i enjoyed it. >> stay safe on the trail. it's thursday, march 31st. right now on "first look," donald trump walks back his punishment for abortion remarks but the uproar is overwhelming. >> the answer is that there has to be some form of punishment. >> for the woman? >> yeah. some form. >> but to punish a woman for having an abortion is beyond comprehensive. >> what donald trump said today was outrageous and dangerous. next to tornadoes overnight, and more on the way. over 27 million americans are at risk of severe weather today. also today, the president meets with 50 world leaders for a nuclear security summit. and to discuss strategies to fight isis. plus, stephen colbert's

conversation with a cartoon donald trump. and much more on a busy thursday. "first look" starts right now. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us today. i'm betty nguyen. donald trump created a firestorm during a town hall hosted by chris matthews. the most surprising moment that came while discussing abortion. >> should the woman be punished for having a abortion? >> look -- >> this is not something you can dodge. if you say abortion is a crime or murder, you have to deal with it under the law. should abortion be punished? >> people in certain parts of the republican party would say, yes, they should be punished. >> how about you? >> i would say it's a serious problem and it's a problem that we have to decide on. it's very -- >> but you're for banning -- >> wait, are you going to say put them in jail? is that the punishment you're talking about? >> well, you said ban -- how do

you do it? >> you go back to the position like they had where people will perhaps go to illegal places. >> yeah. >> but you have to ban it. >> you ban it, they go to somebody who flunked out of medical school. >> are you catholic, how do you feel about the catholic church's position? >> i accept the teaching authority of my teach of moral issues. >> but do you know their position on abortion? >> yes, i do. >> do you concur with their position? >> i concur with their moral position. it's not funny. >> it's really not funny. what do you say about your church they're very strict. >> but the churches make the moral judgments but you're running for president of the united states will be chief executive of the united states. do you believe in -- do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no? >> the answer is that there has to be some form of punishment. >> for the woman? >> yeah, some form. >> ten cent, ten years? >> i don't know. i don't know. >> why not? you take positions on everything else. >> i do. it's a very complicated

position. >> can you tell me what the law should be? just tell me what the law should be. you said you've pro-life. >> i'm pro-life. >> what does that mean? >> with exceptions. i'm pro-life. i have not determined what the punishment should be. >> why not? >> i haven't determined it. >> by saying you're pro-life, you're saying you want to ban abortion. how do you ban abortion without some sort of sanction and then you get into the tricky question of the sanction. a fine? on human life which you call murder. >> it has to be -- >> imprisonment for a young woman who is pregnant. what about the guy who gets her pregnant. is he responsible under the law for the abortions or is he not responsible -- >> it has -- different feelings, i didn't people, it say no. >> well, the backlash to trump's comments was swift with presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle condemning them. >> should women who get abortion be punished? >> of course women shouldn't be

punished. i have exceptions for rape or the life of the mother. donald trump will say he didn't sate, misquoted or whatever but that's not an appropriate response. >> what donald trump said today was outrageous and dangerous and, you know, i'm constantly taken aback at the kinds of things that he advocates for. maya angelou says when someone shows you who they are, believe them. once again he has shown us who he is. >> but to punish a woman for having an abortion is beyond comprehension. one would say what is in donald trump's mind except we're tired of saying that. i don't know what world this person lives in. >> ted cruz said quote, of course we shouldn't be push -- punishing women. and cecile richards denounced trump on twitter.

this is man who does not care about the health and safety of women. and from the head of march for life, a group that wants to overturn roe v. wade -- >> we would not advocate any form of punishment for a woman who's made such a desperate and sad choice as abortion. >> after the interview, trump released a statement fully walking back his remarks stating if abortion was illegal, quote, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible not the woman. the woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb. my position has not changed. like ronald reagan i'm pro-life with exceptions. well, this all comes as a new poll taken before last night's town halls knows -- shows cruz ahead of trump in next week's wisconsin primary. trump is polling behind both cruz and john kasich in support among women in the state. while on the democratic side, sanders is ahead of clinton by

four points which is a slight increase from february. it was a frightening night of severe weather for many with almost 28 million people at risk today. a tornado touched down in tulsa, critically injuring one person as it moved through. several buildings were severely damaged and roads are closed. now to kansas, large hail pounded homes and vehicles. while life threatening flash floods hit arkansas, washing away a dumpster. classes at little rock were cancelled. one made out the best at the entrance to his dorm. meanwhile, mississippi's director of emergency management said the agency is preparing for up to five inches of rain in parts of the state. all right. let's get down to it and find out what's happening at this hour. bill karins is here with that. good morning. >> good morning. as bad, if not worse, unfortunately. a very dangerous day in the deep south. we have seen tornadoes overnight. the one by tulsa and one in southern arkansas. we haven't seen in tornadoes in a couple of hours.

