foreign policy. are people hoping that he commits military assets to the ukrainian crisis. and severe spring weather rips through north carolina. the scary sights that sent everybody running for cover. this is "way too early." ♪ hey, everybody, good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it is wednesday, april the 30th. welcome to "way too early." the show is not part of the cast of the new "star wars" movie, but we are under consideration for anchorman tres. gracias. after a due process that donald sterling, the nba commissioner adam silver delivered a swift judgment against the clippers owner for his racist remarks. >> the views expressed by mr. sterling are deeply offensive and harpful. that they came from an nba owner only heightens the damage in my

personal outrage. accordingly, effective immediately, i am banning mr. sterling for life from any association with the clippers organization or the nba. >> okay. so let's break this down. it means no practice, no games. he cannot be at the clippers facility or weigh in on any personnel decisions. he can have no interaction with the team that he owns ever again. and this is on top of a maximum $2.5 million fine. which is nominal considering his estimated net worth is around $1.9 billion. here's the question, though, of how long sterling will own the clippers. now that remains in doubt. take a listen. >> i will urge the board of governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team and will do everything in my power to ensure that that happens. >> so sterling reportedly told

fox news's jim gray that the team is not for sale. and he will not be selling the team. with that said, several groups seem to be interested in purchasing the team with bidding expected to exceed $1 billion. magic johnson, boxer floyd mayweather jr. and david geffenner said to be among those. and they have to prepare for the game sense the golden state warriors. following mr. silver's announcement the team posted this on their website simply reading "we are one." and last night, the game began without delay, something that almost didn't happen. both the warriors and other four teams playing last night were reportedly going to boycott last night's games if unsatisfied with the ruling of commissioner silver. an inmate is dead after a born the lethal injection. clayton hemmer was executed last

night it quickly became apparent that something was wrong as state administrators the cockta cocktail. >> he started to mumble. at 6:37, he mumbled more. he twitched more. at 6:37, his body continued to move. locking up. his head was lifting, tightening his muscles. he was exhaling. seemed like he was trying to get up. at 6:39, they lowered the lines. >> at 6:39 before they closed the curtain he said, man. he had full muscle movements. >> those are the words he got out. man, i'm not and something's wrong. >> we didn't know what was happening on the other side of the blinds. we didn't know if he was still dying or if they were still bumping drugs in him. >> head of the department of

corrections said the line to the vein, quote, blew, and they decided not to continue with the execution. 40 minutes later lockett died of what they believe is a massive heart attack. governor fallin delayed a second execution by 14 days. his attorneys challenged the legality of the drugs because the state would not reveal where they came from. many european drugmakers have stopped selling products to the u.s. over opposition to the death penalty. and so states have had to find substitutes. violence is reaching new levels in ukraine. hundreds of pro-russian militants continued their takeover of buildings in eastern ukraine. masked men used weapons to smash their way through a head quarters location. police headquarters and prosecutors' office. they were also attacked in heated clashes breaking out overnight in kiev's independent square. masked ukrainian nationalists in the square fought in protests

killed earlier in the year. vladimir putin is warning the u.s. and the european union that any additional sanctions can haven't an impact on energy deals. and secretary of state john kerry delivered a message to moscow. >> leave ukraine in peace. and work with us together to create a strong ukraine. a ukraine is that is not the pawn pulled and tugged at between east and west. but a ukraine that can be a bridge to both. >> so when it comes to ukraine, brand-new polling from the nbc news and "the wall street journal" is showing that 37% of americans approve of how president obama is handling the situation there. and that six-point drop from last month. just 19% of americans want the u.s. to take a more active role in world affairs. and nearly half favor a less active approach. those numbers have changed significantly from back in 2001. the poll shows 37% approval of the president's handling on foreign policy.

that's the lowest level of his presidency. overall, the president's approval stands at 44%, a couple points better than last month's record low. overall, 65% of those polled said the country is on the wrong track. while 27% see things moving in the right direction. now, this is going to be a concern for whomever inherits the white house 2016. so far, hillary clinton is far outpacing two of her potential gop rivals when if comes to favorability. the former secretary of state is viewed significantly more positively than former governor jeb bush or senator ransd paul. the states in the south are recovering from yet another day of wild weather. tornados sweeping through at least five different counties in north carolina. the twisters damaged buildings and caused flash flooding. fortunately no deaths were reported. still, the weather system took a devastating toll with storms being blamed for at least 35 deaths in the south. among the victims, daniel

wassome, a iraq-war vet who died protecting his wife and two daughters from debris. >> it shows what a great daddy he was. he loved his girls. loved his wife. what a great son he was, you know. you couldn't ask for a better son. >> so heartbreaking for all of those families who have lost somebody. >> wassome's wife and daughters, they all survived. the add obama administration is unveiling a ruling that uphold, the power of the epa to enforce the clean air act in what has been dubbed by opponents as the war on coal. court opponents say it's the latest in a spring of wins for the obama administration. okay. let's get pro-business and check in with what's going to happen where gdp and payroll data comes out today. the yesterday's markets closed slightly up. there seems to be something about tuesdays.

