fund-raiser for veterans while not showing up to the debate. >> donald trump has chosen not attend this evening's debate. what message do you think that shows to the voters of iowa? >> let me say -- i'm a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly, and ben, you're a terrible surgeon. now that we've gotten the donald trump portion out of the way. >> it's not about donald trump. he's an entertaining guy. this is the greatest show on earth. >> i kind of miss donald trump. he's a little teddy bear to me. we always had such a loving relationship in these debates and been tween in the tweets. i kind of miss him. i wish he was here. >> donald trump did pull back either. >> i didn't want to be here. i have to be honest. i wanted to be about five minutes away. you have to stick up for your rights. when you're treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights. you have to do it. i have to go a little step further and say that fox has been extremely nice, and -- the last number of hours, actually. and they've wanted me there and said how about now? they called a few minutes ago and said, how about now? i said, hasn't it already started? they wanted me to go apologize and they apologized, and once this started, there was nothing i could do. it's for our vets. and is it for me personally a good thing? a bad thing? less votes, more votes? who the hell knows, but it's for our vets and you're going to like it, because we raised over $5 million in one day. over $5 million. so, that's not so bad. trump himself made a donation of $1 million. in total the campaign claiming it raised $6 million at the end of the night. the trump foundation will distribute that money between 22 different organizations. the dond wasn't the only presidential contender in attendance there. rick santorum and mike huckabee, the two caucus winners, showed up after the debate. >> i'll stand over here so i'm not photographed with the trump sign. >> let me be very clear -- rick santorum, donald trump and i may be competitors in a presidential race, but tonight we are colleagues in unison standing here for the people who let us breathe every breath of free air we breathe, the veterans of the united states of america. without you, there is no -- [ inaudible ]. back over at the debate on the other stage, with trump not in attendance, cruz was the target of much of the attacks, spearheaded by rand paul and marco rubio. >> ted said he was for nsa reform but then told marco rubio, no. i voted for the bill, because i'm for the government collecting 100% of your cell phone records. i don't think ted can have it both ways. >> the only budget ted has voted for is one that brags about cutting defense spending. >> this is the lie that ted's campaign is built on and rand touched upon it. that he's the most conservative guy and everyone else is a rhino. >> the truth is, ted, you've been willing to say or do anything in order to get votes. >> cruz took up trump's normal post with the moderators. >> i was mentioned in that question. >> no. your name wasn't mentioned, ted. >> sir -- sir -- >> i think -- >> the question was -- it's not my question that you get a chance to respond to. it's his answer. you don't get 30 seconds to respond to me. >> i'd like to go on -- sir. i know you like to argue about the rule, but we're going to conduct a debate. >> i would like to say the last four questions have been jeb please attack ted, marco, please attack ted -- let me just say this -- >> it is a debate, sir. >> if you ask one more mean question, i may have to leave the stage. >> so at the end of the night, who won? looking at the candidates on the stage, the most talked about on facebook -- ted cruz, a whopping 41% of the conversation. if you include all republican candidates, donald trump was perhaps not surprisingly the most discussed on twitter and in keeping with recent polls, ted cruz and marco rubio rounded out the top three there. the donald saw the largest twitter following growth during the debate. with the caucus just three days away, iowa was the most active state on facebook. new hampshire and south carolina, the first two primary states, third and fourth. bernie sanders' home state of vermont was fifth. one person thrillaled with the events surrounding last night's debate, vice president joe biden. >> by the way, we may be given a gift from the lord in the presidential race here. i don't know who to root for more? cruz or -- what's that guy's name? he's havinging a fund-raiser for veterans tonight, i'm told. >> and president obama had optimism while addressing the annual house democratic retreat. >> tonight i have an announcement to make about the presidential race, democrats will win in november and we will have a democratic president succeeding me. just in case there's any confusion about that. in other news -- the fbi released unedited video which resulted in the death of lavoy finicum. this video may be disturbing. the group was ordered to stop by troopers. a dark jeep carrying bundy and two others pulled over. the occupants were taken into custody. a white van carrying lavoy finicum and others sat on the road is for a few minutes, during which one exited through the back with his hands up and started driving away at a high rate of speed. the van appears to miss a spike strip and skids into a snow bank and finicum exits the vehicle, and appears to reach inside his pocket twice, and where they confirmed he had a loaded handgun. he was shot and killed after he was "brandishing a firearm." an outside investigation is being