they will not proceed. but they're going to try. succe. koskinen is not bothering to show up himself. but they'll try. "first look" is up next. it's tuesday, may 24th. schools in 21 states hit with a wave of bomb threats impacting thousands. but that's not all. donald trump using scorched earth tactics against hillary clinton while bernie sanders refuses to give up the fight. heads are rolling at the tsa, but will lines get any shorter? plus, after almost 140 million views, chewbacca mania has reached hyper drive. get ready for sporting goods fire sale. and the tradition continues at annapolis. "first look" starts right now. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us today. i'm betty nguyen. thousands of students were

evacuated yesterday after receiving calls of coordinated recorded threats of violence. multiple school in at least 21 state received the threats. many from the electronically disguised voice. none of the threats were credible. the fbi tells nbc news it is aware of the calls and that it is in touch with local law enforcement to provide assistance. now, a similar wave of threats disrupted classes in l.a., new york and back in december. the fight for the soul of the democratic party rages on as hillary clinton and bernie sanders sharpens the attacks. the clinton campaign says the time for debating is over. clinton formally declined the debate saying her time is best spent on the campaign trial and focusing attention to the threat of donald trump presidency poses. now sanders wasn't too thrilled with that response. this is what he said to a packed santa monica crowd. >> i was disturbed but not

surprised to hear a few hours ago that secretary clinton has backed out of the debate -- [ crowd boos ] >> i think i have -- i have to tell you this. i think it's insulting to the people of california, our largest state. >> he then told a crowd he'd march his way into the democratic convention. >> i believe that if we do well here in california, we'll march in with momentum and we'll march out with the democratic nomination. >> in an exclusive interview with the associated press, sanders said the democratic convention could be quote messy if democrats don't embrace his supporters. >> i think if they make the right choice and open the doors to working class people and young people, create the kind of dynamism that the democratic party needs, it's going to be messy, you know? democracy is not always nice and quiet and gentle. but that is where the democratic party should go. >> so you think the convention

could be messy? >> so what? democracy is messy. i have every day of my life is messy. but if you want everything to be quiet and orderly and allow, you know, just things to proceed without vigorous debate, that is not the what democracy is about. >> sanders notched a win yesterday by taking five key seats on the dnc platform committee. that committee will decide the party's agenda heading into the convention and general election. that comes as our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll says that 40% believe the fight is good. 22% it's bad. a majority of the americans have a negative opinion of clinton. while sanders enjoys a positive rating of 43%. in fact, president obama is the only politician polled that has a higher approval rating with 49% of americans approving of his job performance. the lowest rated american politician in our poll -- donald

trump. 29% positive rating compared to the 58% negative rating. clinton touted her experience as the best person to take the white house next november and she'll be releasing a new ad later this morning going after trump over the housing crisis while trump released an instagram video of his own attacking the clinton's history with women. it has the voices of two women who accused bill clinton of sexual assault years ago. >> i was very nervous. >> no woman should be subjected to it. it was an assault. >> he starts to bite on my top lip and i tried to pull away from him. [ laughter ] >> that video came after trump drudged up another controversy. this time, the 1993 suicide of clinton's staffer vincent foster. trump told "the washington post," quote it's the one thing with her, whether it's whitewater or whether it's vince foster or whether it's benghazi

it's always a mess with hillary. he called theories of possible foul play in foster's death very serious and the circumstances of foster's death very fishy. he said he had intimate knowledge, he knew everything that was going on and then all of a sudden he committed suicide. foster's death is the subject of intense speculation on the internet. and the tsa has seen the first management casualty in the wake of mounting criticism over missed flights. kelly hoggan has been removed from his position as tsa's security chief. according to an internal memo obtained by nbc news, he has been the focus of congressional inquiries was reassigned to new duties. part of the series of moves after hundreds were stranded in security lines as plains took off from chicago o'hare this month. and final moments in the

doomed egyptair flight last week. egyptian authorities are refuting the allegations saying it swerved before vanishing off radar. tom costello has the latest. >> reporter: as the latest effort to find the egyptair flight in the sea, they're contradicting greek military reports about the final moments of the plane. insisting the plane never made erratic turns or descended dramatically. that it remained on course at 37,000 feet until going off radar. meanwhile u.s. navy p-3 planes have found two debris fields of wreckage and passenger clothing. >> the water, it's a big space and finding small things in the water is extremely difficult. >> reporter: egypt's civil aviation administration said there's no sign of the plane. >> we are far way from closing in on the fuselage of the aircraft. >> reporter: still no indication of what caused the crash. if it were a bomb, experts would

not expect it to fly another seven minutes before going off radar. if it was an electrical fire, it would go on longer on descent. >> we don't know yet. >> reporter: the last automated messages were overheat and smoke warns and then computer warnings. the forward bay sits under the cockpit housing all the computers that run the plane. experts say a fire here could take out critical flight control systems or cause the computers to send faulty signals for systems that aren't failing. meanwhile, an urgent search for the plane's black boxes thought to be amid the wreckage on sea floor, likely in the deepest part of the med 10,000 feet down. with the muddy bottom that had swallowed up shipwrecks for thousands of year. the search area is the size of connecticut. law enforcement officials

