delegates. and under the rules and under the concept of this country, a majority rules on everything. >> donald trump continues to rail against what he calls a rigged system. warning the rnc to change or face a, quote, rough july. plus, bernie sanders campaigns in brooklyn and draws his biggest crowd yet. we'll have the latest on both races ahead of tomorrow's pivotal new york primary. and two countries, three devastating earthquakes. one in ecuador, two in japan. we will bring you updates on the recovery efforts from both. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west, and this is "way, way, way, way, way too early." ♪ good morning. it's monday, april 18th, tax day. yes, tax day.

i'm sam stein. the search for survivors continues in ecuador this morning after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on saturday night. the country's president says at least 272 people have been killed, and that number is expected to rise. more than 2,000 people have also been injured. search teams are still digging through the rubble. looking for anyone who might be trapped. authorities say that at least 370 buildings have been destroyed. almost 200 aftershocks have followed saturday's quake. and authorities are urging residents to brace for more in the coming days. the u.s. state department said there were no reports of u.s. citizens killed in the quake. however, a couple from the san francisco area were vacationing in the country when the earthquake struck. >> a lot of the buildings here are made out of cement. and the sidewalls had crumbled down, bricks have crumbled down on the side. >> rescue teams are also looking for survivors after two powerful

earthquakes struck in japan. at least 42 people are dead, and more than 1,000 were injured when the quakes hit. one late thursday and one early saturday. dozens of homes and buildings crumbled in between quakes. u.s. forces have joined relief efforts this morning and are providing aerial support in areas of southern japan. now, turning to politics, new polling in three biggest states left on the republican primary calendar show donald trump at or near a majority in each. in new york, the cbs/yougov shows trump at 54%. in pennsylvania, trump is ahead by 20 points, 46% to cruz's 26%. and in california, trump is up by 18 points over cruz, 49% to 31%. but despite his big lead in the polls, donald trump got rocked for delegate battles. ted cruz scored wins in contests

in south carolina, kansas, virginia and florida, votes that could be pivotal if the convention goes to multiple ballots. it was the same story in georgia where after another devote, trump supporters marched out, taking the american flag with them. i guess you go out with something or nothing at all. trump's national delegate director told "the atlanta journal-constitution," quote, we are investigating concerns of delegate suppression in a few congressional district conventions. in wyoming, the same story this weekend. cruz won an additional 14 first-ballot votes after making a personal appeal to the state gop convention and attacking donald trump who was campaigning in the northeast. >> donald trump has been supporting liberal democratic politicians for 40 years. i have no experience with that. >> anywhere you have a situation where we're voting, that's where i do well. where the bosses are -- i could do better with the bosses than anybody. believe me. i deal with bosses -- i've dealt

with bosses all my life. i've done very well politically. i just don't want to. i could have gone out to colorado. i'm sure i could have met the head guy. i'm sure i could have wiped him and died him or taken him to mar-a-lago, septembnt him all o the place, but that's not democracy. you're allowed essentially to pay off these people. they go out and they're wining and dining, and you have no idea what's going on with those delegates. it's a crooked process, folks. it's a dishonest process. that has nothing to do with democracy. the fact that you're taking all these people out and wining them and dining them, nobody does that stuff better than me. i just don't want to do it. i just don't want to do it. and now you have wyoming, it just came out. not a lot of delegates. but it would be easy. i'll go, i'll fly to wyoming, i'll meet the chairman, i guarantee you within ten minutes he's my best friend. he'd drop a guy like cruz in about two seconds, okay? but i just don't want to do it because it's not the right thing to do. we have a bad system.