conducted into the shooting per oregon state law. the world's health organization is warning that the zika virus is quote spreading explosively and the cdc calls it a pandemic. this year alone, three to four million people in north and south america could have the virus linked to birth defects. nbc's tom costello has more. >> reporter: this doctor experienced the zika virus on her honmoon through a mosquito bite. she had a headache. >> feeling warn out, tired, dragging and i ended up staying the out of work just about a day and a half, just because it was painful to walk at that point. >> she recovered and not pregnant. while zika carrying mosquitos have not yet arrived in the u.s. the cdc reported 31 cases have turned up in 11 states and d.c. all of those who contracted zika while abroad. one in puerto rico and one in the virgin islands. we don't know how many involve pregnant women. while experts some zika mosquitos will arrive in southern gulf states, they don't expect a massive outbreak. >> there's always the slight possibility we may see a major outbreak. we don't think that's going to occur, but we're going to be prepared for it. >> reporter: the reasons for optimism -- there's far less trash and stagnant areas, cities spray for mosquitos here and americans use air conditioning and window screens to keep mosquitos out. right now there is no vaccine to treat zika. health officials say it could take years to delve. develop. a key arrest is made related to the escape of three dangerous california inmates. this time it is a worker at the jail. an english teacher at the jail was arrested for allegedly providing maps and other materials to help the men escape last friday. inmate hossein nigh nayeri was a student in several of her classes. they're investigating the nature of their relationship. police say maps she provide could have helped the inmates plan. the sheriff's office said she will be charged with aiding in an escape. so far, ten people have been arrested in the investigation. on sunday, one of the men believed to have stolen this white van in los angeles, a reward stands at $200,000 for the men who authorities believe are still together. two fishermen are lucky to be alive this morning after the coast guard responded to a boat fire distress call on thursday. it happened off the coast of port clyde, maine. the fishing boat contacted the north england sector saying a fire was in the engine room. a nearby cutter diverted to the area. the two men got into survival suits jumped into the 40-degree water and a nearby good samaritan fishing vessel pulled them out while the coast guard fought the fire. the boat eventually sank. the coast guard said they will investigate the incident. now for a check of your weather on this friday here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> incredible pictures. you don't see that often. weird. show you this weekend. overnight, heavy rain, into northern california. continuing at this hour. a little on the border of oregon and washington heading for the olympics. connected to a huge plume of tropical moisture that goes back towards hawaii. this little piece of energy is now just to the south of alaska. that's going to link up with this. that's going to be a pretty big storm, turning into a big, old snowstorm, maybe a blizzard in the middle of the country next week. take that saturday into sunday over areas of the southern portions of california into arizona. so on sunday, we're going to have really nasty travel. especially southern utah and northern arizona. more rain obviously for areas in the desert. from phoenix northwards up to just about the rim. once you're north of the rim, the wintry stuff. by monday and tuesday, goes into the middle of country. ven veri denver a snowstorm monday. severe outbreak tuesday, tornadoes even blizzard conditions on the back side near iowa and areas of wisconsin. quite the storm first dealing with in california this weekend. for today, on and off rain especially from northern california all the way up to seattle. that's you he inner west, seeing snow. temperature s near 60. a big winter storm starting this weekend on the west coast. >> yeah, and moving in. going to trap everybody in iowa on tuesday. huh? we'll be watching. >> it may. >> bill, thanks. coming up, facing a texas just in a matter of hours. plus, people lining up for days to spend hundreds of dollars on -- what? you ask, we'll tell you. you're watching "early today." the so-called affluenza teen is back on american soil. later today, what to do with ethan couch, whether he should stay behind bars in a juvenile facility or move the 18-year-old to an adult jail. couch returned to the u.s. thursday after fighting deportation from mexico. last month he fled with his mother after missing an appointment with his parole officer. two monster sinkholes broke open. traffic diverted after the highway was closed and then in north carolina, a pnc bank manager stopped an attempted robbery. the manager held the business doors shut while the suspect attempted to enter with a gun. eventually the suspect ran. local police believe a small, gray vehicle could be involved. schools and day cares were temporarily placed on lockdown during the investigation and the bank is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the suspect. check out this photo, forming a human chain to save a truck driver after his rig skidded off the road during a snowstorm. >> trying to help this driver, diesel everywhere. truck smoking, dangerous scene. >> a lot of people coming together. 