it's thursday, april 7th, coming up on "early today," qualified to serve. bernie sanders says hillary clinton is not qualified and the fire storm that followed. and ted cruz invades the donald's home turf of new york. and a felony threat investigation into charlie sheen and ex-fiance. and dry ground causing wild fires to explode in four states.

country legend, merrill haggard continues. the hang over from the wisconsin primaries has hit hard. a war over who is qualified to be president is escalating. senator, bernie sanders made a startling claim. >> she has been saying lately that she thinks that i am quote on quote not qualified to be president. [ crowd boos] >> i don't think that you are qualified if you get $15 million from wall street through your super pack. [ applause ] i don't think you are qualified if you have voted for the disastrous war in iraq. [ applause ] >> the remarks came after

plan to bring large banks to the editorial board which clinton was asked about wednesday. >> in light of the questions he had problems with, do you believe this morning that bernie sanders is qualified and ready to be president of the united states? >> well, i think the interview raised a lot of really serious questions. and i look at it this way. the core of his campaign has been break up the banks and it didn't seem, in reading his answers, that he understood exactly how that would work under dod frank said. s. >> >> they will hold dualing press conferences this morning. now to the republican side,

are taking a bruising p. and trump tries to regain his footing with voters in more friendly territory. cruz still feeling spurned by the texan's new york values remark. a debate moment trump is using against his rival. >> i've got this guy standing over there looking at me talking about new york values with scorn in his face, with hatred of new york. so, folks, i think you can forget about him. >> cruz defending his comments. >> the people of new york know exactly what those values are. they're the values of liberal democratic politicians like andrew cuomo, like elliott spitzer, like charley wrangle, all of whom donald trump has supported, given 10s of thousands of dollars throughout

>> trump maintains a is it eddie home field advantage, showing over 50% support and less than two weeks from the april 19th primary. now to the ongoing fallout from the panama papers. u.s.a. today reporting that hundreds of americans are listed in documents. so far most appear to be retirees who bought real estate in places like costa rica and panama. and some face charges such as money laundering. and the u.s. is getting set to proposing mandates for banks to reidentify the aen company. it's meant to close a major loophole that allows the secretive moves uncovered. and they only have to know who

and panama's president said he will find ways to improve transparency in the off shore financial industry. a 17-year-old texas girl has died from an exploding airbag made by takata corporation. she was driving a 2002 honda civic and her identity has not been made public. honda says several recall notices were sent to the owners but repairs were not made. this is the 10th death in the united states related to the faulty airbags. they can send shrapnel at drivers and passengers. the government says the recalls could be expanded charlie sheen, he is back in the spotlight and once again, not for his acting p. . the los angeles police department has launched a felony threat investigation triggered

an attorney for ross says she recently sought a protective order and he admits to lying about his hiv status. ross, a retired adult film star has previously accused sheen of assault, battery and other charges. sheen's manager tells nbc news quote, scotty ross is a prostitute who told him what he wanted to hear and she started a lawsuit all because sheen doesn't want to marry her. while parts of the country still waiting for spring to thaw out finally, at least four states are dealing with wild fires exploding through areas already devastated by drought. >> reporter: across oklahoma in kansas, wind is driving wild fires, fuelling flames in this

more than 55,000 acres already torched. hundreds forced to evacuate, many volunteering to help. >> i don't want them to keep burning and burning and burning. >> reporter: it's still not known how many homes have been lost. >> my friend is around the corner and we don't even know if they have a home anymore. >> reporter: in woodward county, oklahoma, the flames exploded. two rescuing a tractor driver with no time to spare. a narrow, and harrowing escape. >> oh, my god. >> thank you, guys. >> reporter: in kansas, a red flag warning. flames threatening entire neighborhoods, destroying this school. in new mexico, the wind generating this tumble weed tornado and increasing the fire danger. back east, another extreme.

and temperatures. record lows in at least seven cities. some temperatures 20 degrees below average. meanwhile, a new fire burning on the arizona-california border has grown to more than 1400 acres and prompted a mandatory evacuation. now to the migrant crisis in europe. in a horrific moment between clashes in greece, shocking video shows a man holding opbaby and threatening to throw her at police officers. another manilater took the child and handed her back safely to the mother. greek authorities have been trying to convince them to move to organized camps. time to get the latest on the forecast. hopefully things are improving, bill karins, the pressure is on. >> warmer but wetter.

>> along the southern portion of the storm in alabama, a serious storm went through. we haven't got confirmation yet whether it was a tornado but significant damage was done to a couple of structures in the area. so, we'll see sun up how bad that was. this morning the storms have weakened and looks like they're going to be absolutely fine, augusta, georgia. by tee time. and eventually they'll move towards raleigh if you're leaving the door in the next hour. and heaviest rain over washington d.c., 8:00 and by the time we get to noon, philadelphia in the midst of heavy rain. by the time we get to the evening ride home, the heaviest rain will be ending in new york

coastal areas of maine and behienld be behind it we're going to transfer to snow showers. today it begins in the northern portions of the rockies and over the weekend, the cold blast over the midatlantic, the northeast and the great lakes. and possibly even snow for new england on saturday. now a closer look at your day ahead. well, we have beautiful weather in some spots of the country. texas today, 87 in dallas. that's a very warm and almost summer-like. the opposite in areas of the great lakes, 44 in detroit. this will be hopefully almost promising the least cold blast. >> almost. >> i've only i said that four or five times.

