that's it for us. i'll see you right back here tonight at 10:00. "early start" with john berman and christine romans starts now. presidential candidates back on the campaign trail. new strategies in play as a critical day of primary elections nears. criminal charges filed in the flint water crisis. and a chilling welcome for president obama. will a strained relationship prevent any progress on isis? welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> nice to see you. i'm john berman. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. this morning, it is a new/old donald trump on the campaign trail. right after his big win in new

york, trump was more sussinct and less nasty. overnight, trump held a rally in maryland and the clear answer was no. he will be in pennsylvania tonight before the tuesday primary, super in its own right. we have jim acosta with more. >> reporter: trump is back with the one liners he will use to go after hillary clinton. trump ditched the softer town after the win in new york tuesday night an adopted the toughest rhetoric yet. he suggested he will investigate clinton's e-mail practices and return to the nickname he used for cruz. >> i mean, honestly, do you think this happens with lying ted cruz? believe me. first of all, the crowd would be

about 25 people. that would be a problem. then they would start falling asleep listening to this guy with the dramatics. we will fight. oh, geez. lying ted cruz. you know he walks in. the bible held high. the bible held high. he puts it down. comes over here and starts ranting and raving. he starts lying, right? >> reporter: trump and advisers are feeling confident about his chance to reach the magic number of delegates for the nomination. the campaign boldly predicts trump could have 1,400 delegates before the start of the convention in july. john and christine. >> jim, thanks. donald trump returning to his message that the delegate system is rigged and crooked.

behind the secenes, they are doing the best to get the latest at the spring meeting. the rnc pushing back hard against trump's suggestion if he gets close to a majority of delegates, the nomination should be his. >> it takes 1,237 delegates. there is no other time to say politics or sports, if you get to the two yard line, that counts as a touchdown. that is not how the rules work. that's the process we have gone through dating back to 1856. a majority of the delegates will decide. >> ted cruz and john kasich left the campaign trail wednesday to personally woo republican leaders in florida. the only path for either candidate at this point is a contested convention. ted cruz says he is the only

plausible. john kasich is insisting rnc leaders are encouraging him to stay in the race. >> john kasich has no path. he has won a total of one. his home state. his plan, apparently, rests upon losing 49 states. going to the convention and have all of the delegates, that should be the nominee. >> they all tell me please stay in the race. nobody says get out. i don't hear anybody say get out except mitt and i can't figure out where he is on monday and tuesday. on the democratic side, hillary clinton taking momentum from her new york win to the campaign trail with her to pennsylvania. less than a week before that state's primary, clinton is beating sanders in a poll by 13 points. overnight, clinton staged a rally in philadelphia.

that's where we find our joe johns. >> reporter: john and christine, two stops for hillary clinton here in philadelphia after her big win in new york. the first at an african-american church. an event on guns and violence featuring among others, mothers of victims along with former attorney general eric holder. a long time supporsupporter of y clinton. the stop here at the philmore, she talked about her father being from scranton. she talked about the issues that were important to her. >> i read the news before i got here today. you had 12 shootings in philadelphia over the weekend. four people killed. a police officer shot.

the story that was so heartbreaking was the father handling his gun and it went off and killed his 4-year-old daughter. because of those 33,000 deaths, we have homicides, we have suicides. we have all these tragic avoidable accidents. so we have work to do to save lives. >> reporter: a handful of african-american protesters after the fashion of the black lives matter movement were seen in the room holding up signs and chanting. they were removed by police officers. they did not cause much disrupti disruption. >> joe johns, thanks for that. time for an early start on your money. famous american women will be now featured on three u.s. currency bills.

jack lew says harriet tubman will replace andrew jackson. you are seeing our version of the $20 bill. jackson will move to the back. alexander hamilton will stay on the front of the $10 bill due in part to the popularity to tmusi. and on the back, the american suffrage movement. that is the first of the updated bills to go into circulation in 2020. the back of the $5 bill will change, featuring scenes that took place at the lincoln memorial. lincoln stays on the front. i'm sure it is not paddleboating. >> don't bring up the insignificant of paddleboating. >> jack lew himself did not realize how much input they

would get from the public about who should on the bills. the $20 bill that was easy to make. several american presidents were from that era. >> "the washington post" did a great story. there is no historical record of now andrew jackson got to the $20. >> in the highest currency. >> it is more circulated than the $100 and the $1 bill. it is stunning. tensions high for president obama as he tackles topics with leaders in saudi arabia like the war against isis and the nuclear deal with iran. what happens today? that's coming up. to k night. will they find happiness? reach their potential. stay safe. fall in love. but tonight johnson's can help with a bedtime routine

