only date trump brand gold digging girlfriends. i promise the highest quality gold digging you can buy. >> facing the consequences. the nba is set to make a decision regarding donald sterling as the alleged audiotape of him making remarks continuing to create shock waves. pro-russian militants step up their resistance in ukraine after the u.s. and its europe allies impose stiffer sanctions on some of president putin's inner circle. scenes of destruction. we're getting our first chance to truly survey the damage as tornadoes tear through the country's midsection. this is "way too early." ♪ good morning. i'm mika brzezinski in for thomas roberts. it's tuesday, april 29th. welcome to "way too early." we begin with another day of

deadly weather in the south. at least 11 people are dead after a second round of tornadoes tore through mississippi, alabama, and tennessee. that brings the death toll on sunday to at least 28 people. in mississippi officials are reporting damage to every building within a two-block span. the tornado was so strong the local nbc meteorologist was forced to seek safety during a live broadcast. >> basement now. >> go! >> let's go! no! what? >> now! >> that was in tupelo. in alabama, officials say residents could still be trapped in buildings that were destroyed. at least two deaths confirmed in limestone county. and new security camera footage has new showing of the moments a tornado swept through on sunday leaving more than a dozen people

dead. let's go to sarah dallof. she has more on the deadly tornado. sarah? >> mika, good morning. the tornado warnings started about 8:00 p.m. about a 20-minute drive from here. and they went until about midnight. hotel guests being asked to stay away from glass windows to stay away from the damage. sweeping into downtown birmingham. luckily that tornado dissipated before it reached the downtown. we are seeing a lot of damage. earlier today when we were trying to drive to the live shot location, the roads were impassable. there were downed power lines everywhere, trees in the middle of the road, homeowners on the street trying to do some form of damage -- some form of cleanup in these early morning hours. right now behind me you have workers trying to fix a gas leak.

you also have the emergency department on generator power. however, they are still accepting patients. thousands without power in this area as crews work to get those downed power lines back up and operating. people are in this for the long haul. they've got a lot of cleanup to do and a lot of time to wait. back to you. >> let's turn to meteorologist bill kairns. bill, is there more severe weather expected today? >> yeah. same thing. we're going to repeat just what we did yesterday. it was a scary time late afternoon to the early evening. it was one tornado going through one town to another town. then wait 10 to 15 minutes to see how bad it was. overnight these storms have continued to mostly produce wind damage, not tornado damage. but still a lot of people without power throughout southern alabama. mobile just got done with their big storms right over the top of pensacola and panama city at this hour. wind damage with these and maybe hail too. we haven't had a tornado reported in awhile. overall 69 reports of tornadoes yesterday. and they just littered the

landscape from central mississippi to northern alabama. you see how they tracked up to the northeast. then a lot of wind damage in tennessee. here's the picture. we're going to deal with flooding problems. as far as the tornado potential, tornado watch until 11:00 this morning from atlanta southwards down to tallahassee. then this afternoon, here we go again. 76 million people under the threat of severe weather from the ohio valley all the way down to the gulf coast. and more tornadoes. and this time we're going to focus what we did yesterday. and a lot of people consider this the new tornado alley. >> thank you. later today the commissioner of the nba will weigh in on the alleged racist rant by l.a. clippers owner donald sterling. four days after tmz first released the tapes. the recordings allegedly capture sterling scolding his mistress at the time for bringing african-american men to clippers games. and posting photos of them on her instagram account. now several team owners are

addressing how the league should punish sterling if it proves to be his voice. mark cuban of the dallas mavericks cautioned against the league overreaching saying, quote, there is no place for racism in the nba. and i don't want to be associated with people who have that position. but at the same time, that's a decision i make. i think you've got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think as opposed to what they do. it's a very slippery slope. but rockets owner leslie alexander, one of the longest tenured owners in the league took a stronger stance. quote, i thought there's got to be a way to disrupt him from owning the team. gave commissioner adam silver the sword to deal with this. i said let the players become free agents, whatever it takes. we have to make sure this kind of event never happens again. meanwhile, sponsors are already reconsidering their relationship with the clippers as several companies have suspended or are

reviewing their deals with the team. there have also been calls to fire -- for fans to boycott tomorrow night's playoff game in los angeles. doc rivers rejected it. he sed this. we know fans are in a dilemma as well. we want them to cheer for their players and their team. it will always be their players and their team. i hope the staples center is packed and people are cheering for the players. the players are now in the middle of this and they have to deal with it. and last night the miami heat stood in solidity with the clippers echoing the silent pregame protest the other night by inverting their warm-up shirts concealing the heat logo. we'll be following this throughout "morning joe" this morning. heading overseas now, there are new sanctions against russia and a surge in violence in ukraine. the mayor of ukraine's second largest city is fighting for his life this morning after being shot in the back. his supporters say he was targeted because he backs the