we have a lot of heavy rains, torrential rains out there. some produced up to five inches of rain, so we have a soaking rain down through mississippi and eventually pushing into alabama. for later on today we'll get round two. this is going from the ohio valley all the way down to the gulf coast. this is a huge section of the country. that's why there's 27 million people in risk. enhanced risk in orange is northern alabama and northern mississippi and southern and central portions of tennessee, and a few of those tornadoes could even be strong today. so as of right now, flash flood warnings in the memphis area where we picked up more than five inches of rain. greenville, mississippi, flash flood warnings. we will see that continuing into areas of georgia and atlanta. total for rain, anywhere in this pink is three inches of rain and some can see four to six inches of rain over the next two days.

i want to mention we still are watching that very cold air this upcoming weekend and snow in areas of the great lakes and new england. a little bit of everything with this storm. >> not over yet. thank you. well, today, president obama kicks off a two-day nuclear summit with over 50 world leaders. the goal is to cut down on nuclear materials and proliferation around the world. this is the president's fourth and final nuclear summit. russian president vladimir putin has boycotted the event amid increased tensions with the u.s. this comes as donald trump told msnbc's chris matthews last night he refuses to rule out using nuclear weapons. >> can you tell the middle east we're not using a niuclear weapon -- >> i would never take any cards off the table. >> how about europe? >> i won't take the cards off the table. >> you might use it in europe? >> no. i'm just saying -- >> in europe -- >> i'm not taking cards off the table. >> trump has previously said he's okay with other countries such as south korea and saudi arabia getting nuclear weapons. president obama is commuting

the sentences of 61 prisoners. they're serving time for drug related offenses under outdated laws. most of them are non-violent offenders and more than a third were serving life behind bars. the announcement came after the president had lunch with three former inmates who were given a second chance. >> i will tell you that listening to their stories also reminded me of how out of proportion and counterproductive so much of our sentencing in -- when it comes to the drug czar, both at the federal and the state law. >> the president has now made a total of 248 commutations. that's more than the past six presidents combined. time to get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy. good morning. >> hi there, betty. good morning to you. chipotle is developing a burger chain. the company filing a trademark application earlier this month

for better burger. a concept was well in the works before they were hit with the airborne diseases earlier this year. and tesla unveils the newest model today. it's expected to cost $35,000. less than half of tesla's model "s." production will start late next year, but they'll start taking $1,000 reservations today. meanwhile, over on wall street, it may take a breather from the run-up in the past few days. the market's closing at the highs of the year on wednesday as investors continue to digest yellin's cautious comments on raising the interest rates. look for reports on manufacturing. leading the news in t"the chicago tribune", zika expands into the northeast. the new map includes areas where zika mosquitos have been seen recently or previously. and from nbc washington,

metro could shut down entire rail lines for maintenance chairman says. the state of d.c.'s metro rail system is so dire that metro lines may be shut down for up to six months to properly complete dangerous malfunctions that have plagued the system. coming up, a midair collision caught on camera. and the shot of the day, from a former olympian. you're watching "first look." hey, you forgot the milk! that's lactaid. right. 100% real milk, just without the lactose. so you can drink all you want...

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welcome back, everybody. a florida man is paralyzed from the waist down after a midair collision. sebastian leual was wearing a wing suit and a gopro and another sky diver collided with him, knocking him unconscious. his backup chute deployed, and several people were there to help. his spine is fractured in four places but his doctors, they are optimistic. new research predicts sea levels could rise twice as much as previously thought. in an article published in the

journal nature, scientists found carbon dioxide is increasing in alaska. miami beach could begin to disappear and new orleans could become an island. protests in minneapolis erupted when prosecutors announced they would not charge two police officers involved in the fatal shooting of unarmled jamal clark last november. he was killed in what police called a struggle with the officers following a domestic dispute with his girlfriend. chilling new information after the bombing in brussels, a laptop discarded by one of the bombers contained information on the belgium prime minister's officer. keir simmons has more. >> reporter: that's the entrance to the office of the belgium prime minister. this country's equivalent of the white house, right on the street. and just half a block away, the u.s. embassy. >> this as belgium and dutch authorities argue over whether an nypd alert was shared. 15 after the hour. "scrambled politics" is next. okay... what if a million people download the new app?

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we want all to be careful while traveling. last night, trump town hall touched on a lot of topics including trump's proposed wall with mexico which ironically drew some of the night's biggest laughs. >> we're going to have wall. it's going to happen and mexico is going to pay for the wall. how are they going to pay? >> i don't think they will, but that's all right. >> they will. >> how high is this wall going to be? how high -- >> a good 35 feet. it's getting higher all the time. >> chris matthews wasn't the only one to get an interview with trump last night. stephen colbert did as well. well, sort of. >> mr. cartoon trump, how do you respond to anderson cooper comparing you to the 5-year-old? >> anderson cooper is a dumb dumb. he's a stupid head, a total poopy pants. >> you're sounding immature. >> i know you are, but what am i? >> oh, come on. your sound like an idiot. >> stephen, i'm rubber, you're