15 of the last 17 have finished in positive territory. cnbc's jeff cutler is live. >> hey, you've laid out the data points there. and i'm sure there will be interest in the federal reserve just to see whether they taper another $10 billion. and whether there's any change in this move to gradually ease back on the q.e. no one thinks we'll see a change in interest rates. near zero interest rates remain. having said that, markets are a little flat as we look for your trading session so don't expect fireworks after what you say was a reasonable tuesday. the markets have had a good run here. maybe we're just waiting to see the foot come off the accelerator a little bit from the traders. i do want to move on we've got a fascinating story unfolding in the banking sector. banking is still in the cross hairs right now. and federal prosecutors

apparently near to launching criminal charges against a number of banks. apparently lawyers close to the case say those charges are really ready to be initiated. credit suisse which has 81 set the federal regulators over its tax shelters for americans in the past. and bnp paribas, the french bank that seemed to have traded with countries tharp on a u.s. black list. so banks still very much a story for us. back to you. >> all right, geoff. thank you, sir. the big news that "star wars" fans are reroycing over. now announcing its cast for episode 7. it includes actors harrison ford, carrie fisher and mark hamill among others. if you look closely in the right behind j.j. abrams, you can see

r2d2 in a box. who are your favorite "star wars" characters. create your creative answers using the #way too early. i know my mother is saying she saved my millennium falcon for years. and boy, didn't that pay off? yes, it did. still ahead on "way too early," plenty of off-court distractions for the l.a. clippers. so how will it impact their performance on the court? we've got highlights and reaction coming up next. you put a monkey on live tv and it's magic, right? well, we're going to show you what happened on break day houston. we never say work with kids or live animals on live tv. that story and more when "way too early" comes right back. avo: wherever your journey takes you

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kills bugs inside and prevents new ones for up to a year. ortho home defense max. get order. get ortho®. okay. time for sports and playoff basketball to talk about. first up, warriors and clippers in game five. diondre jordan led the way for a 1213-102 victory over golden state. and a 3-2 series lead. the clippers head coach doc rivers spoke and how it's affected play. >> i thought, you could see getting tired a lot. i thought that was all the emotional baggage, you know, over the last four days. you think it's just the players. it was the fans too. you know, everybody was going through this. and it was like everybody wanted to exhale tonight. and it was good. >> a lot of eyes on that. okay to oklahoma city to the

grizzlies and thunder. okc trailing by two in the final seconds. >> 15 seconds to shoot. five to shoot for conley off the screen of gasol. westbrook picks his pocket the other way. four seconds remaining, score time at 90. >> pictures his pocket. see that, the thunder wrestle westbrook. sends it into overtime. memphis takes the edge head into the final seconds. the thunder with one last chance to win it -- >> coming to the ball. durant. backed up, rolled in it rolled in at the buzzer! the thunder think they have won the ball game. no goal. again, they will review. going to need a more definitive look. well, they don't. they say no basket. memphis has won game five. >> grizzly state, the 100-99 victory. the 3-2 series lead.

the wizards beat the bulls. wrap up that round one. and head to round two where they face the pacers or the hawks. the hawks here, and phillies score three goals for a 5-2 victory over the rangers. the teams head back to new york for the decider tonight. a couple other games have a matchup. avalanche will host the wild. and the kings will visit the sharks. to baseball and former yank ke robinson cano makes the return with the bronx. and the fans gave the $300 million man a welcome. >> here comes robinson cano. >> robinson got -- >> all right. cano would go 1 for 5 with this fifth inning -- >> he was booed by ten people. anyway, gets seattle on the

board. lined a double to right. for the 3-2 mariner leefd. seattle would tack on three more for a 6-3 win over the yankees. cano's return. and this picture was tweeted out by colin barnacle. >> do you think you can get a better seat than that, come on, daddy. >> it was a screen grab. >> a screen grab? >> yeah. >> i see. >> he would have gotten better seats than that. >> really? >> yeah, nice to be a barnacle -- >> what did you say -- i got a little wax in that. i thought you said something else. >> it was well done. joe's from pensacola. loves his hometown down there. and they're really struggling this morning. i've got to show you these videos and pictures from this area.

