♪ it is thursday, march 31st. coming up on "early today," donald trump walks back his comments on abortion rights. >> the answer is that there has to be some form of punishment. >> to the woman? >> yes. >> but to punish a woman for having an abortion is beyond comprehensive. and to tornados overnight and more on the way. our bill karins says more than 27 million americans are risk for severe weather. and president obama meets to discuss a strategy to defeat isis. and a car

and much more on a busy thursday. "early today" starts right now. good morning everybody. i'm betty nguyen. donald trump created a fire storm during a town hall meeting. the pair played hardball on everything from immigration to marijuana. but the most surprising moment came while discussing abortion. >> so, the woman would be punished for having an abortion? this is not something you can dodge. if you say abortion is a crime or murder, you have to deal with it under the law. should abortion be punished? >> well, people in surcertain p of the republican party would say yes. >> how about you? >> i would say it's a very serious problem and a problem we have to decide on. are you going to say put them in jail? >> you want to ban it. what does that

>> well, you know, you'll go back to a position like they had where people will perhaps go to illegal places but you have to ban it. >> you ban it and they go to somebody who flunked out of medical school -- >> how do you go with the church's position. >> i concur with their position. the church's make their moral -- but you running for president will be chief executive of the united states. do you believe in punish mn isir abortion? >> the answer is there has to be some form of punishment. >> 10 years? what? >> that, i don't know. >> you take positions on everything else. >> i do. it's aer

position. >> tell me what the law should be. >> i'm pro-life. i have not determined what the punishment would be. >> why not? you're saying you want to ban abortion. how do you do that without a sanction? and then you get into a tricky question of a sanction. a fine, a an imprisonment for a young woman who finds herself pregnant. what about the guy who gets her pregnant? is he responsible or not responsible? >> different feelings, different people. i would say no. >> well, the back lash was swift with presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle condemning them. >> should women who get abort n abortions be punished? >> absolutely not. of course, women shouldn't be

will find a way to say he was misquoted. >> what donald trump said today was outrageous and dangerous. and you know, i'm constantly taken aback at the kinds of things that he advocates for. maya angelou said when someone shows you who they are, believe them and once again, he has shown us who he is. >> but to punish a woman for having an abortion is beyond comp rehension. one would say what is in donald trump's mind except we're tired of saying that. >> ted cruz responded by saying quote. in a rare moment of unity, planned parenthood president denounced the donald on twitter.

and from the head of march for life, a group that wants to overturn roe v wade. >> we would not advocate any form of punishment for a woman who's made such a desperate and sad choice as abortion. >> and trump announced a statement fully walking back his remark. now, this all comes as a new poll taken before last night's town hall shows cruz ahead of trump, which is a drastic shift when trump had a commanding lead and he's polling behind both cruz and john kasich in support of women in the

by four points. that's a slight increase from february. it was a frightening night of severe weather for many with almost 28 million people at risk today. several buildings were severely damaged and roads closed. take you to kansas. large blocks of hail pounded homes and vehicles while life threatening flash floods hit arkansas washing away a dumpster. classes were canceled at the little rock campus. and one made use of the entrance to his dorm. meanwhile mississippi's director of emergency management said they're preparing for up to five inches of rain in parts of the state. >> a lot of life threatening weather and the flash flooding is always a big risk. this morning, torrential r

hail. now this is going to continue through the day. some areas have already pecked up three to five inches of rain. there's the heavy rain around memphis. jackson, mississippi just cleared yourself. and moving towards alabama this morning. we're going to regenerate the storms later on today. 27 million people in the slight risk and enhanced risk combined. northern mississippi, alabama is at the greatest risk of tornados. from birmingham northward, those are the areas of greatest concern. and there was a tornado yesterday in tulsa and you weren't in the greater risk area. flash flood warnings in and around the memphis area, to the east of little rock and greenville. those areas have already seen three to five inches of rain. flash flood

to central georgia. possibilities of two to four inches, isolated totals up to six inches. that's your national weather, now a closer look at your day ahead. so, the thunderstorms rolling this morning will slowly dissipate and then we'll get round two to this evening. airport travels and on the roads will be difficult. and to the north, we see isolated strong thunderstorms as far south as southern michigan and tomorrow we're going to have an additional severe weather threat but not as bad as today. today president obama kicks off a two day nuclear summit with over 50 world leaders. the goal is to cut down on nuclear proliferation around the world. president vladimir putin has boycotted the event. all this as donald trump told

