republican party. and don't mess with the local news reporters all over the country who are watching out for them. this story makes me so mad. it's friday, april 15th. right now on "first look," the brooklyn brawl ahead of tuesday's new york primary. and a big endorsement for the donald. a deadly earthquake rocks japan with aftershocks continuing to rattle communities but an 8-month-old is pulled from a collapsed house. then the debate about corporate punishment rages. and plus in new details of the escaped chimpanzee. a canoodling couple can care less during a bar heist. "first look" starts right now. good morning to you on this friday.

thanks for joining us today. i'm betty nguyen. the sparks, they were flying as the democrats battled in brooklyn. in what was perhaps the most contentious debate yet. hillary clinton and bernie sanders traded jabs on topics ranging from weapons to wall street. and questioned who has the right judgment to be president. nbc's steve handlesman breaks it all down. >> reporter: it was a brawl, bernie sanders needing a knockout tuesday in the new york primary. hillary clinton defending her big national lead in delegates, attacking one another's credibility. >> i do question her judgment. >> even his core issue, breaking up the banks, when asked he could not explain how that would be done. >> reporter: but she gave speeches to big banks for six figure fees. >> do we really feel confident about a candidate saying that she's going to bring change in america where she's so dependent on big money interests. i don't think so. >> this is a phony attack.

>> reporter: clinton denied the banks bought her influence. >> i called them out on their mortgage behavior. >> oh, my goodness. they must have been really crushed by this. >> reporter: issue number two was gun deaths. >> what about the greed and recklessness of the gun manufacturers and dealers in america? >> reporter: sanders opposes sandy hook parents suing the makers of the assault rifles used to kill their kids and that the judge allowed. >> this is a serious difference between us. >> i've got a d-minus voting record from the nra. >> reporter: a debate full of passion and personal attacks. i'm steve handlesman, nbc news, brooklyn. so who had the better night? well, if twitter is any indication clinton held a slight advantage. and despite the huge crowds sanders has drawn this week, the latest poll shows hillary clinton with a substantial

17-point lead. and new york governor andrew cuomo who is a clinton supporter and talked to chris math use after the debate. >> hillary going to win. i don't want to do the points but i think she's going to win. look, i don't play the expectation game. it was her home state. she has to win by "x." i think that's setting a bar. but i believe she's going to win. i believe it's going to be by a healthy margin. >> sanders meanwhile is right now on his way to the vatican for a meeting on economic and social issues. it's unclear though if the senator will be meeting with pope francis. on the republican side, donald trump holds a commanding lead in his home state and now he has the endorsement of hometown tabloid "the new york post." which writes quote, trump is now an imperfect messenger carrying a vital message but he reflects the best of new york values and offers the best hope for all americans who rightly feel betrayed by the political class.

last night, the candidates spoke at the new york republican gala. trump gave an impassioned defense of his new york values and taking a subtle shot at a former candidate. >> you say what are new york values? number one, honesty and straight talking. it's a work ethic. hard working people. it's about family. new york believe it is about family. so important. it's the energy to get things done. big energy. if jeb bush came here, i'm telling you he'd have much more energy than he has right now. i'm telling you. >> and ted cruz on the other hand was less well received. check out the video during the speech the audience almost ignores him while eating, talking amongst themselves and standing and taking selfies. some left altogether. >> we need our team to stand as one, and to stand and unite. the way we win a general

election -- right now if you look at the national polls -- >> from his remarks a confident john kasich enjoyed his time in the empire state. >> i think i have eaten my way across the entire state of new york and i think i have every bit of food there is. i'm going to leave cleveland as the nominee, whether you believe it or not it's going to happen. meanwhile, authorities have officially announced that trump's campaign manager corey lewandowski will not be prosecuted. authorities admit that lewandowski did grab michelle fields but the evidence is not strong enough to criminally prosecute. they say that the video shows fields defying a secret service order to not enter a protected area last month. and prosecutors argue lewandowski was justified in his actions to protect trump. last night, lewandowski said he was grateful for trump's loyalty during this quote, difficult time and he doesn't remember the incident because it wasn't quote memorable.