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families who lost loved ones in the 1983 attack in beirut and remember attacks in iran can

obtain frozen assets. it includes families of the 241 service members who died in the beirut bombing. and the anti-muslim discrimination cases. senator dick durbin of illinois is urging respects for rights for all passengers. many removed from planes or not allowed to board at all. airlines for america is reviewing the senator's letter. britain's foreign adviser warning about controversial laws in north carolina and mississippi. the advisory is directed for members of the lgbt can community and talks about the diverse attitudes. it advises to exercise discretion and avoid physical

affection in public. and curt schilling is fired for his post on facebook. schilling commented on facebook saying a man is a man no matter what they call themselves. last year, he was suspended for comparing muslims to nazis. curt schilling has been advised his conduct is unacceptable. and severe flooding in houston. officials say eight people have died in high water there. storms today are expected to pound texas, including houston. officials are keeping an eye on dams that the army corps of engineers suggests are at severe risk. for a look at the weather today, let's go to meteorologist pedram javaheri. >> john and christine, another day with thunderstorms in the

forecast. resembles what we saw this time yesterday with wet weather beginning to pick up in the early morning hours in northern texas. the line made it to houston by the afternoon hours. look at what the models want to do this afternoon. a large complex of thunderstorms across eastern texas by this afternoon. the bulk of the heavy rainfall, the bulk of it east of houston. the vast majority have impacted areas west of houston. notice beaumont to lake charles, that is where we could see 4 to 6 inches of rainfall thursday afternoon. that a tremendous amount of water in a short time period. all indications this is moving to the east and we get a brief cooling trend in the forecast. in new york, you go from upper 70s on friday to lower 60s. with sunny skies for the weekend. in chicago, a see-saw battle of 60s and 70s before 80s come back on monday.

thank you. 15 minutes past the hour. criminal charges filed in the flint water crisis. more could be coming. that's next.

three government employees are the first to face criminal charges in connection with the flint water contamination crisis. two members of the michigan environmental quality and one facing charges that could lead to jail time. the state attorney general says this is the beginning. let's get more from sara ganim in flint. >> reporter: after 18 months of residents called liars and

complainers about the water, this was a significant day for the people of flint. officials with the state department of environment quality. steve bush and mike frisbee are tampering with evidence and violation of the safe drinking water act. they deliberately failed to treat the water properly leading to high lead levels and leading to disease. an official at the water plant has been charged with tampering with evidence and negligent. mike glasgow talked to me. he said he tried to do the right thing, but he was convinced to change a water quality report in 2015. >> you changed the report with lead numbers with the flint residents. did you do that to try to cover up what was happening? >> no, i only did it because i was instructed to. >> did you argue with them if you should change it? >> no, i asked the question why.

they cited some, i guess, solidified reasons to remove a couple items. i didn't question it much further. >> reporter: he told me he believed he was changing the report for technical reasons. he thought it was because of some homes had partial lead piping much he said he didn't have the power to overrule the order. >> that defense didn't work in several places when you are ordered to do something. nuremberg and the like. that is tough with mr. glasgow. when you did an overt act and you had the corrupt mind to do that act, you will be charged. >> reporter: now steve bush and mike frisbee pleaded not guilty. mike has yet to be arraigned. it is important to note that many state officials above the

three men who made the significant decisions over the course of the crisis. the prosecutors say they expect more charges to be filed and ruling no one out. not even the governor. john and christine. >> sara, thank you. sad news from the world of wrestling. the wwe star known as chyna found dead in her home in california on wednesday. there are no signs of foul play. there are reports that the case is investigated as a possible drug overdose. new strategies deployed in the race for president. donald trump and hillary clinton out in front, but can they stay there? that's next.

they'll always be our babies. so there will be things to keep us up at night. will they find happiness? reach their potential. stay safe. fall in love. but tonight johnson's can help with a bedtime routine

clinically proven to help them fall asleep faster. and stay asleep longer. there will be things to keep us up. but tonight, we sleep.