i-10 is closed. imagine half a foot of rain in 45 minutes. that's what they received. and literally one hour between 9:00 and 10:00 last night. there's rivers running across the interstate. people stranded on hoot eye way for five, going on six hours, just sitting in their cars. there's nowhere they can go. most of them are safe sitting in their cars but they lily cannot drive on the roads. and the water hasn't gone anywhere yet. the gauge stopped working six hours ago. it was at 11 inches. that gauge is still working. there's a weather watcher that just sent this image. total rain for this event is up to 24 inches at his house. two feet of rain. this is historic flooding. this is the worst flooding that the pensacola/mobile area has seen in recent memory. we're going to continue to watch that. that storm system lingered down there. when we see these pictures later today from north florida, it's

going to take weeks of recovery. joe's hometown has been the worst. bill, thank you so much. coming up on the top of the hour on "morning joe," much more on the lifetime span of the clippers owner. and bob costas is going to weigh in. as we come back, we're going to huddle around the watercooler. a sad moment on were the wheel of fortune." there's always someone worst. and what was in this young lady's mind when she was answering? you'll have to see for yourself. [ yodeling plays ] worst morning ever. [ angelic music plays ] ♪ toaster strudel! best morning ever! [ hans ] warm, flaky, gooey. toaster strudel! ♪ [ hans ] warm, flaky, gooey. (vo) oh. my.

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all right. so earlier on the show, we told you about the nba's decision to ban donald sterling for life and fine him $2.5 million bucks. and minnesota timbers wofs glenn taylor was suspended for the entire season fined 1 million bucks in the year 2000 for trying to secretly violate salary cap rules. on tuesday, taylor still the owner of the timberwolves said he's in full support of sterling's lifetime ban. let's huddle around the watercooler. lewis, they always say don't work with kids or live animals on tv. >> that is true. two things i know about it, live television and taunting monkeys. it's probably not a good idea to

taunt animals on live television. >> oh! look what i got. it's a grape. i'm sorry, i didn't mean to tease you. i didn't mean to tease you. >> is that a left hook. a left jab. a bang right to the forehead. >> wow. >> good for that monkey. >> anyway -- that makes for good live tv moment. let's go to everyone's favorite game show "the wheel of fortune." i'm quite skilled at word games. not so bad. some of the puzzles prove to be pretty difficult like this one. >> m -- >> yes there is an "m." not that that does any good. >> i'd like to solve the puzzle? >> okay. >> boozing my shore excursion.

>> no. josh. >> booking my shore excursion. >> yeah, that's it. >> that's where her head was at. #on boozing my shore excursion. yeah, baby. >> well, she's not exactly the world's most impressive contestant, certainly not the worst. take a look at this. >> wow, okay. >> mythological hero achilles. [ buzzer ] -- >> okay. >> "l." >> there is an "l." pick it up. got more. >> can i solve? >> yeah. >> world's fastest man. >> yeah, that's it. >> on the spot diceman.

>> on the spot decision. >> yeah, that's right. >> give the guy a break from indiana. >> and they give half cars? >> i don't get the half car thing. >> that's unusual. >> yeah, it's "wheel of fortune. "it's tricky. the pressure's on. it's a lot like "way too early." thomas, you're going to be hanging out with the ladies on "the view." >> i am, i got invited back. do you want knee bring back anything from jenny mccarthy for you? >> just no live animals. earlier on the show we asked you aside from the big three who are your favorite "star wars" characters. justine has best responses. >> justine, i'm not your father. >> yes. so we have great responses today. alex said billy d. williams was robbed. i thought he was in the movie.

guess not. matthew says my favorite "star wars" is spot. that should get the trekkies going. next on "way too early," look at the story we're talking about, laser cats. i feel like they're all around. anyway, "morning joe" just moments away. stick around. the was a truly amazing day. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today at angieslist.com ♪ why do results matter so much? it's probably because they are the measurement of everything we do.

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all right. let's get a check on the top stories. iraq's 22 million registered voters will elect a 328-seat parliament today. polling stations across the country, they're going to be opened earlier today. and this is a massive operation under way to ensure all voting surety. nuri al maliki has been the prime minister for eight years and is fighting for a third term in office. president obama is expected to continue this push for a minimum wage hike after his trip to asia. the senate is planning a vote but it's not expected to pass. the president wants to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. the third round of the stanley cup playoffs.

the rangers will host the flyers. avalanche with the wild. "way too early" -- and "morning joe" starts right now. you can do whatever you want. the little i ask you is not to promote it and not to bring him to my games. >> black people can't attend his games. [ boos ] >> i couldn't have said that better myself. >> folks, i'm shocked that sterling would perpetuate the cruel stereotype that white people are genetically superior at basketball spectating. [ laughter ] >> oh, let me guess because our muscular skeletal structure makes it easier for us to pump cheese. that is racist. and everyone has expressed outrage, folks. even the clippers players made a em