defending the move to join ted cruz's ticket even though he's not the nominee and not even the front-runner. is it the beginning of the end for bernie sanders? he's now laying off staff and is also talking about his intentions if he does not win. and plus the nation's longest serving house speaker admits to sexually abusing a minor. the judge called him a quote, serial child molester and then sentenced the 74-year-old to more than a year in prison. 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, april 28th, i'm alex witt. it was a big win for donald trump as some of pennsylvania's unbound republican delegates identified their choices yesterday. and nbc news found of the 54, 35

are going for trump on the first convention ballot. two are for ted cruz, eight are uncommitted. this puts trump just nine votes short of 1,000 delegates and ted cruz more than 400 votes behind. trump has won 51% of the delegates awarded so far. and the billionaire went into tuesday needing 57% of the remaining delegates. now he just needs 49%. >> nobody is getting to 1,237 delegates. and the hoosier state is going to have a powerful voice in making that clear. >> having taken a big hit in the delegate race on tuesday, ted cruz changed up his campaign by throwing what "usa today" is calling a hail carly in indianapolis yesterday. he announced former rival carly fiorina as his chosen vice presidential candidate. they tacked a new sign on the podium and fiorina stepped into the role, taking aim at donald

trump. >> this is a fight for the soul of our party and the future of our nation. people across this nation know that donald trump and hillary clinton both will be disastrous for this nation. you know, donald trump and hillary clinton they are two sides of the same coin. they're both liberal. we know that. hillary clinton has made her millions selling access and influence from inside the system. and donald trump has made his billions buying people like hillary clinton. they are not going to challenge the system that has sold us all down the river. they're not going to challenge the elites. they're not going to challenge the system. they are the system. >> carly fiorina ran for the u.s. senate in california in 2010 against democratic senator barbara boxer and yesterday, boxer weighed in. the senator tweeted, i predict

that the latest carly fiorina merger will be as successful as her last one. a reference to hewlett-packard's acquisition of packard. well, trump has tough words and he rallied supporters in indiana last night and he got an endorsement from bobby knight. >> i'm not here to represent the republican party and i'm not here to represent any organization that deals with politics. i think -- i think the most important thing in the world is that we vote for the best man there is for this job and you've already met him. >> today i'm in the plane, and i see on television they have a new relationship that's started. cruz and carly. he's mathematically eliminated. he has set a record though. he is the first presidential candidate in the history of this

country who's mathematically eliminated from becoming president who chose a vice presidential candidate. okay? >> by the way that tweet from boxer she was referring to hewlett-packard's acquisition of come pac. well, trump focused on global affairs. reading from a teleprompter he vowed to shake the rust off the foreign policy and pursuing an american first strategy as president. >> my foreign policy will always put the interests of the american people and american security above all else. has to be first. it has to be. americans must know we're putting the american people first again. on trade -- [ applause ] so true. on trade, on immigration, on foreign policy. the jobs, incomes and security of the american worker will always be my first priority.

both our friends and our enemies put their countries above ours. and we, while being fair to them, must start doing the same. >> trump also called for a reset of american relations and said of russia and china we're not bound to be adversaries. most of trump's criticisms were levelled at president obama. he saved some shots for hillary clinton too. >> i challenge anyone to explain the strategic foreign policy vision of obama/clinton. it has been a complete and total disaster. after secretary clinton's failed intervention in libya, islamic terrorists in benghazi took down our consulate and killed our ambassador and three brave americans. then instead of taking charge that night, hillary clinton decided to go home and sleep.

incredible. >> senator bernie sanders' path to the possible democratic nomination is increasingly tenuous with each passing day and then yesterday a grim headline. the campaign would let go dozens of staffers. they'll get rid of 225 staffers and keep some on in california, indiana and d.c. officials say they no longer need many of their national and state level staff with primaries completed. now with sanders way down, it begs the question -- when will the democratic primary conclude? how and what will his role be within the party and at the convention if he doesn't get the nomination? >> let me also make it clear so that there is no confusion. we are in this campaign to win and become the democratic nominee. i am very good in arithmetic. and i can count delegates and we are behind today.

but you know what? unusual things happen in politics. and with your help, we are gonna win the pledged delegates. and with your help, super delegates may reach the conclusion that bernie sanders would be the strongest candidate against donald trump or any other republican. but if we do not win, we intend to win every delegate that we can. so that when we go to philadelphia in july, we're going to have the votes to put together the strongest progressive agenda that any political party has ever seen. >> well, despite the calls in the clinton camp to tone down the rhetoric, sanders made this comment to chris jansing

yesterday when asked about whether he's giving trump fodder against the former secretary of state. >> either you or hillary clinton going to have to run against him and he said, he would like to your speeches for very good material against hillary clinton. starting with she has bad judgment. >> well, look, the republican party will have dozens of oppositional researchers. they don't need my speeches to talk about hillary clinton. i mean, things like the clinton foundation, or things like the e-mail situation, i don't talk about this. i have never talked about it, one word on this campaign. i suspect very much that donald trump and the republican party will go after her in many, many ways that we have not. now to baltimore where an investigation is under way after an officer shot a 13-year-old boy who they say refused to drop a b-b gun. police released this photo of the gun which the police commissioner described as a dead on ringer for a beretta 9