and the system has to change. has to change. >> what a monologue. this as a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll finds more than six in ten republican voters believe the candidate with the most votes and delegates at the end of the primary should be the nominee if no one has a majority. the poll found that 33% of voters think the delegates themselves should pick the party standard-bearer. but only 20% would find it acceptable if that person did not run in the primaries. 71% call that unacceptable, sorry, mitt romney. remarkably, 45% of republican primary voters say they would find it acceptable if donald trump ran as an independent were he to win the most votes and delegates but be denied the republican party's nomination. >> the system is a bad, bad system. and they've got to do something about it. the republican national committee, they'd better get going because i'll tell you what, you're going to have a

rough july at that convention. >> meanwhile, it's the middle of april, and the new nbc/"wall street journal" poll already finds this year's crop of candidates historically unpopular. republican john kasich the least-known candidate, has the highest net favorability rating, perhaps those two are related. democratic candidate bernie sanders is also in the positive territory. the rest of the field, it's rough. senator ted cruz has a negative 23-point favorability rating. hillary clinton has fallen to negative 24 points, her lowest rating since the poll began tracking her in january of 2011. and then there's donald trump who is by far the worst-rated candidate with a net negative of 41 points. 41 points. yesterday trump road tested his new nickname for clinton tweeting "crooked hillary clinton is spending a fortune on ads against me. i am the one person she doesn't want to run against. will be such fun." he continued the charge on the

stump. >> we have crooked hillary. crooked hillary, folks. she's been crooked from the beginning. and to think that she has a shot at being our president, crooked hillary clinton. we can't let it happen. >> i don't respond to donald trump and his string of insults about me. i can take care of myself. i look forward to running against him if he turns out to be the republican nominee, if i am the democratic nominee. what i'm concerned about is how he goes after everybody else. he goes after women. he goes after muslims. he goes after immigrants. he goes after people with disabilities. he is hurting our unity at home. he can say whatever he wants to say about me. i really could careless. >> it's going to be a long election. so just quick error on my part, it was 2001, the last tracking poll for hillary clinton, not 2011. let's turn now to the democrats. a new polling number that shows

hillary clinton hanging on to her double-digit lead in new york ahead of tomorrow's primary. the cbs news/yougov battleground tracker poll has clinton ahead of bernie sanders by ten points, 53-43%. the latest number came on a day in which sanders addressed the biggest crowd yet of his entire campaign. nbc news confirmed that the senator drew over 28,000 people to brooklyn's prospect park yesterday. it was a lovely day in the park. i was there in attendance. that breaks the campaign's previous record of 28,000 flat in portland, oregon, last summer. and sanders went after clinton on everything from her super pac money to libya to her speech transcripts. but first, he took a moment to reflect on how far he has come. >> when i was a kid growing up in flappish, our parents would take us to prospect park. they still have the seals and

the elephants. all right. but i was never here speaking to 20,000 people. so thank you all very much for being here. here is a simple truth which everybody understands whether you're progressive or conservative, and that is you cannot have a super pac raise many millions of dollars from wall street or special interests and then tell the american people with a straight face that you're going to stand up to the big-money interests. not true. we're going to win this thing without being dependent on wall street or the big-money interests. secretary clinton has chosen to raise her money a different way.

>> senator sanders rally in brooklyn came a day after which he traveled to rome where he addressed the conference on socioeconomic and environmental issues and met briefly with pope francis. secretary county hlinton was in california raising money. on friday she attended a fund-raiser hosted by george clooney in which couples were asked to pay a measly $353,000. sanders's supporters showered clinton's motorcade. and yet on "meet the press," clooney himself criticized the role of big money in politics. >> do you look at yourself and think that's an obscene amount of money? >> yes. i think it's an obscene amount of money. i think that -- you know, we had some protesters last night when we pulled up in san francisco. and they're right to protest. they're absolutely right. it is an obscene amount of money. the sanders campaign, when they

talk about it, is absolutely right. it's ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics. i agree completely. >> well, i have a lot of respect for george clooney's honesty and integrity on this issue. >> but you realize, senator, that he just raised millions of dollars for your opponent. so is he backing the wrong horse here? >> well, i think he is, but he is honest enough to say that there is something wrong when few people -- in this case wealthy individuals, but there are other instances for the secretary, it is wall street and powerful special interests who are able to contribute unbelievably large sums of money. that's not what democracy is about. >> i am raising money to elect other democrats. i'm a democrat. and i want to see us take back the senate. i want to see us have a very strong showing in the house. i want to take back governorships and state legislatures all up and undown e ticket. the u.s. suddenly finds itself at odds with a longtime middle east ally over the

