Fighter jets buzzing a navy destroyer. Below the bridge wing. Below the bridge wing. Why the russians say the u. S. Is overreacting. Raging debate. The interview with Robert De Niro thats gone viral and re reignited the argument over whether vaccines cause autism. This morning, what the experts are saying about de niros comments and why this highly charged controversy just wont go away. And storybook ending. For the final time, number 24 on the floor kobe bryant erupts for 60 points in the last game of his career. For the lead thrilling the starstudded crowd in los angeles while just up the coast its official, number 73. The Golden State Warriors finish off the greatest regular season in history. A night proving hoop dreams do come true. Today is thursday, april 14th, 2016. From nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everybody. Welcome to today on a thursday morning. Do we start with kobe . We start with my blurry eyes, staying up late to watch both of those games. Kobe bryant ending his career with 60 points. The lakers got a win. He goes out in perfect fashion. Up the coast a little bit, the Golden State Warriors set the nba record. They go 739, beating the 1996 Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan for the best singleseason record of all time. What a night. What a night indeed. You do sports. Ill do politics. The new campaign trail controversies. Got it all covered in morning. Well start with nbcs andrea mitchell, who is with us here in the studio. Good morning. The race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is at a fever pitch as they prepare to face off tonight in their final debate before tuesdays pivotal new york primary. Sanders had a recordbreaking crowd last night in greenwich village, but it produced a new controversy over comments made by a sanders supporter. We should warn you, this story contains strong language. Bernie sanders on offense. There are a lot of people here tonight. Rallying a massive crowd in new york citys Washington Square park. Larger than any Hillary Clinton has seen this campaign. Were going to win this thing. Thank you, all, very much but this morning, clinton supporters are crying foul over what a speaker said during the rally. While i agree with secretary clinton that medicare for all will never happen if we have the president who never aspires for something greater than the status quo. [ cheers and applause ] medicare for all will never happen if we continue to elect corporate democratic whores who are beholden to big although it seemed clear who he meant, he denies it was clinton, later apologizing for the remark on twitter, saying he meant members of congress. He is the husbandlisaling, a supporter of clinton. The comments were made before sanders arrived. Today, Hillary Clinton still leads the vermont senator by double digits in new york. I need your help on tuesday. I need your help to go to the polls. With just five days to go, the two rivals are literally chasing after each other. This union and its workers are standing up for justice, and i stand with them today. On wednesday, sanders was on the picket line. Then hours later, clinton showed up at another verizon picket location. They need to come to the table and reach an agreement. Tonight the two finally meet face to face on the debate stage, their last showdown before new yorkers go to the polls. And tonights debate is going to be fiery. Clinton is sure to respond to that controversial remark at the rally. Her spokeswoman saying it should be disavowed by sanders himself. Sanders expected to go after clinton for getting paid 225,000 from verizon for a speech, this before she became a candidate. The same company, verizon, whose striking workers clinton showed up with on the picket line. Lots to talk about, andrea. Please stay with us. We want to bring in msnbc Political Correspondent steve kornacki. Good morning to you. Lets talk about the polls in this race. It still shows clinton with a very wide lead, although it has been tightening if you look at the trend. New york is a closed primary. Does that hurt sanders . Yeah, and i mean, theres closed primaries and really closed primaries. This is the kind of state where you had to switch your Party Registration months ago, really last year if you wanted to participate in the democratic primary coming up next week. The problem for sanders is hes made progress in the polls, they seem to have stabilized around a tenpoint lead for Hillary Clinton. When youre Bernie Sanders and youre trying to win this delegate war, you basically need to run the table from here on out. Moral victories dont count anymore for Bernie Sanders. Andrea, let me ask you about this trip for Bernie Sanders to the vatican. A lot of his supporters, even his allies, are scratching his head, saying how coyou up and leave in the middle of a primary . This is really personal. I know myself, i interviewed Bernie Sanders moments after pope francis finished his speech to congress. He was so caught up on it. He really relates to this, to pope francis social values. So he is insisting on doing it, and they think that hell be back on the campaign trail by saturday. So he wont have missed so much. And no guarantee, by the way, of meeting the pope yet. Not at all. Its, in fact, not confirmed. Theyre still talking about it with people in the vatican. But not at all confirmed. Steve, are you surprised that in this pitched battle hes taking a couple days off the trail . Especially given the stakes of new york. This is do or die for Bernie Sanders. All right. Steve, hang in with us. We want to get your take on the republican race as well. Meanwhile, donald trump ramping up his attacks against the nominating system, getting attention for a strange remark at his latest rally. Nbc National CorrespondentPeter Alexander has more on that. Peter, good morning. Reporter willie, good morning. Never a dull moment. Donald trump beefing up his campaign. That includes hiring scott walkers former campaign manager. All of it as trump steps up his protest against the rnc process and tries to put another battle to rest. Their feud apparently diffused. Donald trump and megyn kelly putting their war of words aside during a closed door meeting wednesday at trump tower, at kellys request. Mr. Trump was gracious enough to agree to it. We met for about an hour, just the two of us, and had a chance to clear the air. Reporter another raw us can night, this time in pittsburgh. Protesters confronting Trump Supporters outside the arena. 