tell nbc news virginia governor terry mcauliffe is -- a democratic, a long time confidant is being looked at by the fbi. officials have been investigating into whether there was political contributions that were forbidden by federal law. officials are looking at them from a chinese politician and a business man. foreign nationals are barred from contributing to the campaigns, however, he maintains he is a long term u.s. citizen. neither the governor or his campaign have knowledge of this. he will cooperate with the government if contacted about it. he's a former board member of the clinton foundation. over 100 donors contributed to both the campaign. this happened in the same state where bob mcconnell is appealing a two-year prison sentence for public corruption. all right. so it will cost you to be a

happy chewbacca. check out this video. it went viral less than a week ago and almost after 140 million views the mask worn by candice payne is now the hottest thing in the country. that laugh. well, these electronic masks are fetching upwards of $500 on ebay. it retailed for only 30 bucks apiece. but after this video went into hyper drive the prices sky rocketed after supplies ran out at major toy chains. and we go from pricey chewbacca masks to the one and only landon dowdy. >> good morning. what's the difference? i don't need the mask. >> you don't need a mask ever. >> wait, are you ready for this? i'm going to do it. >> work on that, landon. >> all right. let's get down to business though. everything must go. sports authority is launching going out of business sales this week after announcing it will close all of its stores. the chain which filed for bankruptcy three months ago and initially planned to close just a third of the locations. meanwhile, americans are addicted to the mobile devices.

consumers used ten gigabytes of data last year. that's nearly double from 2013 and that's boosting the wireless companies which pulled in $200 billion last year. >> huge business. and facebook is making choices to the trending topics. an internal review found no evidence of political bias among the changes though betty facebook will drop reliance on news outlets such as the "wall street journal" and huffington post. that's no doubt that chewbaka masks are trending. >> definitely. hit the records with that one. thank you, landon. well, there's new controversy at the veterans administration to tell you about. plus, america's best and bravest's tradition. ten minutes past the hour.

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well, welcome back to "first look." tracking severe storms in the middle of the country and talking about the big warm-up. summer like conditions for much of the ohio valley and east coast. a lot of us have been waiting for it. it's coming right in time for the holiday weekend. worst weather this morning is in northern kansas. we didn't have that much severe weather yesterday. and areas of enhanced risk are in oklahoma and western nebraska. isolated tornados there. large and damaging hail the biggest threat in the middle of the country. as far as the east goes, one more miserable morning, cloudy and dreary, on long island, back down to the jersey shore. d.c., and philadelphia, and baltimore not bad. you should see improving weather as your day goes on. so let's talk about the warmth that is building for today. raleigh about 82 degrees. about 83 in st. louis. very comfortable and very nice. boston cold and chilly.

tomorrow we start to heat up. new york city gets up to 88 degrees. the warmest day so far this year. charlotte at 88 and betty as we head into thursday, 89 in philly and right through the weekend. the warmth holds on. it's on. air conditioning weather. >> bring it on, thank you. one of the top stories in "usa today" iraqi forces may face human shields as fallujah offensive begins. while iraqi forces advanced, the situation gets complicated as reports from residents say they're using civilians as human shields. veterans administration secretary bob mcdonald is drawing harsh criticism for comparing wait times to theme parks. >> you go to disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line or the -- you know what's important? what's important is what's your satisfaction with the experience. >> mcdonald said the v.a. is

developing a new measure to reflect the veterans' experiences but the backlash was swift. tammy duckworth and iraq veteran called the remarks tone deaf. paul ryan said veterans have died waiting in the lines. it was all about tradition and team work. the cannon blast launched a thousand freshmen toward the greased up herndon monument. the plebes successfully capped the stone with an upper classmen hat in a tradition that goes back many, many decades. always fun to watch. now to sports. the cleveland cavaliers they were ice cold in toronto hitting just 3 of 22 shots in the first half. but it was one who kept them in check. the cavs battled but a late surge put the raptors over the top for the win. the series is tied at two apiece. the nba has fined golden state warriors green $25,000 for

a groin kick. warrior fans can listen up, green won't be suspended for tonight's game 4. the streaking mets though they got some help from the captain david wright with this three run homer in the third. they managed to beat washington 7-1 as they come within a half game of the first place nationals. a pitching gem in l.a. the dodgers kershaw had a complete game, striking out seven on just 102 pitches. while retiring his final 17 batters. dodgers over the reds, 1-0. 17 minutes past the hour. "scrambled politics" is next. one coat, yes! ♪ there is a day, for every number. ♪ ♪ there is a time, for all my slumbers. ♪ one coat guaranteed marquee interior. behr's most advanced paint.

