanctions that make it clear that the nba family will have zero tolerance for such conduct today, tomorrow, or ever. >> reporter: tmz sports has posted the photo that started it all. sterling's then girlfriend, with magic johnson on her instagram page. >> he shouldn't own a team anymore. >> in a show of solidarity, the

team dropped their warmups center court and wore their shirts inside out before losing. >> i didn't do my job tonight and, you know, that's not the person. >> it's not about the clippers, it's about every person who goes out there and gives it their all. >> reporter: now the ncaap, they're not waiting. they were about to give donald sterling a lifetime achievement award next month. in a statement they say, that's off. >> tracie potts reporting for us this morning. at a press conference in the philippines, president obama confirmed the u.s. will announce more serious sanctions against russia later today. let's get to peter alexander who is traveling with the president in manila. peter, what do we know about these sanctions? >> well, we just heard from the president, francis, a matter of

a few moments ago, the sanctions will go into effect today. they are sanctions focusing on individuals, russian friends of vladimir putin, what they refer to as russian cronies. this is what president obama described as a calibrated effort to change russia's behavior. there are seven european military observers that now accords to the video are being held. they appear to be more prisoners of war than envoys of peace. president obama has a ten year tentative agreement, a basing deal where american military, troops, jets will be able to use filipino bases in this area. it will allow the united states to help in territorial disputes and crises. >> thank you very much. it is monday so lots of

sports headlines to bring you and our betty nguyen brings them to us this morning. good morning. >> good morning. i will tell you there are some nba games without a cloud of controversy. houston soared to an 11 point lead. portland rallied to send the game into o.t. they win 123 to 120 and lead the series three games to one. toronto jumped out to a 17 point lead against brooklyn early. the nets erased that deficit though. their comeback fizzled in the third quarter. raptors 14-2. a run led to an 87-79 win tying the game at two games apiece. it's swung high. it's a game. it is out of here! >> gone. ryan hicks canceled extra innings with this three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. he broke a 1-1 tie to give san

francisco the series sweep over cleveland. chicago white sox jose abreyu continues his assault. his homer and four runs gives him 10 home runs and 31 rbis in april alone. that is the most ever by a rookie in both categories. white sox win 9-2. we're going to shift gears now, shall we, to nascar where crashes and confrontations made headlines at the toyota homeowners's 400. brad keselowski con front matt kenseth. in an unrelated incident, fists were flying between marcos ambrose and casey mears. that might have started between the incident in the final laps. jon peterson may have picked up wildlife tips playing golf in louisiana. the former lsu golfer shoved

what looks like apparently a gator off of the greens and right back into the water. that's how you do it. this is at the zurich classic. he shoftd them off so you can play. finally, the kansas state football team turned 9-year-old kade den schroeder into a celebrity. when he got the call he delivered for a 30 yard touchdown run creating the sports highlight of a lifetime. didn't even spike the ball. >> so awesome when you see these entire communities coming together. thank you. >> sure. >> a shocking new study shows which parts of america has the most hungry kids including one part with 41%. plus, four popes, two saints and the most inspiring day for catholics and others around the globe. [ female announcer ] grow, it's what we do.

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let's get down to business with cnbc's courtney reagan. happy monday to you. >> good morning, francis. happy monday. comcast is reportedly close to a $20 billion deal with charter communications that could reshape the cable tv business. comcast is the parent of nbc universal. it would swap out or sell 4 million subscribers. it hinges on the approval of comcasts takeover of time warner. the faulty buttons on iphone 5 are fixed for free. the button only works intermittently or not at all. take your phone to an apple store or mail in for repair. stock futures are higher. investors likely focus on the economy. reports due on first quarter gdp and jobs. the fed meets this week expected to continue cutting its stimulus efforts. francis, back to you. >> courtney, thank you very much. now to some other stories in the news this morning.

people cramming the streets to take it in. they praised them for the modern era of the catholic church. new information about child hunger in the united states. feeding america released this map. it uses data from 2012 showing areas of the country where children don't have access to a healthy amount of food. states like new mexico, arizona more than a quarter kids don't have enough food. including 41% of kids in zubala county texas who don't have that. it is a solemn day in israel. they begin their holocaust memorial day. stores around restaurants are closed as they remember the 6 million jews killed during the holocaust. today marks the beginning of the d.c. bible reading marathon.

for the 26th year, they will spend four and a half days on the steps of the capitol reading the entire bible. senator elizabeth warren weighs in on her bid to the white house and sarah palin crowns a new mama grizzly. scrambled politics is next. [ male announcer ] this is jim. a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto. like warfarin, xarelto is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib

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before starting xarelto, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto. once-a-day xarelto means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. welcome back. if you're just waking up, we're continuing our coverage of the big tornado outbreak that went through arkansas with many fatalities. 16 or 17 total.