500 Pittsburgh Police officers, nearly the entire force, onsite, some in riot gear. Inside, trump pouring new fuel on his rivalry with the gop, calling the partys delegate Selection Process corrupt. Because its a rigged system, folks. The republican system is a rigged system. What it does is allows the bosses to pick whoever they want. Reporter rnc chairman Reince Priebus responding. I think when people are frustrated and upset, they say things they regret. The rules are not being changed in order to injure or benefit anybody. They are what they are. Reporter the back and forthcoming amid what some are calling an awkward moment at that pittsburgh rally, when trump invoked the late penn state football coach joe paterno. Hows joe paterno . We going to bring that back . How about that whole deal . Reporter paterno died in 2012, shortly after retiring in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal that rocked penn state. A trump spokesperson later clarified trump was referring to a statue of paterno removed from outside the stadium amid the controversy four years ago. Meanwhile wednesday night, cruz and his wife heidi found themselves on stage and upstaged by their daughters. They both have matching karaoke machines. It is a little frightening with the two of them singing taylor swift together. We dont sing together. Thats true. It does not match. You do sometimes. Well, i stop singing because she oversings. Reporter theyre cute. As for his battle with the rnc overnight, trump fired back on twitter. The rules did change in colorado shortly after i entered the race in june because the pols and their bosses knew i would win. This morning, new reports say that Trumps Campaign manager will not be prosecuted for that incident with a reporters last month. Politico first to report this, citing sources that a florida prosecutor will not pursue a case. Were told an announcement is expected later today. Willie . Busy day, peter. A lot of people asking, can we just nominate the cruz girls . At least to run for something. Peterenin peter, thanks so much. More on the republican delegate battle. Lets talk about this number. Perhaps the most famous number in poll tickles. 1,237 delegates that have to be one. It probably sounds random. Every state has a Different Number of delegates. Its based on the population of the state and how republican the state is. Does it elect a lot of republicans . Add them all together, divide it in half, and add one. Thats a majority. 50 plus one. You come up with 1237. All right. Simple majority is what we need. Voters actually now are picking delegates to go to the convention to represent them. Voters not directly voting for the candidates. So who are these delegates . Again, this is a statebystate thing. In some states, you do a winner take all. If you win the state, you get all the delegates. In some states, its proportionally divided. In some states, people run with their names on the ballot next to the candidates to be delegates to the convention. In other states, a candidate wins the primary and the state party decides, you got 25 delegates from this state, heres the 25 people. Its across the board, it varies. Republican convention, midjuly in cleveland. Last primary, early june. What are the key states as we approach early june that are going to make or break this race . We got a couple big ones. The question is, can trump hit 1237 . Pennsylvania is the first big wild card thats going to come at the end of this month. Trurp looks like hes going to win it, but we talk about the different kinds of delegates. They got this thing called unbound delegates. They got 54 of them. Theyre technically free agents, but a lot of them are saying they will honor the statewide winner. If trump gets a big win there, he could get a lot more delegates than people are thinking. Indiana, thats may 3rd. That looms as the ultimate wild card in all of this right now. You could make a strong case its a cruz state. You could make a strong case its a trump state. The swing in delegates based on a few points is huge. So in terms of trump getting to 1237, thats the biggest wild card. Quickly, congress inventiven after wisconsin, you still believe that this morning . I think he can get to 1237. It has a lot to do with pennsylvania. Tell me who wins indiana, and ill tell you if he gets there. Well know in a few weeks. Steve, thanks. One other note on politics. One week from today, donald trump will join us live for an exclusive town hall on our plaza. Hell answer questions from our crowd. Thats next thursday, april 21st. Now to extremely close encounters. Russian frighter jets buzzing an American Navy destroyer in the baltic sea. The plane coming within just 30 feet of that ship. Kelly, good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. The russians are shrugging this off this morning, saying they did nothing wrong when their jets flew straight for a u. S. Destroyer in the baltic in attack mode. Below the bridge wing. Below the bridge wing. Reporter the two russian jets buzzed the ship not once over the bow, right turn, over the bow. Reporter but more than 30 times over two days. At one point, coming within 30 feet of the destroyer. Coming in low. Reporter causing a wake in the baltic sea, a source told nbc news. The flybys happening 70 miles from a Russian Naval base. Two jets made 20 passes within 300 feet of the ship. They were back again on tuesday. 