E growing outbreak to the address at a hearing on capitol hill this morning. Too accommodating . The opening day at the trial of erin andrews. Why did hotel staff agree to let a man who turned out to be her stalker book the room next to hers . 8this is dangerous. Its a red flag. You dont go, fine. Why the hotel claims it did nothing wrong. Today, wednesday, februruy 24th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to today on a wednesday morning. Its willie again for matt. Day three of the flu for mr. Lawyer lauer. We hope hes feeling okay. Feel better, matt. Donald trump with a massive win in nevada. It was a landslide for trump. He dominated every key voting block, giving him more momentum heading into super tuesday nexex week. The race for second place, another nail biter. Marco rubio edging out cruz, with a few more votes yet to be counted. Well talk to donald trump and senator rubio a moment from now. Lets start with the weather. Aa powerful storm system spawning tornadoes from louisianao florida overnight. More is expected today. Lets go to nbcs jacob rascon. Hes in convent, louisiana, 50 west of new orleans. Whats the situation . Behind me is what used to be a mobile home park. Now, just a pile of rubble. Two People Killed here alone, more than 30 hospitalized, 7 critically. Now, the search is on for those who may be trapped in the rubble. For survivors. Hope nearly lost. 150 mobile homes ripd to shreds. Trucks twisted like toys. A neighborhood wiped off the map. Louisiana governor edwards, stunned. This was probably the worst arar that that tornado could have hit. Its just the destructive power of this tornado is awful. Have you ever seen anything like it . I have not. Reporter dozens were injured, many pulled from the rubble barely alive. Were asking for calm in this area, for prayers. We need that. The community needsthat. Reportete 19 Million People were at risk during round one of the massive winter storm. From golfball sized hail in texas to blinding rain and more than a dozen twisters in several states. All the way to pensacola, florida, where this neighborhood took airect hit. We j jt held on to each other and said, maybe well make it. Maybe we wont. Reporter there were overturned semi trucks, a gutted gym and howard, who saw it go right past him. Nobody is giving up yet in convert, louisiana. In the air and on the ground, wondering if this is surviveablesurvivable. Some of the mobile homes were thrown blocks from where they originally stood. Incredible stories of survival. The seven people critically injured remain hospitalized. The search will continue for the two to three people later this morning. Savannah . Jacob rascon, thank you. Now al is here with what you can expect today. The storms have covered a wide swath of territory. This is what we were worried about. Yoyo cant see it to verify them. Instead, you have to go by radar and thats what we were concerned about. This is the certain time this season we have seen this. A winter storm and Severe Weather. The subtropical, stronger stormy coast. You can see from georgia and South Carolina, all the way to florida, we have tornado watches in effect. For today, we are under the gun for central north carolina. Tornadoes very likely here. Possible wind gusts of up to 70 Miles Per Hour. This is going to be pushing to the east. This morning, the southeast is under it theyre going to see the heavy thunderstorm. Later this morning, the midatlantic gets into the act. Were going to see the winds increasing. The rain, as well. Highest threat for the costal areas, the midatlantic and the northeast. Rainfall amounts, 1 to 3nches of rain. Weve got flood watches for 12 Million People at risk from georgia all the way to new england. In a bit, well talk about the winter side of this. We have blizzard wardennings in effect now. Thank you. Now to the other big story of the morning. Donald trump storming to victory in the nevada caucuses on the carolina and new hampshire. Momentum4is clearly on hish side. Super tuesday, all important, just six days away now. Were going to talk to mr. Trump live in a moment. Lets begin this mornings coverage with nbcs National Correspondent peter alexander. Good morning to you. Good morning to you. Donald trump delivering another decisive victory here, fueled by another record turnout. Trump dominating among voters looking for a political outsider who tells it like it is. Just as striking as what happened overnight, after the results came in. The cruz, rubio and kasich campaigns sent out emails blasting each other, not a we love nevada. Thank you. Reporter here in vegas, donald trump hit another jackpot. The billionaire cashing in his Third Straight wiwi iff you win to the pundits, we werent expected to win too much and now were winning, winning, reporter focusing on victories in kedemy demographics. We won with young, with old, highly educateded poorly educated. I love the poorly educated. Reporter dueling to be the trump alternative, cruz trails rubio in the battle for second. The only campaign that has beaten donald trump and the only campaign that can beat donald trump is this campaign. Reporter across nevada, the wild west lived up to its name. The chaotic caucuses coming under criticism before the voting was complete, with complaints on social media. One man saying it was a disaster. Another reporting yelling and screaming. Caucus workers wearing pro trump swag that Party Officials say is allowed. Meanwhile, with super tuesday approaching, the trumpcruz feud is intensifying. The front runner pouncing on cruz for his decision to fire a top aide. Soft, weak, little baby. Reporter cruz sarcastically praiseing trump for showing grace. We have to elect someone who is not just angry but someone who will make a difference and someone who will win. Reporter for the establishment, time is running out. March 15th, contests are winner take off. A strong second isnt worth a thing. Itll be an amazing two months. We might not even need the two months, folks, to be honest, all right . Now, the republican race for the nomination excel l teaccelerates. 