hillary clinton and donald trump trying to ride that momentum for the wins in new york. will that momentum last into pennsylvania, maryland, connecticut and beyond? criminal charges filed in the flint water crisis and this could be only the beginning. a chilly reception for president obama in saudi arabia. a senate set for how to fight isis, but will a strained relationship prevent progress? welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. thursday morning. 28 minutes past the hour.

nice to see you. it is a new/old on the campaign trail for donald trump. he was more refined and less nasty. many wonder if that is the version of the trump we would see on the campaign trail from now on. he head a rally in maryland. the answer? clearly no. he will be in pennsylvania tonight and part the mid-atlantic next tuesday. super in its own right? cnn's jim acosta has more. >> reporter: john and christine, donald trump is back on the attack laying into his rival ted cruz with the one liners. trump ditched the softer tone on display in new york on tuesday night. the gop frontrunner suggested he will investigate clinton's e-mail practices and return to the nickname he uses for cruz. >> i mean, honestly, do you

think this happens with lying ted cruz? believe me. first of all, the crowd would be about 25 people, that would be a problem. then they would start falling asleep listening to this guy with the dramatics. we will fight. oh, geez. lying ted cruz. you know, he walks in, the bible held high. the bible held high. he puts it down. comes over here and starts ranting and raving and he starts lying. >> reporter: trump and his advisors are feeling more confident about clinching the nomination. with the memo received by cnn, the campaign predicts trump could have 1,400 delegates by the start of the convention in july. that is ahead of the 1,237 he needs. >> jim acosta with a man dancing

behind him. trump returning to the rigged and crooked system. tonight the trump campaign will make a pitch to the rnc at the spring meeting in florida. that will layout the trump's path to victory. the rnc is pushing back hard against the suggestion from the trump team if he gets close to majority of delegates, the nomination should be his. >> it takes 1,237 to get the nomination. there is no other time to say, if you get to the 2 yard line, that counts as a touchdown. that's not how the rules work. that's the process we have gone through dating back to 1856. ultimately the majority will decide. >> ted cruz and john kasich left the campaign trail wednesday to woo republican leaders in

florida. the only path for either is a contested convention. cruz argued he is the plausible candidate over trump. kasich insists leaders are encouraging him to stay in the race. >> he has lost 31 states. he won a total of one, his home state. his plan apparently rests upon losing 49 states, going to the convention and having all of the delegates say the guy that lost every state in the union, except his home state, that should be the nominee. >> nobody says get out. i don't hear anybody say get out. >> he met with a lot of delegates on tuesday. today, both men are back on the campaign trail. for the democrats, hillary clinton also looking forward this morning after the win in new york. the poll in pennsylvania shows her leading bernie sanders by 13

points in the state. overnight, clinton staged a rally in philadelphia. that is where we have our joe johns. >> reporter: john and christine, two stops for hillary clinton in philadelphia after her big win in new york. the first at an african-american church, an event on guns and violence. an lo along with former attorney general eric holder. here in philadelphia, an organizing event, hillary clinton talked about her connections to pennsylvania, including the fact her father is from scranton. she once again touched on that issue of guns and violence which polls so well for her in urban areas. >> i read the news before i got here today. you had 12 shootings in philadelphia over the weekend. four people killed.

a police officer shot. and the story that was just so heartbreaking was the father handling his gun and it went off and killed his 4-year-old daughter. because of those 33,000 deaths, we have homicides. we have suicides. we have all these tragic avoidable accidents. so we have work to do to save lives. >> reporter: a handful of african-american protesters after the fashion of the black lives matter movement were seen in the room holding up signs and chanting. they were removed by police officers in plain clothes wearing arm bands. they did not cause much disruption because the crowd noise was so loud. >> joe, thanks. bernie sanders out raised hillary clinton for the third straight month in march.

sanders pulled in $44 million last month. he spent most of that. his campaign has $17 million in cash on hand heading into april. hillary clinton raised $28 million in march. ended up with $29 million in april. ted cruz raised $12.4 million. kasich, $4.4 million. donald trump lent himself $11.5 million. and some backing cruz have $10 million. some backing kasich have $10 million. >> bernie sanders spent a fortune in march. donald trump out spent all of his rivals. using his own money.

he was spending in march. >> entering a new phase of the campaign. another big week ahead of us with the primaries. tensions high for president obama in saudi arabia from the war on isis to the nuclear deal with iran. we go there live.

