Week In The News: An NBA Ban, Deadly Storms, The US Economy

Donald Sterling banned from the NBA. Deadly twisters across the South. China’s economy to be number one.

With all the news in the world, an NBA team owner topped the headlines this week.  Banned for racist remarks.  So long, Donald Sterling.  Across the south and up the east coast, epic twisters and downpour.  A deadly mess.  In Oklahoma, a botched execution.  In Ukraine, troops on the move.  Helicopters shot down.  In the Mideast, peace talks collapse and John Kerry warns of apartheid in Israel.  Takes heat.  A minimum wage hike dies under GOP Senate filibuster.  US job numbers are up, but China may be the top economy as of this year.  This hour On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Kristen Welker, NBC News White House correspondent. (@kwelkernbc)

Yochi Dreazen, deputy editor for news at Foreign Policy Magazine. Author of the forthcoming book "The Invisible Front: Love and Loss in An Era Of Endless War." (@yochidreazen)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst.

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Economy Starts Year With a Whimper — "U.S. growth nearly stalled in the first three months of the year, fresh evidence that the economic expansion that began almost five years ago remains the weakest in modern history. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.1% in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. It marked the second-worst quarterly performance since the recession ended in mid-2009."

POLITICO: Conservatives revolt against Boehner on immigration — "Conservatives intend to huddle this week about immigration, according to Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), an outspoken critic of providing legal status to undocumented immigrants and encouraging more legal migration in the future. Brooks declined to disclose more details about the meeting, including how many lawmakers are involved."

Reuters: U.S. tornadoes kill 34, threaten more damage in South — "At least 34 people were killed in tornadoes unleashed by a ferocious storm system that razed neighborhoods in the southern United States over the last three days and threatened more destruction in heavily populated parts of the South on Tuesday."