september 11th terror attacks. including saudi arabia to be held responsible in u.s. courts for any role in the attacks is drawing backlash. the white house is lobbying against it, and the kingdom is threatening to sell off billions of dollars of american assets, should it pass. now, the two democratic presidential candidates have joined lawmakers and families of victims supporting passage of senator chuck schumer's bill. >> obviously, we've got to make anyone who participates in or supports terrorism pay a price, and we also have to be aware of any consequences that might affect americans either military or civilian our nation. >> i have said throughout this campaign that we are not taking a hard enough look at saudi arabia. it's not only the people that came from saudi arabia and participated in 9/11. the evidence is pretty clear. >> president obama will arrive in the saudi capital on wednesday to meet with officials. some interesting timing on that one. in brazil, meanwhile, the lower house of congress has voted to impeach the country's president,

rousseff. the decision passed with two-thirds voting in favor of impeachment yesterday. the result triggered a raucous debate response on the floor of the house. the long-embattled leader is mired in a corruption scandal accused of breaking fiscal laws in the managing of the federal budget. rousseff has repeatedly argued that her rivals are trying to orchestrate a coup against her. the measure will now move to brazil's is that the where lawmakers will vote on whether to pursue an impeachment trial. the country which is in utter turmoil hosts the olympics in a mere four months. only here on nbc. you want to watch it. up next, president obama's executive action on immigration is set to face a major test in the nation's highest court. plus, parts of the south are set to get slammed with more storms and more flash flooding. bill karins who brings only bad news tells us which areas will get hit the hardest. "way too early," we're back in a moment.

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the man accused of shooting two maryland firefighters on friday has been released from custody. the man told detectives he fired in self-defense, believing he was in danger from unknown people breaking into his home. according to police, the two firefighters were shot while trying to enter the home to check to make sure everyone was okay. 13-year veteran firefighter john schneider died friday night after being shot. the funeral will take place this wednesday. 19-year-old volunteer firefighter kevin swain is expected to survive. meanwhile today, the u.s. supreme court takes on the case against president obama's executive action aimed at protecting millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. the lawsuit led by the state of texas argues that no president should have the authority to unilaterally change immigration laws. the death of justice antonin scalia raises the possibility of a split 4-4 decision in the case if that happens, then the lower

court ruling that blocked the president's order would remain in place. time now for a little sports. and we begin with a day of opening-round blowouts. yes, in the nba playoffs. pretty bad, yeah. to los angeles, the clippers showing signs of a resurgence as chris paul, blake griffin and deandre' jordan each post double-doubles in a 119-99 first round playoff win over the trail blazers. in san antonio, the spurs jump out to a 1-0 lead after 20 points from kawhi leonard pushes them past memphis, 106-74. that is a blowout. turning to the eastern conference, in miami, the heat match a franchise playoff record with 41 points in just the first quarter. and with the help of 31 scored by luol deng, they set a franchise playoff record with a total of 123 points in yesterday's win over the hornets. ouch! but in cleveland, the top-seeded cavaliers take their opener without as much ease. relying on big numbers from their big three to slip by the pistons in game one, 106-101.

>> good game. >> yeah, a pretty good game. thank you, bill. >> no problem. now to the -- >> that's what i'm here for. >> thank you. to the stanley cup playoffs. in anaheim, the predators take a 2-0 lead after downing the pacific division champion ducks 3-2 last night. in detroit, the red wings blank the lightning, 2-0. cutting tampa's series lead down to one game. in chicago, the blues jump out to a 2-1 series lead after scoring two goals in the third period to beat the defending champion blackhawks, 3-2. and in brooklyn, playoff hockey making its debut at the barclays center as the islanders host the panthers in game three. this one's decided in overtime. thomas hickey scores the game winner 12:30 into the extra period as the islanders jump out to a one-game series lead after the 4-3 victory. whew! >> you just went through -- >> i'm not a hockey guy. >> four nba games and four hockey games.