15 minutes later, the driver safely out of harm's way. down to business with landon dowdy. landon, good morning. >> good morning, erica. people lining up since monday for this new product, but not the latest iphone. nike's limited edition sneakers go on sale only at the jordan store in chicago. they cost $650, come with a red leather cap featuring the air jordan wings logo. good to be mark zuckerberg these days. the facebook ceo personal fortune increasing by $6 billion on thursday at the stock sold 13% following its better than expected earnings report. also pushing him up on the world's richest people list. he's now number six ahead of oil moguls charles and david koch. and barbie, mattel selling them in three new body tights, tall, curvy and petite and several new skin tones and hairstyle, the latest trend as mattel trying to appeal to girls. and could the raiders be headed to sin city jnd a the greatest olympian of all-time? well, scoring again. watch this, next. this morning on "today," did you ever try for hours waiting online to buy concert tickets to see them sold out? jeff rossen explains where the tickets are going and whether it's all a fixed game. and now over to the sports headlines. good morning. >> suspended for cross-checking don henderson wednesday night. the nhl will hold a hearing tuesday to discuss the matter and wideman is expected to be there. he apologized minutes after the incident. we'll keep you posted. are the oakland raiders headed to sin city? the billionaire ceo of the las vegas is meeting later today with raiders owner mark davis. the topic, a billion dollar domed staid yul. t stadium. a major problem due to legality of sports gamling there. and the ultimate curtain of distraction. michael phelps lends considerable star power physique along with a couple other shirtless non-swimmers shall we say, helping district oregon state stephen thompson jr. at the foul line. the speedo clad lads were successful, surprise, surprise, as the sun devilling routed the beavers 86-88. back to you. >> thanks. just ahead, which oscar nominated actor would poke pope francis? in entertainment news today, leonardo dicaprio went to the vatican to meet with pope francis. discussing the environment. and jennifer aniston a dramatic role. the film calmed "the fixer" based on the life of denise white. making a fan's day. a high school tweet, lurched the go golden globe dress. where do you live, maybe we can make this happen. hopefully they're hashing it out, not hash tagging, the details. i'm erica hill. this is "early today." leading the news in the new york times, more is needed to beat isis. u.s. military concludes. according to pentagon officials, more trainers and commandos will need to be sent to iraq and syria in the coming months. ash carter will hold a meeting in brussels next month regarding military efforts to defeat the islamic state. and from nbc bay area, dolores park reopens including new outdoor uriurineals. the park can draw up to 7,000 visitors in a day. from nbcnews.com, a yacht damaged reef. the yacht, 14,000 square feet of protected coral reef earlier this month. the anchor chain at the mv tatoosh caused extensive damage to an area about the size of three nba courts. the 49th largest yacht in the world. any vessel that damages the reef can be fined under law. and offering female services in every branch of the military will receive 12 weeks of paid maternity leave doubles the amount of time offered by the army and air force but cuts six weeks from the 18 weeks women in the navy and marines were receiving. check this out. a dramatic police chase caught on police bodycam that started after this pickup truck was flipped on the street. albuquerque police ran after the suspect, through a busy highway and into a cracker barrel. >> put your hands up, right now! >> he was arrested after trying to hide behind a display in the store. he is wanted for a string of violent crimes. cereal lovers stepped up to pet the face, the new face, the trix cereal. general mills announcing add hust didn't based funny named cinnabon will appear. the fur beat out 7,500 other rabbits in the company's nationwide search for a new mascot. the first time ever the trix rabbit shared his cereal box with another bunny. huge in the world of bunnies. >> silly rabbit trix are for kids. >> well played. isn't it funny the name is cinnabon? >> perhaps. >> and making appearances at airports nationwide. and boogie nights and heather graham turns 46. media mogul oprah winfrey, 62, magnum p.i. himself, tom sell k selleck, 71. i'm erica hill. thanks for watching today. have a great friday and a terrific weekend. laura/vo a troubling peace for friends and filof kyle myrick. finally, after almost a week of searching--- his body is located in the santa cruz mountains. now, the impact the discovery has dealt to a grieving community. sam/vo and falling from the sky--- into someone's backyard. a plane headed to the sonoma county airport crash lands, killing the two people on-board. the circumstances surrounding that ash--- ill coming to light. laura/vo plus, sliding it's way into demolition. a san francisco home torn down--- after it moves several feet. this, while the 'sinking feeling' of me homes to come--- . . . . a san francisco home has to be torn down after it moves several feet. this after the sinking feeling of more homes to come still threatens neighbors. "today in the bay" starts right now. a very good friday morning to you. thanks so much for joining

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