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20 minutes past the hour. time your tuesday edition of "scrambled politics." president obama took a little detour during his visit to vietnam. he dined with celebrity chef anthony bourdain sharing a big plate of leafy greens, bowls of soups and local beers. the president on his chop stick skills are commended, i should say. the total cost of the meal -- 6 bucks. that's all it cost. according to bourdain, he picked up the check. that was nice of him. the registration deadline to vote in california's june 7th primary closed last night. it looks fass the democratic party -- looks as if the democratic party will be a big winner. they have enjoyed a spike they added 1.5 million new voters. that's double the number added in 2012 and democrats may have

donald trump to thank for it. a data analyst told politico, the upticks have been greatest among the democrats and latinos on those days where donald trump is kind of dominating the conversation. meanwhile, trump met with one of his rumored vp pick, tennessee senator and foreign affairs committee chairman bob corker. corker visited trump on his home turf and was the highest ranking member to visit him there. corker dismissed those vp rumors. >> i was up here last monday meeting with henry kissinger. i'm in new york a good deal. and, you know, i think it's certainly worthwhile to sit down and get to know the nominee in a different way. look, i said this when this all came up a couple of weeks ago. i have no reason whatsoever to believe that i'm being considered for a position like that. and that my friends is your

morning dish of "scrambled politics." all right, coming up on 22 past the hour, tonight bring in daniel litman co-author of "politico playbook." how are you? >> i'm doing great. >> donald trump is taking the scorched earth tactic in going after hillary clinton specifically dredging up vince foster's suicide. will that spark new concern for voters? >> i think it's, you know, you should keep in mind the -- if you're a person living in a glass house how many rocks should you be throwing? because trump has his own baggage that hillary will probably bring up, his dealings with the mob and his troubled history with women. he doesn't want to be playing in the mud too much or else everyone will get splattered. >> trump is also airing new ads of women who accused former president bill clinton of sexual assault. is this going to help him or hurt him when it comes to female voters? >> i think that, you know, a charge he's made is more to rile up the republican base.

i don't see how many democratic voters are going to vote for trump in the first place so it's more to remind americans of this history. but, you know, trump is a guy who's been married three times and, you know, with one of his ex-wives he announced his divorce on the newspaper and left and went for breakfast. that's something to remind voters of too. >> do you think she'll do that swiftly of wait a bit? >> the hillary campaign is trying to focus on policy, but a lot of americans don't care about policy every time. so we'll see that when the hillary campaign feels like trump is most vulnerable to the attacks. >> well, meanwhile, trump met with senator bob corker. now, corker is down playing talk of being considered for a vp. but would he be a good choice for trump? >> you know, that clip you played of saying he doesn't know if he's being considered that's something that you would expect

someone who is being considered to say. >> that's almost the tell tale sign, right? >> it's an indication that corker would be a good choice. he's respected on both sides of the aisle. he likes the style of politics trump brings of, you know, making deals and corker does not like how washington operates. so if he could be his partner, that would be good for trump. >> daniel, thank you for your insight today. i appreciate it. just ahead, how a friendly window war with post it notes became a viral sensation. what a beautiful shot behind the washington monument there. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. just like i would with a real pencil. i've been a forensic artist for over 30 years. i do the composite sketches which are the bad guy sketches. you need good resolution, powerful processor because the computer has to start thinking as fast as my brain does. i do this because i want my artwork to help people.

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a baltimore police officer charged in connection with the debt oh freddie gray has been found not guilty on all counts. judge williams said that the evidence provide was not evidence to convict him. nero is one of the six officers charged and the second to be tried in the freddie gray case. a friendly war has broken out in the streets of new york and it's gaining global attention. called the post it battle advertising and media officials engaged in the one-upmanship as they communicate in the most creative ways. and bill's favorite animal an otter. but this was abandoned by his family, but it's getting thank you start. the 6 week old otter was found abandoned in a backyard last week. he was covered in ticks and visibly depressed.

he will be flown to kentucky until he can survive on his own or just adopt it. >> i would adopt it. >> your kids would love i. >> they'd go in and out of the pool. they're fun. >> so fun to watch. you're right. i'm betty nguyen. this is "first look" on msnbc. like us on facebook. "way too early" begins right now. abc news, cheesecake factory poll, voters favor donald trump over clinton 46 to 44%. but how do you feel about it? okay, 46 to 44, if you do the math, that only adds up to 90%. because the final 10% just kept whispering kill me. >> all right. we are just getting started. donald trump ups the ante in his

attacks on bill clinton. even digging up the old '90s murder conspiracy allegation. the very latest on that. meanwhile, hillary clinton who wants to focus full-time on trump is still battling bernie sanders who's now warning of a quote messy democratic convention. the nfl under fire, congressional investigators accused the league of trying to improperly influence research into concussions. we'll tell you how the nfl is responding. good morning, everybody. 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early." >> amazing. day two. good morning. tuesday, may 24. i'm thomas roberts. donald trump took his criticisms of bill clinton to a new and bizarre level yesterday.