the president is in saudi arabia this morning where the white house insists the air has been cleared with the united states and ally. president obama met with saudi king salman. the administration officials claim progress has been made between the two countries. though a prominent member of the saudi royal family is calling for a recalibration of the

relationship. we have more from nic robertson in riyadh. >> reporter: i think president obama will hear more of the same he heard from king salman in the bilateral meeting. president obama meets with the gcc. kuwait and united arab emirates and oman. this recalibration will bring forward and pivot toward asia and in this region they feel this is a loss because the pivot is the nuclear deal with iran. the nemesis of saudi arabia and allies here. what the president can expect today is calls from the gulf states for help building a ballistic missile system and what they can expect to hear from president obama is support to defeat isis. thanks for the support on

counterterrori counterterrorism. saudi arabia plays a big role supporting the united states and others for that. there is good, if you will, mutually beneficial issues to talk about. underlying it all, there is the deep difference which is recalibration statement refers to. >> there are doubts that the president is being received not as warmly as others have been in the past, nic. is that likely to change or does the president want to do anything to change that? >> reporter: you know, the president is speaking and working for the united states best national interests with the allies as best he can. these countries are allies. i was here in 2008 when president bush came at the same time toward the end of his presidency. there was a different atmosphere. stars and stripes hanging from

the lamp posts in the city here with a warm reception at the airport. if you breakdown what some of president obama talked with king salman about, he talked about lebanon and it is political solidarity there. there was funding withdrawn because they believe the money is going to hezbollah that is fighting against interests in syria. there are differences when president obama talked to king salman last night and importance of helping iraqi government rebuild where isis retreats and pushed out of ramadi. the saudis see the iraqi relationship as something that is backed up by iran. that isis important to them.

saudi arabia wants that transition now. the question on their mind is, you know, how hard is the united states pressure russia to pressure syrians to get rid of assad? the sticking points are what they have become. they are tough because both countries see the world in a different view. >> shifting ground. nic robertson, thank you. families who lost loved ones in the attacks in beirut in 1983 can now collect damages from $2 billion in frozen iranian assets. that ruling from the supreme court. the decision effects relatives of victims, including families of the 241 u.s. service members who died in the bombing. first on cnn, a senior democratic senator challenging the airline industry to investigate the anti-muslim discrimination. senator dick durbin of illinois sent a letter urging respect for

all passengers. many muslim-americans report being removed from planes or not allowed to board at all. bring ttain's foreign offic warning about the laws in north carolina and mississippi. it is directed to the lgbt community talk about the diverse attitudes from state to state. it advises lgbt to exercise discretion in rural areas of the united states and avoid excessive physical shows of affection in public. and retired all star pitcher curt schilling fired from his job at espn for the post on facebook. schilling commented on a photo saying a man is a man no matter what they call themselves. last year, he was suspended for comparing muslims to nazis.

espn said it is an inclusive network and his conduct is unacceptable. the death toll climbing in houston. at least eight people have died in the high water. storms expected to pound parts of texas, including houston. authorities keeping a close eye on two dams, the army corps of engineers deems high risk. let's get more on the weather threat in texas with meteorologist pedram javaheri. >> john and christine, we seem to not get this rain off our backs across portions of houston and in particular as we have the front trying to exit the picture. the wettest place is locked in eastern texas and louisiana. the portions of southern arkansas over the next several hours. flood warnings and watching include houston. another line of active weather similar to what we saw yesterday. exiting western texas and making its way to houston this

afternoon. almost playing out the same time between 4:0 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. beaumont and lake charles, louisiana, that is where we have the activity to come down this afternoon. the indications at this point are heavy rainfall. 4 to 6 inches possible. this is through thursday afternoon and thursday night. that is a lot of rainfall in a short time period. all indications are this will begin to exit the area. as it does, the residual rain will move out of houston. sunday through monday, more thunderstorms possible for houston. guys. thanks for that. three government employees are the first to face criminal charges with the flint water crisis. two members of the michigan department of environment quality. one city worker facing felony charges. the state attorney general says this is only the beginning. we get more from cnn's sara

ganim in flint. >> reporter: john and christine, after 18 months of residents here called liars and complainers about the water, this was a significant day for the people of flint. officials with the state department of environmental quality steve bush and myself prisbee charged with misconduct and tampering can evidence. the prosecutors say they deliberately failed to treat the water leading to high lead levels, bacteria and disease. a city official who worked at the water plant has opinibeen cd with tampering and negligent. mike glasgow sat down and talked with me and he said he was convinced to change a water quality report in january of 2015. >> you changed the numbers in the flint area. did you do that to try to cover

