it is friday, april 15th. coming up on "early today," the brooklyn brawl ahead of tuesday's new york primary. while the republicans were in black tie mode. a deadly earthquake rocks japan with aftershocks continuing to rattle communities but an 8-month old is pulled from a collapsed house. and a mom videos her son being padled in school. an escaped chim pans panzee

and the "early today" startsds right now. good morning everybody on this friday. all right, so the sparks they were flying as the democrats battled in brooklyn in what was perhaps the most contentious debate yet. and questioned who has the right judgment to be president. nbc breaks it all down. >> reporter: it was a brawl. bernie sanders need acknowlede ing a sknowlede ing a bernie sanders need acknowlede ing a knockout in the new york primary. and 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

going to bring change in america when she is so dependent on big money interests? i don't think so. >> this is a phoney attack. i called them out on their mortgage behavior. >> oh, my goodness. they must have been really crushed by that. >> 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 to the maker of the rifle that killed their children. >> heerbz rr i've got a d-minus voting record from the nra. >> reporter: a debate full of passion and personal attacks. i'm steve handles, nbc news, brooklyn. >> so, this morning people are

if twitter is any indication, hillary clinton had the slight advantage. and the latest poll shows hillary clinton with a substantial 17-point lead. sanders, meanwhile, is right now on his way to the vatican for a meeting on economic and social issues. it's unclear if he'll be meeting with pope francis. and on the republican side, donald trump holds a commanding lead in his home state and now has the backing of the new york tabloid, the new york post. last night the candidates spoke at the new york republican gala. trump gave an impassioned defense of his new york values while taking a shot at a former candidate. >> number one, honesty, and straight talking.

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 teatlling you he'd have much more energy than he has now. i'm telling you. >> ted cruz, on the other hand, was much less well received. and they even stood and taking ies, some even left altogether. >> stand united and the way we win a general election -- >> from his remarks, a competent john kasich appears to have enjoyed his time in the empire state. >> i think i've eaten my way

york and i think i've eaten every bit of food there is. i'm going to leave cleveland as the nominee. whether you believe it it or not, it's going to happen. and they have formally announced lewandowski will not be charged. they say the evidence is not strong enough to criminally prosecute. this shows him violating a secret service area and they argue lewandowski was justified and lewandowski said he was grateful to trump's loyalty and doesn't remember the incident because it wasn't quote memorable. and the trump campaign says the matter is now concluded. nearly 800 injured after a powerful mag nuaught to 6.2 earthquake hit japan.

and it was followed by a second strong tremor. they say there's no risk of tsunami. images show the damage. collapsed buildings and homes and buckled streets. they're searching for victims. an 8-month old was pulled from a collapsed home some six hours after the initial tremor. a massive rescue and relief effort is underway at this hour. now to a story sparking heavy debate online. it centers around young children and corporal punishment. >> i'm going to do it one time unless you wiggle around. >> the 5-year-old allegedly tried to hit and spit on his school mates. the principal decided to paddle him according to the boy's mother. it's legal in georgia and in a statement, the school says it only uses it when parental

and the mother says she signed a form opting out but if she did not allow the paddling, he would be suspended. she worried her bond would be revoked, causing her to miss work and keeping her from caring for her two children. she pretended to text during the paddling and instead recorded it and sparking a hot debate. the school superintendent has scheduled a conference with the mother this morning. ash card ter is set to visit the usssten stennis. this will likely inflame relations with china. now to a wild chase caught on camera.

in japan had authorities scrambling and at one point he swung from power lines as the drama went on for two hours. steve patterson gives us the play by play. >> reporter: the high wire drama was carried on live japanese tv. the escaped chimpanzee named chau chau led a zoo in northern japan and showed no interest in going back. the 24-year-old male perched above and swinging across electrical lines. the reporters calling the play by play live for nearly two hours. he just got hit, one yelled. after a tranquilizer dart stung the ape. the chimp is yelling heetz 's so angry. it's dangerous, go away. don't be here. then the sedative starts to sink in. he's falling, trying to grab the cable. he's about to go down, they say

caught with a safety net, he was dazed but isn't hurt. a happy ending for the zoo but not for cha cha. >> well, it looked like a bad fall. thank goodness they were there to catch him. it just gets weirder in the animal kingdom. the alligator in lakeland, florida was caught on camera eating one of its own. one witness described the reptile at 11 feet long. the gator does not seem to mind. while this may seem strange, they say it's typical forligators to act aggressively like this during mating season. and hopefully you've got nice news for us today. >> yes, i'm very good. i represent the male population. i'm nice and friendly.

good. so, today we're watching the storm developing in the rockies. the bottom line over the next three days is what you see is what you get. a they have bad weather, it's going to remain bad. if it's good, it's going to stay that way the next three days. and about 1 million people at risk of severe storms, maybe ice lited -- isolated tornados. and cold air from the south. we're going to have our very typical april snow event in colorado. we're expecting eight to 14 inches of snow in the denver area and the mountains could get two to four feet. a lot of the ski resorts are going to extend. they're probably going to have fresh powder over the next couple of days s days. on sunday, san antonio, dallas to oklahoma city and this is where we could get flooding

heavy rain and a lot of moisture from the gulf and the possibility for up to six to eight inchl es of rain. now a closer look at your day ahead. so, today, no problems whatsoever, houston, dallas and oklahoma city. and eastern colorado, at risk of severe threat. more your garden variety as we go throughout your afternoon. and the one thing we didn't mention was how great it's going to be. this is your reward weekend. >> that's some of the best news. >> we got to think about the people that don't have it as nice. >> for those of you that do, lucky people out there. happy friday. and then there's this. a charles manson desipal gets patrol on her 20th attempt. a cunoodling couple without a care in the world. you're watching "early today." arly today." see me. see me. don't stare at me.