in a statement, the trump campaign says this. the matter is now concluded. at least nine people were killed and 800 injured after an earthquake struck in japan. it was followed by a second strong tremor. japanese officials say there is no risk of tsunami. images show the damage. collapsed buildings and homes and buckled streets. rescue crews, they are searching for victims at this hour and an 8-month-old baby though was pulled from a collapsed home relatively unscathed. some six hours after the initial tremor. more than 44,000 people spent the night in shelters. a massive relief effort is under way. now to a story sparking heavy debate online. it centers around young children and corporate punishment. >> we have to do it one time. unless you wiggle around. >> the 5-year-old in jasper county, georgia, allegedly tried to hit and spit on his

schoolmates and the principal decided to paddle him according to the boy's mother. corporate punishment is legal in georgia. now in a statement, the school only uses its with parental consent. the mother says she had signed a form opting out, but was told if she did not allow the paddling her son would be suspended. repeated unexcused medical absences landed her in jail. she worried it would keep her from caring for her two children and she pretended to text, but instead recorded it and posted it to facebook. sparking a hot debate. so far the video has had over a million and half views. the school superintendent has scheduled a conference with the mother this morning. well, secretary of defense ash carter is scheduled to visit the "uss john c. stennis" today. right now, it's patrolling the disputed south china sea which six countries have laid claim to

including china and the philippines. today's visit will inflame tensions with china. now to a wild chase caught on camera. a chimpanzee escaping from a zoo in japan tried to avoid capture, he had the authorities scrambling. the drama went on for two hours. nbc's steve patterson gives us the play-by-play. >> reporter: the high wire drama was carried live on japanese tv. the escaped chimpanzee named cha-cha fled a zoo in northern japan and showed no interest in going back. the 24-year-old male perched above and swinging across electrical lines. reporters calling the play-by-play live for nearly two hours. he just got hit one yelled. after a tranquilizer dart stunned the ape. the chimp is yelling.

he's so angry. the zoo worker warns, it's dangerous, go away. don't be here. then the sedative starts to sink in. he's falling. he's trying to grab the cable. he's about to go down they say and then off the wires, on to the ground. caught with a safety net, the ape is dazed but isn't hurt. a happy ending for the zoo, but not for cha-cha. steve patterson, nbc news. >> what drama. and it just is weirder in the animal kingdom. this alligator in florida is caught eating one of his own. one witness described the reptile as 11 to 12 feet long. spectators stand uncomfortably close but the gator does not seem to mind. this is disturbing. while this cannibalistic behavior may seen strange, experts say it's typical for male alligators to act this aggressively during mating season. do not come near them during mating season. cnbc's landon dowdy, good friday to you.

>> hey, there, good friday to you. it's finally here. let's get down to business. delta airlines getting rid of the $25 fee for customers who want to speak to an actual human and getting rid of the $35 fee to book a flight in person at the airport. others airlines including united and jetblue still charge to speak with a human being to make reservations. amc is considering letting people text in movie theaters and it's thanks to the millenni millennials. if this did happen, it would only be allowed in a few designated movie theaters since a majority prefer no texting. and a federal laws lets the authorities look at their e-mails without the individual's knowledge and says that the government is abusing the law. back over to you. >> thanks. get ready for some girl power. >> select briana stewart from the university of connecticut.

>> select mariah jefferson. >> connecticut suns select morgan tuck, from the university of connecticut. >> and the top three picks at the wnba draft are from the uconn huskies. they have won four consecutive national can championships mind you. a big congratulations to all the ladies. just ahead a charles manson disciple gets parole on her 20th attempt. oblivious to a robbery, a couple is not paying attention. and road warriors, inside stories from the campaign trail that you do not want to miss.