11 more flybys and a russian helicopter circling overhead taking pictures. The uss cooks commander worried about safety, stopped all operations until the jets were gone. The pentagon clearly concerned. The russians are up to their old tricks again. Reporter so is the white house. There have been repeated incidents over the last year where the Russian Military, including Russian Military aircraft, have come close enough to each other or have come close enough to other air and sea traffic, to raise serious safety concerns. Reporter this morning, the Russian Defense ministry called this a training exercise, saying their pilots executed a turnaway from the u. S. Ship, compliant to all safety regulations. The Russian Defense minister also saying they have every right to conduct their exercise missions in neutral air space. President Vladimir Putin is taking questions on a russian tv callin show right now. Nbcs moscow team is there. So far, no comment from the russian president on this, but guys, were keeping an eye on it. All right. Keep us posted. Kelly, thank you. A new report by u. S. Health officials confirms the link between the zika virus and birth defengts. Scientists at the cdc say there is conclusive evidence that zika causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and other birth defects. Zika is primarily drans miily t mosquitos. Some bad news this morning for anybody who has takata air bags in their cars that have not already been recalled. U. S. Regulators are now saying takata may have to recall an additional 85 million air bag inflators unless the company can prove that theyre safe. Takata has already recalled more than 28 million of the inflators. The air bags can deploy with too much force and expel shrapnel into occupants of the vehicle. At least 11 people have died worldwide and more than 100 have been injured in incidents linked to those faulty air bag. Now to the unforgettable night in the nba we talked about earlier. The Golden State Warriors making history, ending the season with their 73rd win, with kobe bryant wrapping up his sure to be haul of fame career, scoring 60 points. Miguel almaguer has more on both of those big games. Miguel, good morning. Reporter hey, willie. Good morning. Theyre still cleaning up the confetti here in oakland. I think theyre still partying in the streets. In los angeles, theyre still in awe. What a night for the Golden State Warriors. A game for the history books. While in los angeles, kobe bryant goes out clutch, a winner. It was vintage kobe bryant. Hes got another one reporter in his last game, one final comeback. Bryant for the lead, yes reporter a season high for any player this year. A 60point game for kobe bryant reporter on hollywoods biggest stage, bryant put on the best show. The final curtail call for the ages. Kobes got another one. It has been absolutely beautiful. I cant believe its come to an end. You guys will always be in my heart. Reporter in los angeles, the end of an era, while in the bay area, a young dynasty is in the making. Stephen curry, oh, my goodness. Reporter in oakland, the night was golden. For the warriors, it was raining threes. Curry catches, three pointer. Bang reporter but on this night, the historic number was 73. Number 73, the greatest regular season in nba history now belongs to the 2016 Golden State Warriors. Reporter the warriors eclipsed the record held by Michael Jordans old 9596 Chicago Bulls. They were led by sharp shooter steph curry. Another curry explosion. I can get better, keep pushing myself, and try not to have any kind of limit. Reporter for the sports world, a night to remember. A glimpse of the future 400 three pointers in a season. Reporter and a nod to the past. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. God, i love you guys. Reporter it wasnt cheap to watch history. Here in oakland and in los angeles, to sit courtside here, it was upwards of 20,000. Even to see it up in the nosebleeds, upwards of 1,000. For many people, it was well worth the price. Back to you guys. Our own steph curry. Miguel almaguer with a rock in his happened right there. Come on, miguel. Take the shot. Thanks, miguel. Thank you. Oh, wait. Get in. Oh in miguels defense, you cannot shoot a basketball in a jacket like that. Thats right. That was unfair. Kobe could. Yeah, kobe probably could. Miguel, thank you so much. We have al here egging on the correspondents. What else you got in the weather . Well, weve got some spectacular weather. If youve been waiting for spring, boy, it is coming with a vengeance. A big bubble of high pressure. That is going to push the jet stream up to the north. Look at this warmer air. Starting with today, we are looking at fargo, almost 80 degrees. Kansas city, 74. Chicago, youre going to see 60 degrees. For friday, look at this. We make our way, new york city, 65. Thats four degrees above average. 75, charleston. Ive saved the best for the weekend. Look at this, baby. Indianapolis, youll be 76 on sunday and monday. Pittsbur pittsburgh, 75. Sunday, washington, 72. New york city, 68 on sunday. 76 on monday. For our friends in the southeast, not so great. Cooler air coming in off the atlantic. So look at your temperatures today. Youre going to be, atlanta, eight degrees below normal. Jacksonville, 71. Charleston, 68. On friday, even chillier. Oh, poor babies. Thats whats going on. Were going to get good morning. Im meteorologist bill henley. A Beautiful Day ahead. Temperatures in the high 60s. The trend continues tomorrow. The weekend, even warmer. 66 sarkd brilliant sun. Into the 70s on sunday. And monday, closer to 8