up what was happening? >> no, i only did it because i was instructed to. >> did you argue with them if you should change it? >> no, i asked the question why. they gave -- they cited some, i guess, solidified reasons to remove a couple items. i didn't question it much further. >> glasgow told me he believed he was changing it for technical reasons. he thought it was because some homes had partial lead piping. he said he did not feel he had the power to overrule their decision. comparing his defense to nazi war criminals for his remarks. >> that did not work in several places when you are ordered to do something. nuremberg and the like. tough situation with regards to mr. glasgow. you did a criminal overt act and you had the corrupt mind to do that act, you will be charged. >> reporter: now steve bush and myself prisbee were arraigned

today and pleaded not guilty. mike glasgow has yet to be arraigned. it is unknown what will happen above the three men. prosecutors are not done. the investigation continues. they expect more charges to be filed. they are ruling no one out. not even the governor. >> thank you, sara. sad news from wrestling. wwe star chyna was found dead in her home in california on wednesday. chyna was 45 years old. the dow jones industrial average closing in on a major milestone, folks. we will tell you what that is when we get an early start on your money next.

in just minutes, the first on the road to the olympics in rio, the olympic torch is lit today in olympia, greece. cnn's atika shubert is live there for us right now. atika, i imagine the anticipation is building. >> reporter: it is. they have hundreds of people here waiting. the greek guards in costume are set up. the flag bearer is here and set up. it is ready for the olympic torch lighting ceremony. the high princess will light the olympic flame using a concave mirror which will bounce the sun and light the torch along the way. they will snip off an olive branch as a symbol of peace and honor and the torch is lit.

it will go six days around greece before it heads to brazil. it will make a special stop at the refugee camp. it is run by a syrian refugee. this is because the olympic committee wants to highlight the plight of refugees that are stranded in greece trying to get asylum into europe. a bit the politics mixing in sports. >> sending a message of inclusiveness as they setoff on the relay. atika, give our regards to the high priestess. thank you. dow futures are down slightly. oil is little changed after a big day yesterday. stocks yesterday in europe are mixed. the dow hit a record high in may of last year. 18,351. look at that. 255 points away from it. >> you can do it. >> following an incredible run

from february when it sank below 16,000. and bernie sanders with the four donor groups are employees of big tech firms. sanders raised more than $250,000 from alphabet. he pulled in $95,000 from workers at microsoft. 8,500 from apple. this according to the center for responsive pi responsive. hot spring for the housing market. existing home sales jumped 5.1%. that drop was due to a lack of affordability. the median sale price topped $222,000. that is up almost 6% in the past year. mortgage rates are low. that should help move properties in the busy buying season. demand is strong.

inventory is lower. more people could list properties to help meet demand. what you are hearing, people cannot find a house. they have a low mortgage rate. >> going back to the story on bernie sanders and silicon valley. one reason the sanders campaign is not changing its tone or throwing in the towel. they think california is a great state for them. they can win big on the very last day of the primary season. >> silicon valley is the extreme of income inequality. "early start" continues right now. the presidential campaign trail heads to the mid-atlantic. donald trump and hillary clinton hoping momentum from new york follows them there. the criminal charges filed in the flint water crisis.

prosecutor says this is the beginning. a chilly reception for president obama in saudi arabia. how to fight isis and will a strained relationship prevent progress? welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it seems like a new/old donald trump. he was more refined and less nasty. many wonder it that was the version of trump we would see on the campaign trail. overnight, trump held a rally in maryland. the clear answer was no. we have cnn's jim acosta with more. >> reporter: donald trump is back on the attack laying into ted cruz and previewing the one liners he will use to go after

hillary clinton. he ditched the softer tune from tuesday night and adopted the tough rhetoric. he suggested as president he would investigate clinton's e-mail practices and return to the nickname he uses for cruz. >> i mean, honestly, do you think this happens with lying ted cruz? believe me. first of all, the crowd would be about 25 people. that would be a problem. then they would start falling asleep listening to this guy with the dramatics. we will fight. oh, please. lying ted cruz. you know, he walks in with the bible held high. the bible held high. he puts it down. comes here and starts ranting and raving and starts lying, right? >> reporter: trump and advisors are feeling more confident about his chances to reach that magic number needed to clinch the nomination. the