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shoshow me more like this.e. show me "previously watched." what's recommended for me. x1 makes it easy to find what you love. call or go online and switch to x1. only with xfinity. welcome back to "first look." let's take you through the weekend forecast. some interesting 6 changes will be taking place in the middle of

the country. beautiful weather, texas through the great lakes. enjoy this. northeast, a chilly morning, great afternoon. the problems are starting late this afternoon. very slow moving storm will be out here in the four corner region producing severe weather two days in a row, then a snowstorm on saturday. so for today, from plainville to amarillo, northern texas through areas of western kansas and eastern colorado, that's the area of concern. maybe an isolated tornado or two. then saturday, warm weather, beautiful, nice as it possibly could be. ohio valley, great lakes. nice in the northeast. but colorado, you are famous for your april snowstorms and this will be another one of them. two to four feet of snow is possible in the mountainous areas. ski resorts have fresh powder for the next week. foothills 8 to 14 inches, including the denver area. by the time get to sunday our storm is moving into the bigger cities. san antonio, oklahoma city. it could be a washout of a sunday for you. and we could be looking at very heavy rainfall. it's because of a blocking

weather pattern, that storm will sit in four corner region. >> still looking forward to the weekend. >> you love the fact you have a beautiful weekend. >> we have earned this, yes, we have. then that's this story, the youngest member of the murderous manson family is one step closer to freedom. after 46 years in prison and 19 denied pleas for parole, leslie van houten w granted parole suitability in california. she was just 19 years old when she fell under the spell of manson and played the role in the killing of a wealthy grocer and his wife. they're basing it on her mod model -- they're basing the parole on the model behavior in prison. the sandy hook parents can move forward against the seller of the massacre murder weapon. the connecticut judge ruled in favor of the ten plaintiffs who are looking to hold the companies accountable for the 20 children and six teachers who

were killed. north korea's attempt to celebrate its founding leader's birthday with a missile launch has failed. expert says the 104th anniversary of the leader kim jong un's grandfather is the young leader's latest attempt to affirm his legitimacy and power. to montana, police are on the hunt for three who robbed a bar at gunpoint. they won't be disturbing this couple. look at this. they proved nothing, not even armed robbers can stop true love or at least a good kiss. they weren't even coming up for air. all right. well ted cruz supports north carolina's controversial lgbt law and who won the democratic debate? our political insider is next. from bank of america to buy a new gym bag. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time and 2% back at the grocery store. even before he got 3% back on gas. kenny used his bankamericard cash rewards credit card to join the wednesday night league. because he loves to play hoops. not jump through them. that's the excitement

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you know what, i'm just gonna email it to you. yeah that's probably safer. ok, cool. 20 minutes past the hour. all right, so on the heels of the democrat's debate, it was a wild week in politics. here's a quick look back. >> mr. trump, you wouldn't know new york values if they were written in 50 foot gold letters on the side of the empire state building. >> the new york city subway is the best way to get around. ow. >> i'm a 20st century thinker. somebody said you're a millennial in the older man's body. >> i was glad to wake up and i didn't find a horse's head in my bed. >> this is a crude version of the states. how's this for a finale? >> hey, put the kids to sleep!

>> one of the most important people you can find in the school is the janitor. those are the people that kids feel safe talking to. and revealing their deepest, darkest kind of fears. >> nothing is more comforting than a school janitor who is like, tell me your darkest fears. >> although the truth of the matter is, you could sit alone in the woods in the middle of nowhere and still hear donald's tweets. [ laughter ] >> and the truth is, new york values are american values. there is no difference. >> we told you it was a wild week. all right. let's get the latest on this debate, msnbc political reporter jane timm is here. it went late into the hours and i know that you were watching very closely in this debate.