>> i should have not been asked to read that. let's get a check now from our dear friend bill. what's going on? >> unfortunately there's a life-threatening and really bad weather in texas this morning, and it's continued from the weekend. the pictures of the flash flooding came in all weekend long. this was yesterday. and that's obviously bad. but what has happened in the last 12 hours has made the situation astronomically worse. we have gotten some reports in here right outside of the houston area of about 15 to 16 inches of rain. in just the last 24 hours. imagine how much rainfall in 24 hours. they're now calling this, the weather service in the area, here's the houston area. and here's the northwest corner of harris county. they're saying that these areas out here that have picked up 10, 11, that's 13 inches of rain estimated. that this is now a 1 in 500-year flood event. i mean, that's, like, very extremely rare. the percentage of that happening going into each year is 0.5%. as far as the flash flood warnings go, right now there are firefighters that are out there in these thunderstorms, in the

lightning. there's water going into homes. they're out there in these boats trying to get these people out here. this is, again, not in houston, but it's only about 20 to 30 miles away. and now these slow-moving thunderstorms are creeping towards the houston area and they're telling everyone in the area to stay indoors. do not try to get outside. wait till these thunderstorms start to weaken. now we're under that flash flood warning even for the city of houston, sam. so the rest of the country is really calm. but feel for our friends in southeast texas this morning. >> wow, some biblical stuff there. >> it's a pretty epic, historic morning for flooding there. >> good luck to the people of houston, of course. still ahead, how hamilton the musical, you may have heard it, may have helped the founding fathers save face. and we'll explain steph curry taking in shooting and science lessons from president obama. huh? we're back in a moment. ♪ ♪

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all right. let's get a check on this morning's other headlines. for that we head to the control room and to one of the great americans of this generation, louis bergdorf. >> thank you so much, sam. it could be possible that the research engine of the popularity of the founding father alexander hamilton has saved him from being taken off the $10 bill. now, last summer it was announced that the $10 bill will get a new face, that of a significant woman in american history, but that was before the grammy-winning play "hamilton" captivated audiences. "the new york times" now reports that the treasury secretary is

leaning toward keeping the founding father on the 10 and putting a vignette of historical female figures on the other side. he's also expected to announce that a woman will be on the front of the $20 bill, supplanting former president andrew jackson, and at least one woman will be printed on an updated $5 bill. we'll see how that all plays out. now, president barack obama has teamed up with the reigning nba mvp, steph curry, to call for americans to mentor young people in their community to make a positive impact. now, the two recorded a public service announcement and had some fun along the way. take a look. >> this looks good. you don't need this little clip art over here. so let's take that out. incredible dancer. i don't know if people are going to believe you. all right. release. make sure it's on your fingertips. >> maybe i should shoot lefty. >> you can try that. >> one shot at this. >> oh! man! >> that's what i'm talking

about. that's science. >> that's science right there. >> the psa is part of a campaign by mentor, the national mentoring partnership, and the president's my brother's keeper initiative. that's really nice to see that there. finally this morning, "saturday night live" took on last week's heated democratic debate in brooklyn. larry david returned as bernie sanders, making for a "seinfeld" reunion with julia louis-dreyfus. >> hi there. yeah, i have two questions. my first is for senator sanders. >> i couldn't hear the question. >> yeah, i didn't ask it kweyet bernie. listen, you've been pretty vague in the past, but how exactly are you going to break up the big banks? >> you mean a big bank break-up? >> yeah. >> you break 'em up! >> how? how? >> once i'm elected president, i'll have a nice schvitz in the white house gym, then i'll go to the big banks, i'll sit them down and yada, yada, yada, they'll be broken up. >> what? no, no. you can't yada, yada at a

debate. also, you yada, yadaed over the best part. >> no, i mentioned the schvitz. >> okay. secretary clinton, my question for you is, doesn't it suck to be the only girl in a group of guys? >> yes, it does, my sister friend! >> bringing back the yada, yada. got to love that. >> that's funny. all right. that does it for me. and "way too early." coming up on "morning joe," donald trump continues to rail against the rnc as bernie sanders gets his biggest crowd yet. we'll have the final campaigning ahead of tomorrow's crucial new york primary. and joining the conversation, one of the truly wonderful people in the world, my boss, co-founder and president editor in chief of "the huffington post," arianna huffington. "morning joe" is just moments away.

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