new government in kiev. there were also clashes in the eastern part of the country. pro-russian militants went after their demonstrators. several injuries were reported. the u.s. officially imposed a new series of sanctions yesterday against russia as president obama defended not using force to resolve the crisis. the sanctions target seven russians and 17 russian companies. the eu also followed suit sanctioning 15 russian officials. but there are new reports that iran which has been sanctioned for its nuclear program is in talks with russia for an energy deal worth up to $10 billion. meanwhile a top british official has some harsh words for the group holding a group of european monitors hostage. >> the detention and parading of these observers who should be released immediately is utterly reprehensible and does further damage to the standing of russia

and the reputation of such groups operating in eastern ukraine. john kerry is on the defense after comments about israel. the daily beast first reported that during a closed door meeting with world leaders on friday he admonished israel's government. he said without a two-state solution israel risks becoming an apartheid state. he said he never said publicly or privately that israel is an apartheid state or it intends to become one. but in the same statement he says he, quote, knows the power of words to create a misimpression even when unintentional. and if i could rewind the tape, i would have chosen a different word. the political response has been swift. top republican legislators called on him to apologize. democratic senator barbara boxer tweeted that comparisons to apartheid are nonsensical and ridiculous. others went even further.

>> i was convinced that a secretary of state john kerry would place what he considered to b the wishes of the international community above the national security interest of the united states. i fear that with these most-recent ill-chosen remarks, secretary kerry has proven these concerns well founded. sadly it is my belief that secretary kerry has proven himself unsuitable for the position he holds. and therefore before any further harm is done to our national security interest and our critical alliance with the nation of israel that john kerry should offer president obama his resignation. >> congressman michael grimm says federal fraud charges will not stop him from winning re-election in the fall. the new york republican turned himself into the fbi yesterday. he faces 20 counts for allegedly

hiding more than a million dollars in receipts at a restaurant he owned in manhattan. grimm who made headlines in january for threatening to throw a reporter off a balcony accused those of a witch hunt. but he has no plans to step down from office. later today the federal reserve will begin its two-day policy meeting. yesterday the dow and the s&p posted gains. cnbc seth sedgwick is live with us in london. >> very good, mika. lots going on. of course we've got consumer confidence going on. as far as the corporates are concerned, plenty going on on the earnings season as well. elsewhere there could be an enormous for pfizer.

it could be mounting $100 billion bid for the company astrizenica. and they could in they recorporate themselves could be paying 20% tax. plus if they bring home the irs wants a chunk of so they can use that money tax free. it would be one of the biggest deal in a decade. >> netflix and verizon. discuss. >> yeah. very interesting. netflix is responsible for so much of the download traffic in the u.s. they want a better service. they want to improve the speed and quality. they've signed a deal with comcast. now verizon as well to ensure it's quicker and faster as well. a whole host of companies have a chance to make it quicker.

it can be streamed a lot faster now. >> excellent. steve, thank you so much. still ahead on "way too early," huge momentum swings in dallas last night. but did the mavs grab a lead over the spurs? sports is next. and he's been hosting the late late show for nearly a decade, but is the end near for craig ferguson? we're going to hear his statement. that story and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] ortho crime files.

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with a full menu of appetizers and entrées crafted with care and designed to delight. fancy feast. love served daily. worst morning ever. [ angelic music plays ] ♪ toaster strudel! best morning ever! [ hans ] warm, flaky, gooey. toaster strudel! this is no time for lollygaggin', lad. the chickweed and the dandelions are wreakin' mad havoc! now's the time to send in the scotts turf builder weed & feed, man! it kills weeds while it feeds and strengthens your grass. feed your lawn. feed it! ♪ robinson cano is coming back to yankees stadium tomorrow night. are you going to boo him? >> i'm going to boo the [ muted ] out of him. >> when you're ready, give him

your best boo. >> boo! you suck! that's it. >> that was awesome. try it again. >> should i try it again? >> how you doing? welcome back to new york. great to be back, right? >> yes, sir. thank you. >> oh, my gosh. that's a good one. i want to do that. >> typical fan. that's how a lot of people on "morning joe" are too. you're not there, they're talking bad about you. >> it's a cutout of bill kairns. you suck. give us sports. >> that would go over very well. >> take it away. >> there's some great nba playoffs going on. it's been shadowed by the bigger story, but let's get to the game. spurs/mavs game four. this was a great finish. that was monta ellis there. drives, gets the basket, ties the game. this was the shot of the game. how about the career of boris?