millimeter pistol. when the boy was ordered to drop the gun he refused so police fired. his injuries are described as nonlife threatening. the commissioner says at the moment there's no reason to believe that the officers acted inappropriately. the shooting came on the one year anniversary of the shooting of freddie gray. and 74-year-old robert gates used a volunteer on a violent -- used to volunteer on the violent crimes task force and last april he shot 44-year-old eric harris after he fled a gun sale sting. the incident was captured on body camera footage. bates drew his gun when he shot harris who had been tackled and had been held on the ground. bates could be heard say, i shot him, i'm sorry. the jury recommended a sentence of four years in prison. calling him a serial child molester a judge sentenced dennis hastert the longest serving house speaker to 15 months in prison.

the sentence delivered in a chicago federal courtroom comes six months after hastert pleaded guilty to making illegal cash withdraws in a case involving hush money that was used to cover up sexual abuse of a minor. nbc's stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: former speaker of the house dennis hastert arrived at the federal courthouse in a wheelchair. his lawyers argued his poor health should keep him out of prison. but the judge was unsparing. saying if hastert nothing is more stunning than having serial child molester and speaker of the house in the same sentence. hastert was sentence to 15 months in prison for illegally structuring cash withdrawals, hush money to pay a man who was sexually abused by hastert. the statute of limitations has expired but the judge considered

the allegations in giving him nearly three times the sentencing recommendation from the federal prosecutor. the lawyer for the alleged victim reacted to the sentence. >> they worked hard to get at the truth and eventually i think they got there. >> reporter: scott cross also wrestled for the yorkville team. now a 53-year-old business man and a father of two. he was referred to as individual "d" by federal prosecutors until speaking out in court. >> after decades of unfathomable silence, he stood up and spoke the truth. >> reporter: at times breaking down with emotion, cross told the judge that coach hastert sexually abused me my senior year of high school. he never told anyone about his darkest secret. even as his brother tom would become the leader of the gop in illinois. closely mentored by dennis hastert. the sister of stephen reinboldt also spoke today in court. her brother died of aids in 1995. >> it wasn't steve making up the story. >> reporter: so it's validation?

>> absolutely. >> reporter: in court, the judge asked him about reinboldt. did you sexually abuse him? yes. standing to deliver a statement in a shaky voice, hastert said i wanted to apologize to the boys i mistreated when i was their coach. still, the judge issued a harsh rebuke. concluding in his words that some actions can obliterate a lifetime of good works. >> the judge said that if the hearing leads to the public shaming then quote, so be it. in a statement hastert's lawyer says he accepts the sentence and hopes he can focus on the health and the emotional damage he's inflicted on friends and family. let's turn to business where two major central banks left economic policy unchanged. the federal reserve has held off on the interest rate hike and the bank of japan shocked many by not adding stimulus to the economy. sending the yen up and japanese stocks into decline. cnbc's louisa bojesen is joining us from london. what does this mean looking ahead? >> it means we're still data

dependent for the time being. and look at the u.s., yellin has become dovish. so they're moving away from each other as well and essentially what the fed did was nothing. they left everything unchanged but they did keep the door open to the potential hike in june. that's still on the table. they acknowledge the weaker first quarter gdp data. and household income is seen as well as being relatively strong, but dropped the reference to global risks. they took that away. in terms of the bank of japan very important move there because they defied all expectation, kept monetary policy steady. and didn't give us any fresh stimulus. there had been a lot of expectations they could do that, they're dealing with a strong yen and soft demand as welt. looking what the yen did, leaving the rates on hold, they jumped by some 2.5% and still looking at the strength in the yen. the issue is what happens next? that's it for business today. lots of central bank watch. >> thank you.

in a historic move a woman is set to become the first ever female infantry officer. kristen griest became one of the first women to graduate from the army range school. today she's graduating from the course. the army approved 22 female officer candidates for ground combat roles. part of an historic shift in policy as the pentagon continues to open all combat jobs to women. still ahead here on "way too early," joseph gordon-levitt makes his debut as edward snowden in the movie about his life. we have a trailer that's called unnervingly sexy by one critic. some 19 tornadoes were reported in all. now a new weather threat to tell you a about, so bill karins has the weather forecast when "way too early" comes back.