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welcome back everybody. the youngest member of the murderous mansen family is one step closer to freedom. after 19 denied pleas for parole, lesley van halten was granted patrol. she was just 19 years old when she fell under the spell of on. the families of the sandy hook school children learned they will be able to pursue on the suit against the gun company. the connecticut judge ruled in favor for those looking to hold someone accountable for those killed. north korea's attempt to celebrate their leader's

has failed. the anniversary of kim jong-un's grandfather is the latest attempt to reafirm his legitimacy in power. and police are on the hunt for people who robbed a bar at gunpoint. not even armed robbers can stop true love. or at least a good kiss. how do you not know what's going on? do you not hear? okay. time now to get down to business. microsoft is suing the justice department for its use of nondisclosure orders, which the tech giant says is a violation of free speech. they claim the federal government demands information while failing to notify them of information about the clash between privacy. and people flock to mcdonald's to demand a raise in

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. this morning on "today,"

with dr. jill biden. find out how she balances her career while launching nation wide initiatives. the l.a. rams traded six draft choices to the tennessee titans for the overall number one pick. speculation is that l.a. will pick either north dakota state quarterback carson wentz. or jason goff. we'll know on draft day. and the defending super bowl champion broncos take on the carolina panthers in the season opener. and get ready for girl power. select brianna stewart from the university of connecticut. select maria jefferson. [ applause ] connecticut's suns selects, morgan tuck. >> the top three picks at the wnba draft are all from the

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james cameron made the surprising announcement at cini-con. there's a lot coming your way. we did see this coming though. a "deadpool" sequel is in the works. ryan reynolds and directser tim miller are both set to return. i got to see that still. but here's great news for ryan rechynolds as well. he and his wife, blake lively are expecting their second child and ryan gosling and eva mendez are also expecting their second child. way to go. and amc theaters will potentially start allowing texting during movies. bill just gave me a dirty look. >> snapchat during the middle of the movie.

but they're trying to attract millennials who avoid being separated from their cell phones at all costs. and the show's creators revealed the final two seasons will likely be shorter than expected. they're estimating only 13 remaining episodes. disney's "the judge ngle book" got a live action spin. and the next cut starring ice cube is the next installment in the series. and a chat with the donald. >> while you're in new york, let me give you some advice, first, if you're on the street, walk fast. no one like as slow walker. are you writing this down?

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leading the news in the independent, man accidently delets his entire company with one line of bad code. oh. a man running a web hosting service apparently told his computer to delete everything, even his back up. he asked for help in an online forum and one user looked at the code and said i'm sorry but your company is essentially dead. and in the new york times, 69 years later, philadelphia apologizes to jacky robinson.

officially apologizing to the icong i icon icon. they will honor the life of the baseball legend. authorities say a man posted a facebook chat picture holding a rifle threatening to shoot up a school and local police confirmed he was trolling to upset people. he is currently being held on $15,000 bond. a texas constable and father of six is awake after being shot several times in the back. he was workling ing a traffic stop when the man walked up, fired six shots and ran. he was wearing a bullet proof vest. they're talking to a person of interest. norway's public broadcaster is slowing things down. it's airing 12 hours of the

the water will be the big star. i think that might put you to sleep, right. so you think your morning run is instense, inderrance athlete plans to run to florida in a bubble. it has a water filter, sea sickness gum, even shark repellant. he says he performs stunts like these to help children in need. >> mine is power. 85% your mind. anything you can do. in new orleans, a public visitation will be held for former saints star defensive lineman will smith. he was shot and killed saturday night in what may have been a road rage incident.

casket as well as videos of his life and career. happy birthday to emma watson, and seth rogen and emma thompson. i'm betty nguyen. thanks for watching "early today." . right now the search is on

man in the east village. widespread devastation caused by an earthquake in japan. wait a minute, wait. democrats most contentious debate yet. "today in new york" starts now. good morning everyone. it's friday, april 15th. i'm darlene rodriguez. >> i'm michael gargiulo. we're going to wrap up our week of raphi. raphi it's been a pleasure having you with us. >> it's been a great week. it's been coasting along. not much going on in the world of weather in terms of rain, snow. we have mostly clear skies out there. as we look at your forecast, similar to yesterday, mostly clear, on the chilly side throughout the morning. we're warming up back into the 60s. if you thought yesterday felt nice, it's a little milder today. maybe think about lunch outside.