they blew a 20-point lead. that three nailed it. the spurs hang on 93-89. what a great series tied at two now. to indianapolis. who saw this coming? we knew the pacers were struggling, but were they really struggling bad enough to be down 20 in the second quarter to the hawks with a losing record at home? the fans had every right to boo in this one. mike scott had five threes in the first half. and, i mean, they cruised to this win. 107-97. pacers are on the brink. atlanta hawks lead 3-2 in that series. to charlotte. heat/bobcats. lebron 31 points. that's how easy that was. they sweep the bobcats. that's the last time you'll see the bobcat uniforms, by the way. they will become again the hornets next season. shared a quick word with lebron james after the game. the stanley cup playoffs last

night. >> on the board. he shoots. tipped and a save. rebound in front. score! the kings score on the rebound! fires and scores! minnesota leads! >> malkin to the net. he scores. a hat trick from malkin. >> penguins take the series 4-2. and the kings won their first straight over the sharks. that series will also head to a game seven. >> before you go to weather, do you want to talk -- there's a cutout of mike barnicle. >> i'm mean to him in person. maybe i'll tell him how good he is and nice and smart and intelligent and we appreciate the career and time he puts in. >> bill, how's the weather?

>> as far as today goes, mika, all talk is about this huge storm. it's been with us now for three days. this is the loop of the last 48 hours. all the bright colors are the thunderstorms. that storm is still lingering over missouri and everyone on the east coast is going to get drenched from this storm shortly. we'll see 3 to 5 inches of rain even in the new york and d.c. area. that will start later today and then all day tomorrow. so that heavy rain will be with us along with airport delays. but of course that's nothing compared to the tornado threat that will once be down in mississippi today. >> thanks very much. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," the new poll numbers that show president obama could drag down his party more than we previously expected. and when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler with lewis. it's fallon versus stone in a lip-synching contest for the ages. we'll be right back.

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earlier in the show we told you about new sanctions the u.s. is putting in place against russia meant to hit some of the nation's wealthiest individuals where it hurts the most. their checkbooks. tell your friends that russia's 111 billionaires worth the combined $422 billion represent 20% of their country's entire

gdp. that's a greater percentage than any other nation on earth. by comparison, the united states ranks ninth with 492 billionaires making up 14% of our gdp. let's go to the water cooler now with lewis with more information that just really doesn't have value. >> if you and your family need to know, let's start with the rumor swirling around craig ferguson and cbs. he addressed his plans this morning. >> at the end of this year, i will be stepping down as the host of this show. thank yous, everybody. that was quite convincing. i'll be stepping down at the end of this year in december. and then i'll go and do something else. probably, i'm thinking, carpentry. it's my decision to leave. cbs have been fine with me. in fact, more than that. they've been great with me. i have a good relationship with them.

i'm still in business with them on other stuff. so please don't pick at them or go up to cbs with flaming torches or -- unless you're angry at me. and then get in line. >> that's disappointing. i like craig ferguson. now to the "tonight show" where fallon challenged emma stone to a lip-synching contest. ♪ i'm so fancy ♪ i'm in the fast lane ♪ because the heart brings you back ♪ ♪ i ain't tell you no lies ♪ thank you very much mr. roboto ♪ ♪ thank you ♪ oh

♪ yeah ♪ all i do is win win win no matter what ♪ ♪ got money on my mind ♪ can never get enough ♪ every time i step up in the building ♪ ♪ everybody hands go up >> i love lip-synching because i can't sing a tune, so i feel like a rock star. i thought fallon did a pretty good job. >> really? >> yes. are you tired of the whole selfie thing? >> no, no. >> you like taking selfies. >> i do. i did a lot last night at the event i was at. why? is that bad? >> no. there's a squirrel out there that's the opposite of you. this squirrel is tired of taking selfies. at first he seems fine posing for a photo. but then things escalated quickly. good news, they don't carry rab bees. the bad news, the guy got rabies

shots anyway. >> louis, can you just smile? hi. good. all right. are you done? >> i'm done. that's all i have for you. >> thank god. next on "way too early," a look at the stories you'll be talking about in the day ahead. and "morning joe" is now finally just moments away. ♪ (meow mix jingle) right on cue. (laughs) it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime.

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let's get a check on your top stories before we toss it over to "morning joe." the nba is planning a news conference this afternoon to address the comments from donald sterling. it's not clear if or how the league will punish the controversial billionaire. many are calling for tough penalties and others say the nba doesn't have much authority over a team owner. a major case will be argued in front of the supreme court today. the justices will consider whether police need to warrant a search a suspect's cell phone. the case pits the fourth amendment against the opportunity to look at data stored in high-tech devices. and the duke and duchess of

cambridge are celebrating their third anniversary. really? they returned to the uk on saturday after their 19-day tour of new zealand and australia. okay. that's it for "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ sterling insists he's not a racist. he says some of his best credit cards are black. i have an idea that would work for everyone. i will buy the team from donald sterling for $5,000. i would be proud to take the reins of once was and will again be the worst, nose miserable franchise in all of sports.