let's talk about how rough it got. i mean, even msnbc's chris matthews said it looked like bernie sanders' last stand. >> the math really gets hard if he cannot get out here. the sheer numbers you have to win in big states if you' berni sanders. the numbers look pretty tough for him so he needs to win here. i mean, he claims this is a home state as well as hillary clinton. so he needs to do well. it's just all there is. >> is that really hard for him? say hillary clinton becomes, you know, the nominee, right, he's going to have to stand up there at one point and say, she's the best bet for this country after saying all the things he said last night. >> you know, i'm not sure he will. but he doesn't seem to play by the same rules that all -- >> really? you don't see him standing up and saying -- >> he could -- i can see it happening but i can see him carefully endorsing her in a print statement. i mean, he has shown some promise here. we have seen him cut her lead in half in one poll. he could do well here, but he

needs to do really well here if he's going to cut her delegate lead. >> yeah. she's pulling out quite ahead in the delegate counts. which one came out ahead in the debate, would you say? >> we have seen it on the republican side as well, i think people hear exactly what they want to hear. so they heard their champion whoever it might be, democratic champions heard what they wanted to hear. they were yelling so loud that you could and hear what they were saying. that says it all. you didn't hear what the opposite side said. >> it was interesting trying to watch the moderators corral the conversation because both of them were just really going at it. several points in that debate. i want to shift gears to ted cruz. because he's backing what many consider to be north carolina's anti-lgbt law. this new law that they passed. now, is that good with his base but could that hurt him in the general election? >> anyone who has followed ted cruz is not surprised he supports this law, but it shows general election liabilities

here. that yes, it's about transgender bathroom rights are an issue that most americans are -- maybe are a little more conservative about. but it's about discrimination for gay people in the workplace. i think that's a very hard position to defend. when you're running against a democrat. it may be easier in the republican primary to say that law is nuts i think is his word. >> i think he has -- he has two daughters and wouldn't want them to be in a restroom with -- a situation like that. >> yeah. these are words that appeal to the republican primary base. you can see attack ads running in these states. >> thank you so much. just ahead a long overtime apology to one of baseball's all-time greats. and a it's bubble boy meets robinson crusoe. a daring voyage, next. now that i work there and see all of the care and the ingredients that go into it. i value the food even more. i feed yoshi dog chow natural because there's no

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all right. coming up on 28 minutes past the hour, leading the news in the independent, man accidentally releases his entire company. >> how was your day? >> a man in a web hosting service told the computer to delete everything from the server even the backup. he asked for help in an online forum but one user looked at the code and replied sorry to say, your company is now essentially dead. oh! in "the new york times," 69 years later philadelphia apologizes to jackie robinson. the city officially apologized to him. later today, the phillies will celebrate jackie robinson day at citizens bank park honoring the life of the baseball legend. so you think your morning run is intense? endurance athlete belucci plans

to run from florida to puerto rico, and check out the hydropod. it has seasickness gum and bug repelle repellent. he is doing this to raise money for children in need. i'm betty nguyen, and "way too early" starts right now. >> it is true that now that the spotlight is pretty bright here in new york some things have been said. >> can you name one decision that she made as senator that shows show favored banks because of the money she received? >> he cannot. he cannot come up with any example, because there is no example. i stood up against the behaviors of the banks when i was a senator. i called them out on their mortgage behavior. >> secretary clinton called them out, oh, my goodness. they must have been really crushed by this. and was that before or after you

received huge sums of money by giving speaking engagements? >> wait a minute, wait a minute. i have stood on the debate stage -- with senator sanders eight prior times. i have said the exact same thing. >> senator, please -- >> if with -- seattle, let's do it. i put it out -- >> the statement -- excuse me. i think i'm responding now. >> please, go ahead. >> i love being in brooklyn, this is great. >> hello brooklyn. sparks fly as hillary clinton and bernie sanders battle in the borough that's not big enough for the both of them. plus, trump's campaign manager cleared. we'll tell you why florida officials decided not to move forward with that battery charge against him. plus, ted cruz and john kasich do their best dance around discussions that have tripped up republicans in the past. we're talking about social issues. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early."