refuses to rule out using nuclear weapons. >> i would never take any of my cards off the table. >> in europe? >> no, i don't think so -- >> i'm just saying. >> i am not taking cards off the table. >> trump has previously said he is okay with other countries, such as south korea, japan and saudi arabia getting nuclear weapons. president obama is commuting the sentences of 61 prisoners. they're serving time for drug related off enens under outdate sentencing laws. more than a third were serving life behind bars after he had lunch with previous inmates given a second chance. >> and listening to your stories also reminded me how out of proportion and counter productive so

sentencing when it comes to our drug laws at the federal and state level. >> he's made a total of 248 comutations, that's more than the past six presidents combined. cdc expands range of zika mosquitos to the midwest and northeast. the new map includes areas where zika mosquitos have been seen recently or previously. and metro could shut down entire railways for maintenance. the state of d.c.'s metro rail system is so dire that metro lines may be shut down for up to six months. track work on nights and weekends will not sufficiently end the delays and dampgerous malfunctions that have plagued the system. this comes after the metro was shut down for an entire day due to a fire. and a wing suit mid-air cois

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sfloets sfloets. a florida man is paralyzed from the waist down after a mid-air accident. he was wearing a wing suit and gopro last month, another sky driver collided with him knocking him unconscious. when he landed, several people rushed to help. his spine is fractured in four places but doctors are opt mystic. and sea levels could rise twice as faster than previoupre thought. they say by 2100, miami beach could begin to disappear and new orleans could become an island. protests in minneapolis when they announced they

shooting of jumar clark. chilling new information is coming to light after the bombing in brussels. a laptop contained information on the belgium prime minister's office. >> reporter: that's the entrance to the office of the belgium prime minister, this country's equivalent of the white house right on the street and just a half a block away, the u.s. embassy. >> just as dutch authorities argue whether an alert was shared. chipotle mexican grill is brarning out to burgers. chipotle's fourth quarter net income dropped 41% after an e.coli outbreak nation wide. and michael jordan coming in first bapging

2015. this year he'll earn more than any other athlete in the world retired or active. david beckham's earnings were 65 million last year. arnold palmer made $1.8 million. he earned 22 times that in 2015. and brazilian soccer legend earned 14 million. just ahead, did a lakers rookie betray his own teammate. and the shot of the day from a former olympian.

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narrator: all that political mail mlet's simplify.lming. only one candidate has been endorsed by the washington post: kathleen matthews. as a journalist and progressive leader at marriott, she has a broad and deep facility with policy. emily's list praises matthews as pro-choice and the post says on gun control, clean energy, education and health research kathleen matthews "has greater potential, following the van hollen model, to move the ball forward." kathleen: i'm kathleen matthews and i approve this message. but jamie raskin is the only democrat for congress who's authored landmark progressive laws -- marriage equality, equal pay for women, green maryland act, assault weapons ban, and more. raskin: i'm jamie raskin, and i approve this message.

♪ this morning on "today," nattily morales gets an exclusive sneak peek at a new rescued sea lions exhibit at the georgia aquerium. and nbcnews.com reports deangelo russell is quickly losing the respect of his teammates. the reason, a secretly recorded and then leaked conversation with nick young about being with women other than his fiance who happens to be australian rapper, iggy azalea. he's appaologized but the damag may be too much. >> so, as sick as possible. i wish i could make things better right away, but i can't. if

i'm going to work my tail off to bring it back. >> i don't want to get into my personal life right now. i think it's best me and deangelo handle the situation we have in a private manner outside the media. >> will russell find himself playing elsewhere? we shall see. and the utah jazz bringing the heat to golden state. and 103-96. but the shot of the day might belong to caitlyn jenner playing in an lpga pro-a.m., she nailed a an eagle on the first hole of the day. congrats to her. coming up, code red, nbc's live production revealed. and steven colbert has a unique interview with the