11 states voting next week, including cruzs home state of texas. The senator simply trying to stay alive, telling supporters itll be the most important night of his campaign. Savannah and willie . Peter alexander, thank you so much. Michigan where he held a rally last night. Good morning, sir. Good morning. There have been these four republican contests. Donald trump has won three of them. Weve seeee the field of candidates narrow. Yet, this dynamic seems to be the same. Youve got you and ted cruz and some of the otherer canandates fightingngach other, and tru sailing to victory. Lot of republicans asking this morning, why not take on trump directly . Whats your answer to that . Yeah, first of all, you need to take everything weve applied, the lessons of every other campaign before and throw them out the window. This is an unusual year andnd an unususl process. The nevada caucuses, by the way, are atypical. I respect nevada very much. Last night, that was different than the rest of the country. Heres the bottom line fact, the vast and overwhelming majority of republicans dont want donald trump to be our nominee. Its evidenced by the fact your poll last week showed if it came down to donald trump and me, id we have a dynamic where as long as there are four people running, dividing up the nontrump vote, youll get results like last night. The sooner we can narrow the race down, the easier itll be to stop donald trump. Sorry to interrupt. Some candidates dropped out and weve seen donald trump grow his numbers. You say nevada is an utliarer but he got 46 of the vote last night. Mitt romney got over 50 in the last caucus in nevada, with the same number of candidates in the race. As i said, its a state thats always delivered Something Like that, or along those lines. I love nevada. We did well and picked up delegates there last night and moved on. One candidate dropped out between saturday and today and thats governor bush. I think youll see more of that happening over the next few days and weeks. As that happens, i think were only going to get stronger. Youve seen a growing number of people joining our effort. Were the only ones in the race that can unite the Republican Party and grow it. Im channelling republicans and conservatives who like you and support you but are frustrated youre not specifically going after donald trump, and you seem more focused on ted cruz. Their concern seems to be by the time you getet rid of ted cruz, if that i i the strategy, itll be too late. Donald trump will have too many states and too many delegates. Why not go at donald trump right now . First of all, i havent heard that. I talk to people all day. I go to rallies all the time and dont have voters begging me to attack anyone. Second, i t tnk its a mediaia narrativiv a lotf people want to see republicans attacking each other because it makes for good television. Im not in the race to attack anyone. Forgive the interruption, but youve been going after cruz. Im responding to ted cruz. If im attacked, im going to respond and set the record straight. In the case offed cruz, hes repeatedly made things up about me and weve had to clear the air and point to the fact hes making things up. If you recall in the last debate, donald trump said george i corrected him in a firm way in front of the entire nation. When instances liegs ss like that arise, i wont hesitate t t point out our differences or things i disagree with. I didnt run for office to tear up other republicans. Im going to tell people who i am and why im running. Ill give them a choice. If they elect me, theyll have someone who unifies the party, grows this party, governs this country responsibly, deals with our challenges, and i will be a president for all americans. Even the people that dont agree with us. Ill try to bng the country together as best i can. Senator marco rubio, aays good to get your time. Thank you. Thanks, senator. Thank you. Now we have donald trump on the phone. He, of course, won the nevada caucuses last night. Congratulations on your win, sir. Thank you very much. You came kind of close to declaring victory of the whole nomination last night. You said, itll be an amazing two months and might not even take two months. Clearly, youre feeling good. Is this nomination yours to lose at this point . I dont know. I cant answer tha question. Really well. We have tremendous numbers out of the different states were going to this coming week. If you look at georgia and texas, where we have a real good shot. You look at some of them down the line, i think we have amazing numbers. I think well do very well in ohio, tennessee, arkansas. Were looking at really great numbers. I hope we do well. Mr. Trump, we just talked to senanar rubio. Hes criticized for not going after you more directly. It strikes me hes the one guy you havent really gone after. Youve gone after many of the others in the field and many arent in the race anymore. When its time to go after senator rubio, what will be your line of criticism with him . Iouldnt want toell u. So far, hes been very nicee and ive been nice to him. We havent been in that mode yet, but probably itll happen. If it doesnt happen, that would be a wonderful thing. It would be very nice. There is a possibility that will happen. As you look at his record and the things hes done as a united impressions . Hes somewhat inexperienced, young, nice guy. Well be talking about it at the right time if it comes up. So far, really, it hasnt come up. Ive been accusing senator cruz of doing pretty bad things, namely, lying. Ive never seen anybody like this. Ive dealt with much, much tougherreople over my lifetime, but i have never dealt with anybody that will lie like he lies. Why go after cruz if rubio is the one who seems to be doing better in the polls and getting closer to you . Granted, not close if you look at nevadas results last night. That only happened last night. T. Really, cruz was second. It looks like rubio is now looking like hes going to be second, based on last nikht. W do you think