glue, i have a lawyer and i will sue. >> meanwhile, ted cruz appeared on jimmy kimmel live, and he was asked who he dislikes more. donald trump or president obama? >> donald trump is he the one you dislike the most of anyone in america? who do you like better, obama or trump? >> look, look -- [ applause ] i dislike obama's policies more. >> i see. >> but donald, donald is a unique individual. [ laughter ] i will say i was watching the early part of the show and if i were in my car and getting ready to reverse and saw donald in the backup camera, i'm not confident which pedal i'd push. >> and that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." all right, 20 minutes past the hour. time now to go to washington. i'm joined by roll call columnist and best selling

author jonathan allen. >> good morning. >> let's talk about donald trump, we have to. that's all the talk this morning, he caused a firestorm by originally telling msnbc's chris matthews women should be punished for having an abortion if it was banned then he later walked back that comment. does this reversal show trump has not thought through some of the major issues facing this country? >> yes. i'll elaborate on that a little bit whether it's foreign or domestic policy, donald trump is unfamiliar not only with his own policy, but also what the -- what sort of the guardrails are on on american public policy. this is a situation where he was slammed not only from the left, but from the right because there are right to life groups -- pro life groups who recognize that the idea of punishing women for having abortions hurts their cause. >> well, you know, some will say despite his stance on this at least he gave it an answer. many politicians, experienced politicians, would have evaded

the question. >> well, certainly there are some who have evaded that in the past. but most who have dealt with this issue in any depth, i mean any depth at all, understand that what donald trump said is not part of the conversation in america right now. >> yeah. i want to ask you about this. but could his reversal be just as alarming as the original statement because it shows how quickly he can switch a position on issues? >> >> right. there's nothing that holds him down. not a voting record, not a long record of him being in office. to make decisions, to talk about public policy. and he seems comfortable moving around. that said, he's not the only politician who releases a statement in politics to try to clarify the record. and i think, you know, that happens fairly frequently and when a candidate comes out and says they were wrong about something, they misstated something or they were confused in an interview, you know, i think that's a lot better for them usually than letting it go or defending -- >> but yeah, there's a

difference in being wrong or misspoke. but do you think he was confused on this? or do you think he answered what he really thought at the time? >> i think he was probably answering what he really thought at the time, but again, you know, i think generally speaking as we report on candidates that happens from time to time. they try to go back to what their actual policy statements are. obviously, he offended a good number of people. maybe he should do somebody -- he managed to do something impossible, he got the pro-life groups and the pro-choice groups on the same page. >> is the republican leadership worried that his comments will doom them in fall? >> i think doom is a good point. they have to find another level to describe what trump will do to the republican party. >> thank you so much, jonathan. just ahead, two close encounters with two intimidating wildcats, but check out this, the shot of the day. it might belong to caitlyn

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leading the news on nbc.com, donald trump releases curious letter on tied up tax returns. after trump's controversial comments on abortion, his campaign is turning the tide to taxes. wednesday evening, they leased a letter concerning the state of the tax returns but the letter issued by the counsel is 23 days old. in "the new york times," governor of alabama robert bentley says he will not quit. he says he has no intention to

resign after admitting to sexual charged conversations with his top aide. his reputation as a church going squeaky clean official has been dismantled with some speaking out about impeachment. what would you do if you came across this on your afternoon walk? wait for it. one woman got quite the scare when she came face to face with panther. >> did she chase its? >> well, you have to get it on camera. right? this happened at a florida swamp sanctuary. looks like the big cat was on his way to get somewhere really fast. >> in a hurry. in other panther news, shall we, a man also in florida had a special visitor, lounging on his porch. the cat stayed for about 20 minutes before it went on its merry way. speaking of animals, any reporter in the business can tell you that in the field, anything goes. >> now the -- oh! [ bleep ].

what if it happened in the middle of a cross? >> the australian reporter soon regained her composure after the parrot was removed and later had a chance to reunite with lola in a more prepared setting. i'm betty nguyen. "way too early" starts now. you run for president of the united states. do you believe -- do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes for, as a principle? >> the answer is that there has to be some form of punishment. >> for the woman? >> yeah. some form. >> that was then, but hours later donald trump took a completely different stance on that question about abortion. we'll walk you through the backlash and his walk-back. and too early to call, hillary clinton in another msnbc exclusive on whether she's already turned her attention to the general election. and severe weather outbreak. we're talking tornadoes, floods and damaging hail across the midwest and south. and the threat is not over yet.

it is 5:30 here on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early." hey, there. good morning. it's thursday, march 31st. i'm alex witt. in green bay, wisconsin, yesterday, donald trump walked into hailstorm of criticism after an exchange over abortion with chris matthews in an exclusive town hall. >> if you see abortion is a crime or murder you have to deal with it under the law. should abortion be punished? >> well, people in certain parts of the republican party and conservative republicans would say yes, they should be punished. >> how about you? >> i would say that it's a very serious problem. and it's a problem that we have to decide on up. it's very -- >> but you're for banning -- >> wait, are you going to say