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it's time now for sports. we begin with nba playoffs in oakland. the warriors klay thompson and draymond green proving they can run the offense without the injured curry. thompson had seven three-pointers in the game. green adding 15. the warriors oust the rockets after 114-108 win. they'll face the winner of the clippers/trail blazers series. the los angeles trail blazers game, trail blad blazer missing the injured chris paul and blake griffin and lillard scored his points in the fourth quarter and that helped hem to win. checking out miami the hornets and heat in a tight game 5 match-up. miami clinging to a one-point lead. >> the step back. off the rim. sent down by lee. lee opens it up.

courtney lee from long range. >> charlotte's lee with the offensive board and go ahead three-pointer with over 25 seconds to play. the hornets win it, 90-88. they take a 3-2 series lead over the heat. let's turn now to some of the highlights out of major league baseball. in tampa, rays outfielder stephen souza chasing down a line drive hit by the orioles chris davis to the warning track in right center field. look at that man laying out the come up with the diving catch. the os win it 3-2. trevor story puts colorado on the board with the ninth home run of the season and that sets a record for a rookie in april. as for the game the pirates win it, 9-8 after 12 innings. finally a clutch block off the court for a rising basketball star. the lakers nick young, okay, he's dating iggy azalea.

yesterday she walked in on him mid tattoo session and stopped him from a permanent misspelling? see that? that's just the outline. >> i guess they're on good terms now. because if they weren't on good terms she might have been like, go ahead. >> wouldn't be too pretty there. let's get the weather, mr. karens, what's up? >> i thought it would be a small thing. to each their own. yesterday, tornados were rampant. we had 19 reports of tornadoes. they're mostly in open fields and open areas. some were fairly impressive. there you can see one kind of in the background there. omaha and nebraska -- there's a better one. this one is from iowa yesterday. this is out over an open farmer's field. it had width to it too and did some damage, but nothing structurally and flooding was a problem in indiana.

water was very high after numerous thunderstorms rolled through and unfortunately this morning we're doing it all over again. indianapolis has some steady rain, a few claps of thunder and. also in virginia, light rain and through west virginia too. this is what's traveling into the areas of washington, d.c. as we go through the day today. not a heavy rain. but it's just going to be kind of cool, kind of gloomy. highs in the 50s. that light rain is moving to the north here. and shortly in norfolk too. down to the south, we could see isolated severe weather in north carolina. this afternoon, afternoon activity could be rained out possibly. so we have to watch that. also, late late tonight this is where we reload. another severe weather outbreak is on the way to texas. but that's late tonight into early tomorrow morning and then friday and saturday, severe weather in texas. you have some soggy wild weather. >> the night storms scare me.

because it's dark and you can't see. still ahead, carly fiorina comes out swinging and twitter goes wild. we'll have that when "way too early" comes right back. (avo) i've always been a dog person. my name is barbara and i make dog chow natural in davenport, iowa. 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 artificial colors, preservatives and it's made with real chicken. he's got so much energy. his coat is so shiny. and he just seems over all happier. i'm so proud to make dog chow natural in davenport, iowa. (pilot talking to tower on radio) once you get out here... there's just one direction... forward. one time:

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we have got some more headlines for you. let's go to the control courtroom and there's louis. take it away. >> good morning. yesterday when ted cruz announced carly fiorina as his

running mate we learned something new about his relationship with his family. cruz says his 8 and 5-year-old daughters have grown close to his new vp pick while campaigning with them over the last month. on the campaign bus, fiorina sings to them. yesterday, fiorina gave us a little preview. ♪ i know two girls that i just adore ♪ ♪ i'm so happy i can see them more ♪ ♪ because we travel on the bus all day ♪ ♪ we get to play we get to play ♪ i won't bore with you any more of the song. but they have four verses, caroline and katherine, love you girls. >> sounds like a sweet song. he's been called whistle-blower to patriot to traitor, now edward snowden's story is making its mark on hollywood. it's directed by oliver stone, starring gordon joseph leff it

in the lead role. he leaked thousands of classified government documents. >> the best i can tell, walking around with two broken legs for weeks. when do i go back? >> you ever again land on those legs your bones will turn to powder. >> you wanted to be special forces? >> yes, sir. >> why do you want to join the cia? >> i'd like to help my country make a difference in the world. the average test time is five hours. >> it's been 40 minutes. >> 38 minutes. what should i do now? >> whatever you want. >> the deputy director of the nsa offered me a new position. >> can you tell me anything about it? >> you know i can't. >> looks good from the trailer. snowden arrives in theaters september the 16th. finally this morning, nbc news correspondent and frequent "way too early" host chris jansing caught up with bernie sanders on the campaign trail in

the unlikeliest of locations -- the basketball court. as you see, jansing did not go easy on the 74-year-old as the two went head to head in the paint. bernie attempted shot after shot with chris playing some very difficult defense. but i've got to give it up for both of them. senator sanders did pretty well and so did chris. i think what going in overtime. i don't know if that's a clear winner here. >> no, it's chris. always friends first. come on. that's the way it is. >> that's true. >> thank you for that. well, that does it for me and "way too early." coming up on "morning joe," ted cruz's new running mate carly fiorina joins the discussion. we'll ask why she thinks the two of them together can do what they haven't been able to do separately which is stop donald trump. "morning joe" is moments away. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. for those who've served and the families that have supported them,

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despite losing five primaries, ted cruz stunned everybody by announcing his vice presidential candidate is carly fiorina. he loses five primaries and then announces, hey, fiorina is my vice president. this means fiorina