senator rubio hasnt gone after you . Many republicans think somebody has to take you on. This has to become a one on one race. We talked to him about it. He hasnt done that. Why do you think . Do you think hes he fears maybe because 14 people went after me and 14 people now officially are gone. I dont know. I mean, i seem to have a good track record when they do go after me. Hes been very nice, and i think ive been respectful to him. Well see what happens. It could always change. Its changed on a number of occasions. Other people have been that way and we go at it. So far, i have an unblemished track record. Maybe he looks at that. Im not sure. Youll have to ask him that question. We heard you in a piece a few minutes ago calling ted cruz a little baby. You talked about wanting to punch a protester who w w misbehaving at one of your events. You said when you become president , youll change your tone and temperament. Im watching how well youre doing. How your life has gone with the tone and temperament. Why would you change that if its working so well for you . I have to tell you, maybe i shouldnt be changing it too much. The protester was out of line. He was hitting ople, scrcrming during the speechch and everybody he was screaming horribly. The cops were so gentle, how they took him out. He had a big smile on his face, waving to the people. They were booing hihi he should have been out o o a stretcher but they couldnt touch him. Its disgraceful. Nevertheless. That style has worked well for you in your life. Why change it when you become president . I think i might tone it down a little bit. I was against we had a total of 17 people and now were down to 6. I may verer well change it. Right now, it seems to be working pretty well. Donald trump, thank you for your time. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. While Republican Voters caucused across nevada, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were taking part in a town hall in South Carolina. Ahead of saturdays democratic primary there. Nbcs Kristen Welker is in columbia for u good morning. Good morning to you. Blunt secretary clintons momentum. On tuesday, they traded sharp jabs at the town hall here. One of the most heated moments came when clinton was asked about transcripts on the speeches she gave to wall street. Why is there one standard for me andot for everybody else . Reporter tough questions tuesday night. Hillary clinton, again, pressed about releasing transcripts of her paid Goldman Sachs speeches. If people are going to ask for things, everybody should be on a level playing field. Reporter clinton vowing to release her transjipts scripts when others follow suit. Giving sanders an opening. I am happy to release my paid speeches to wall street. Here, chris. There aint none. Reporter tuesdays ruling by a federal judge, her top aides should be questioned about the email server. Its not going to have any lasting effect. I am not at all worried about it. Reporter for his part, sanders challenged about in 1974, saying he wanted to abolish the cia. The cia plays an important role. Have they done things which they should not have done on behalf of the United States government . Absolutely. Reporter both candidates used the night to court critical africanamerican voters. Clinton asked about beyonces super bowl halftime show, which angered some Police Departments, by paying tribute to the black lives matter movement. We have to figure out how were going to lift up the good practices, reform policici, provide more support. Reporter sanders slammed the movement against the president , including donald trump. My dad came from poland. Im running for president and no one asked for mymyirth certificate certificice. Maybeets the color of m m skin. Reporter clinton brushing f her fumbl respoe to a question about lying to the american public. I dont believe i ever have. I dont believe i ever will. Say no just say no would like another shot at answering . Ill just say no. Both candidates alsoo expressed their support for president obamas plan to close guantanamo. Today, clinton will campaign in South Carolina, while sanders will hold a News Conference here and then go to super tuesdays stage, where he may have a bigger shot t winning. Thanks so much. Now to washington. New developments in the ongoing battle over the u. S. Supreme court. Senate majority leader mitch mccomemc mcconnell said his party wont meet with the nominees presented by president obama. He said the president h h a right to nominate, but the nate has rights, as well. Forecast. Fruit. Nuts. Silky smooth dark chocolate. Revel in the pleasure of new dove fruit and nut. Morning clouds, much of siouxland got to finally enjoy a little bit of sunshine with highs staying above average in the 30s and 40s. The steady north breeze that we felt today will stay with us tonight and tomorrow as well and then it becomes windy on thursday. Well see more clouds move in during the day on wednesday which could give us a chance of a late day mix that could linger into the nighttime hours as well. Thursday is likely to be the coolest of days to come with highs in the mid a look at the winter side of thank you very much. Just ahead this morning, the emotional start to erin andrews 75 million lawsuit after she was secretly recorded behind closed doors. And more signs the zika virus is spreading in the u. S. The cdc investigating 14 new potentiaiacases. What they all have in common. Nbc. Coming up, carsons after your local news. Chobani simply 100. Its the only light greek yogurt with zero preservatives. To love this life is to live it. Naturally. The citi double cash card comes in very handy with cash back twice on purchases. Earn once when you buy, and again as you pay. Thats cash back now, and cash back again later. Its cash back d\j vu. The citi double cash card. The e ly card that lets you earn cash back t tce on every purcrcse with 1 when you buy and 1 as you pay. With two ways to earn, it makes a lot of other cards seem one sided. 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