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uh huh. yeah...sorry about that. ♪ think about it ♪ there must be higher love ♪ down in the heart what do you think? ♪ and in the stars above hi ted, glad you could join us, we think you're going to like these numbers. ♪ bring me a higher love ♪ i could rise above ♪ now for some entertainment news. so, can you handle the truth? nbc has announced its live production "a few good men." and sorken did write the original broadway play that was adapted into the ausoscar nomind

new dockueseries called "oj is innocent." and whoopee goldberg will sell cannibis oils and bath rubs aimed to soothe menstrual cramps. jeopardy has its power players week in april, bill just missed the list but chuck todd and alfrankten. >> it wouldn't be fair to the others. >> contestants will play to the charity of their choice. and six star has announced voice roles in the upcoming "finding dory." snl alums are among the

finding dory hits theaters this summer. >> it will be huge. >> i know it will. can't wait. and steven colbert had an exclusive interview with donald trump on the late show last night. well, kind of. >> now, mr. cartoon trump, how do you respond to anderson cooper calling you a 5-year-old. >> anderson cooper is a dumb, dumb, a poppy pants. >> i have to say right now you're sounding a little immature. >> i know you are, but what am i? >> oh -- >> i'm betty nguyen. and this is show hoe. and this is "early today." ay." ♪ we stop arthritis pain, ay." so you don't have to stop. because you believe in go.

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now at 4:26, don't say we didn't warn you. if you thought traffic was bad before, it could come to a standstill today especially if your morning starts anywhere near the washington convention center. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist and today leaders from all over the world are in d.c. to talk about the nuclear security. >> and i'm eun yang. this will have a big impact on your morning. we have team coverage of the road and metro closures as well as increased security. but first a check on your first with chuck bell. good morning, cheuck. a relatively nice day coming your way. first thing you'll

that it is way warmer than the same time yesterday. we have a two day warm spell coming your way. but it comes with a price for raindrops, maybe a rumble or two of thunder late tonight and into the day tomorrow. and unfortunately, a rain chance sneaking into your saturday. but out the door this morning, temperatures are 10 to 30 almost degrees warmer now than the same time yesterday. into the 70s we wiwill go today. rain chances sneaking in late this afternoon into this evening. right now a large section of up to up to washington is sealed off for today's nuclear security summit. you will see increased security around the district as world leaders move around town for this summit. officials have ramped things up just one week after the terror attacks in brussels. megan mcgrath is live with more. you can see security set up already,

>> reporter: yeah, absolutely. security is very tight if you take a look behind me, you can see one of the many police barricades we have in the area around the convention center. traffic completely blocked here. this is massachusetts avenue and tenth street. mass also cleeosed on the other side of the convention center. we have major road closures that will be in place until friday evening. new york avenue, that's another big one. these are major executer routes, so this will cause problems for folks as they try to make their way into work together. of course the nuclear security summit gets understand w way to. and the mount vernon metro station will be closed until 8:00 p.m. on friday. that means the trains will bypass that station. they will not stop at the mount vernon station. so folks have to plan accordingly. security is particularly in light of the terror attacks overseas in brussels, however

security says that there is no specific threat here in washington. >> we have no specific credible threat to the security of washington, d.c. right now. that does not mean that we are not paying attention to the things that are happening in the world and taking appropriate precautions and putting have a things in place that we need to. >> reporter: so folks should expect to see a very large police presence, bomb sniffing dogs and the like. we're also expecting rolling road closures as dignitaries make their way to the summit. even folks who live in the area who are in that secure zone, they're going to have to show i.d., proof that they live here, to get in and out of the secured area. so it will be an inconvenience to a lot of folks. so people will just have on plan accordingly. back to you. let me show you something here. megan mentioned this, this will affect how a lot of

around up to. take a look at the closures on a map. want to bring in melissa mollett with more on how to get around the road blocks here. i drove down 9th street yesterday, not a good idea. >> not a good idea. the road blocks are everywhere. those huge tall fences. so if you can, just avoid the area. that will be your best line of defense. so lots of closures, 7th street, 9th street, n street. roads reopen later on saturday. there are a couple of roads that will still be open. rhode island avenue, 6th street and constitution, all of those still open going to be helping folks a lot. >> we have the map and as well as the time being just search road closures in the nbc washington app. a big focus of the summit, stopping nuclear terrorism around theworld. that means they will be talking about isis and preventing another attack like the one in brussels. more than 30 people were killed when suicide bomb