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. welcome back everybody. don blankenship, former ceo energy was fined $250,000. safety lapses at a west virginia coal mine led to an explosion that killed minors. and he was accused of trying to violate safety standards. one year is the minimum. and the number of adults with diabetes world wide has quadrupled in four decades. so, how much exercise do you need? two slices of pizza will cost you an hour 1/2 of walking, 43 minutes of running. and new exercise labels are gaining traction. for example, a soda will take a 26 minute walk or 13 minute run

found at today.com. and then there's this, sing singer sing singer kesha will not be let out of her contract. it said the alleged abuse occurred outside of new york and outside the statute of limitations. she filed a complaint in california where the abuse is alleged to have happened. dr. luke has denied the claim saying he never had sex with the singer. time to get down to business. more than 40% of americans that owe a over $2 billion are falling behind. ivanka trump's line of skarvs have been recalled.

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this morning on "today," scientology disconnect. find out why couples have purchased a bill board in l.a. urging scientists to reconnect with loved ones that have been cut off. ahead of today's masters tee off, a family day in augusta that had a number of holes in one. justin thomas, a perfect 130 yards that lands and rolls right into the cup for the ace. look at that. and that was immediately followed by ricky fowler who matched thomas's hole in one. there must by a trick there somewhere. two in a row, really?

three time masters champion, gary player tee off at the seven hole. wait for it. >> there's lot of really good players that haven't played in 35 majors. >> yes. >> yes. worth the wait. that player's fourth career ace in the par three contest. he celebrated with his grandson, along with the golden bear himself, jack nicholas. and jack teeing off and much more of a family friendly atmosphere. the masters tees off today in augusta. one cute little kid.

soccer legend wambach. she was arrested on suspicion of dui. and the 35-year-old admitted trying marijuana and cocaine 10 years earlier. just ahead, saying good bye to a country music legend. how fellow artists are paying tribute to to see me. see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that... ...i won't stop until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% clearance. do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur... ...tell your doctor if you have

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now for some entertainment news. i'm proud to be a hoke ae y >> country music legend, merle haggard pasds sed away yesterday on his 79th birthday. he recorded dozens of country music hits. tributes poured in, including this from sharyl crow. and from luke bryan. get excited potter fans, the wizarding world of harry potter is opening this mornings at universal studios hollywood. and more potter news, the chair

at a new york city auction for $394,000. that chair right there. >> does it look that comfy to you? >> not at all but it's worth a pretty penny comfy or not. and sales of the song "jump man and future" jumped up after swift sang it in the commercial. that's the best. and in today's episode of "ellen" she addresses the contra controversial mississippi bill that states the government will not punish businesses for refusing services to the lgbt community. >> when i see something wrong, i have to talk about it. it's the same thing i do when i see men wearing spandex in line at starbucks. it's wrong and i need to discuss it. sometimes it's easier to explain

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leading the news on nbcnews.com, octopus removed from 2-year-old kansas boy's throat. the toddler was transported to a local hospital and listed in serious condition. his mother's boyfriend is suspected of child abuse. the octopus appeared to be intenlded in intended for sushi. and the antonin scalia school of law was the acronym caused some controversy on

they've since changed the name to the antonin scalia law school. meanwhile, secretary kerry landed in balk rain, narrowly beating a previous record by condoleezza rice. he could very well pad his new record with hundreds of thousands of additional miles. it will be a hard record to be indeed since he can became the top diplomat, he has spent more than 2300 hours in the air. women seeking abortion in louisiana may have to wait a couple days. supporters of the bill believe the extra wait time may help redice the number of abortions by giving women more time to

it now moves to the senate for approval. so, listen up hedge hog fans, japan has something just for you. a hedge hog cafe. for a fee of just 1,000 yen, the equivalent of 9 u.s. dollars, you can have an hour of play time with these prickly animals. and the name is a play on the name in japanese, needle. how cute are they? if you don't believe in unicorns, this unicorn sheep might change your mind. the sheep, called peanut has become a star attraction after its other horn was ripped out by children. and president obama is expected to talk where he once taught constitutional law and expected to make his case for

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after a driver leaves a man to die after running him over in queens. our eyes are glued to starm team 4 radar timing out when you'll see the most rain today. violence in schools is impacting their students so much -- it's thursday morning, it's april 7th. i'm darlene rodriguez. i'm michael gargiulo. we're thrilled to welcome storm team 4's chris cimino back with us today. >> hey guys. nice to see you. i'm sorry, i missed all that exciting weather. >> i know you are. >> no, i'm not. we have more exciting weather. we have wet weather coming in later this morning and afternoon. a line of showers and thunderstorms out to the west of us. the morning commute basically dry, i think. may be a couple of light spotty showers out there. the steadier rain mochs in by this afternoon. in addition, wins will get cranky.