there's one from friday in south dakota. this was the image last night that really got my attention. this was the first image that came out of the mayflower area. you can't make out what this was. i don't know. it could have been houses, could have been mobile homes. regardless, you don't know how well a structure has been built. it doesn't give you an indication of what the tornado strength was. when you look at the trees, there's no tops to the trees. that is a strong tornado that rips all the tops of the branches off. sometimes it strips the bark off some of those trees. this is the tornado that did it. it was captured before it went through mayflower. you can see the large wedge looks here about quarter to half mile wide. that's what did that damage that i showed you. as far as today goes, if we're going to get any tornadoes like that today it will likely be from southern tennessee, south of nashville down to a good chunk of the border between mississippi and alabama. we'll watch you later this

afternoon. >> they can breathe and exhale soon. >> get through today with misses and no more hits. >> bill, thank you. now here is your first taste of scrambled politics for the week. senator elizabeth warren has repeatedly insisted that she will not run for president and added that she hopes hillary clinton goes for it. >> all of the women -- democratic women i should say of the senate urged hillary clinton to run. i hope she does. >> you hope she does and if she does, she is your candidate? >> hillary is terrific. as the maine republican convention this weekend senator rand paul won the party's 2016 straw pole with 176 votes. senator ted cruz, wisconsin governor scott walker, dr. ben carson and new jersey governor chris christie. sarah palin hit the campaign trail for iowa senator irks. >> she's not one that's going to be told sit down and shut up and

sit in the back corn they were and let the good old boys do what they're talking about. watch out, washington. jonie ertz is a mama grizzly. she will take a stand against the russian bear. >> like only sarah palin can say. and a personal moment from president obama during a town hall with students at the university of malaysia at kuala lumpur. he was asked about what he regrets. >> i regret not having spent more time with my mother because she died early. i realize that i didn't every single day or at least more often just spend time with her and find out what she was thinking and what she was doing because she had been such an important part of my life.

>> while in malaysia president obama took an opportunity to take a selfie. that is your monday morning dish of scrambled politics. all right. washington post reporter david nakamura joins me from washington with some topics here that we want to review, including this one here. we're seeing a side of hillary clinton that hasn't really been revealed in the public much. she opened up about her religion over the weekend and how it influenced her life while speaking at the united methodist assembly. she said her faith allowed her to care for others. what does this tell us about her? >> people are always looking when hillary is speaking for 2016. when she talks in personal terms and looking out for your fellow man. this is an issue that's been going on in washington. what will people do to help the under class. this is something president obama has talked about obviously with talking about minimum wage

and the growing income gaps. i think this is is something that democrats want to be talking about for 2016. you have hillary here obviously talking to a group of women talking about her religious beliefs is echoing that. >> seeing hillary clinton as a religious grandma. >> over the weekend possible presidential candidate paul land says the gop must evolve, adapt or die. let's talk about the tangible example how the gop can broaden its base besides taking the libertarian route with the other candidates. what are the other options? >> francis, the biggest things they're talking about is reform. all the autopsies among the gop is they have to expand their base to minorities and specifically growing latino and asian voters. at the same time the rank and file does not seem to want to go along, especially in the house where immigration reform has ground to a halt. there are signs from john

boehner, eric cantor and kathy rogers over the weekend that say they might do something this summer. i think people are skeptical that president obama is keeping the pressure on. this is something that if rand paul is talking this way, people agree with it, republicans can look at it. >> let's talk about this pivotal day with congressman michael grimm who is expecting to surrender to the fbi. what's going on? >> this has to do with a restaurant before he took office. this started two years ago based on his own campaign finances. this is not a good situation. if they cannot find any issues where he misused his office or it doesn't have to do with his campaign, it may be that he can stay in his office until the mid terms. john boehner and the leadership are looking closely, this is not a good situation. >> washington post reporter david nakamura. thank you for being with us on this monday.

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we want to get you up to date on the latest of the deadly severe weather outbreak. 18 people are dead after tornadoes and damaging winds tore through several states overnight. you can see the front page of the arkansas democrat gazette reading deadly tornado slams state. at least 16 of those fatalities were in arkansas. there was one victim in oklahoma and another has been confirmed in iowa. while in manila, president obama expressed his deepest

condolences. msnbc will have coverage throughout the day including right now on "way too early." thanks for being with us. i'm francis rivera. this is "first look" on msnbc. have a great day. sterling was upset after she posted an instagram photo of her with magic johnson. wow, that is genuinely shocking. an 80-year-old man knows about instagram but, look, i'm sure he'll win his way back into everyone's good graces. who can stay mad at that racist face. the hot water continues to boil around clipper's owner, ronald sterling. the well-known figure speaking out against his alleged comments. racing the stakes in ukraine. pro russian rebels take western military rebels hostage as president obama puts together new sanctions he says will

change the game. and, a powerful storm system, a rash of severe storm systems move through the country's mid section. the overnight damage and where the system is headed next. this is "way too early." good morning. i'm mika brzezinski in for thomas roberts. thomas, we're with you and your mom this morning. it's monday, april 28th. we begin with breaking news overnight. more than a dozen people are dead after a series of tornadoes tore through the middle section of the country. the worst damage appears to be in arkansas. officials have confirmed 16 people killed in the suburbs of little rock. the state is reporting widespread damage with the area now being compared to a war zone. >> i've saw some of the biggest trees just turned upside down and literally the houses picked up and set