Of wine as you can get anywhere in the world. Well join us live. On the democraticHillary Clintons hopes to lock up the nomination dashes with Bernie Sanders win in a key state. A pastor shot in a rally outside of the white house. He was arrested by the secret service. How was a wanted man able to get on a plane and fly to washington . Raining debris. Twisters rip across texas. Whoa whoa tornado. Yeah. Yes, thats a tornado. Major flooding forcing evacuations in louisiana. 18 Million People facing the threat of more Severe Weather today. And the man behind the mania. George martin, known as the fifth beatle, the legendary producer who signed the fab four and guided them into music Paul Mccartney says the world has lost a truly great man today, wednesday, march 9th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a wednesday morning. I know you werent even born, but boy, George Martin, what a legendary figure in music. Responsible for a lot of the music we came to love from the beatles. They dont call everyone the fifth beatle. No question about it. Well have a tribute to sir george in a little while. This morning, once again, the president ial race is our top story. Lets get right to the results. The republicans, donald trump took the biggest prizes of yesterday. Michigan, mississippi and he added hawaii to his list of victories overnight. While ted cruz won by a large margin in idaho, nearly 20 points. Trump leading with 456. Cruz in second with 363. Marco rubio, who had three threeplace finishes and won four yesterday has 153. Sanders pulled off a rather surprising upset against clinton in michigan, but she scored a decisive victory in mississippi by more than 65 points. That pushed clinton over the halfway mark in the race for delegates needed to lock up that nomination. We have complete coverage this morning. Well talk to donald trump live in a moment. Let us begin with nbc National Correspondent peter alexander. Good morning to you. Matt, good morning. Another strong showing overnight for donald trump. Hes padded his delegate lead, reclaimed momentum in the race and now has shown his ability to clinch the republican nomination will hinge heavily on how well he can do in next weeks super tuesday, when its winner take off. Only one person did well tonight, donald trump. Reporter donald trump celebrating another step toward the republican nomination with what, at times, felt more like a late night infomercial. The magazine is great, take one. By the way, if you want to take one, well charge you about, what, 50 no, i wont. Reporter the billionaire who polarized his party is now calling for unity. What i say to the republicans is embrace it. We will win the election easily. Reporter trump dismissing his sparring partner, marco rubio, Whose Campaign suffered a dismal night. Hostility works for some people. Doesnt work for everybody. Reporter a slinging defeat for the wellfunded, antitrump movement, but its ad airing in florida targets trump for using vulgar language. I know words. I have the best words. Listen, [ bleep ]. He gets the nomination, theyll sue his [ bleep ]. Hes a [ bleep ]. Hes not president ial. Are you embarrassed by that . Its better than any ad ive taken by myself. More president ial than anybody, other than the great abe lincoln. He was very president ial, right . Reporter with trump widening his delegate lead over ted cruz. If you want to defeat donald trump, our campaign is the only one who can do it. Reporter marco rubios last resort is his home state. I believe with all my heart the winner of the florida primary next tuesday will be the nominee of the republican party. Reporter despite tallying zero wins through 23 states, john kasich, battling for second in michigan, delivered what could have been mistaken for a victory speech. We are going to win the state of ohio. The big prizes on super tuesday, florida and ohio, and heres what the new numbers show. First, donald trump with a wide double digit lead over rubio in state. Cruz in third. In ohio, the race is competitive. Trump holding on to the lead at 41 . John kasich at 35 . Cruz way behind. I spoke to one of the heads of the antitrump movement and they say they didnt compete in any of the states that voted yesterday. Theyre setting their sights on super tuesday. Peter, thank you very much. Donald trump is on the phone with us now live. Mr. Trump, good morning. Good morning. Let me completely reverse my line of questioning from yesterday. I said, is it possible the weight of the attacks coming at you from other republicans have slowed your momentum. You won three of the four contests yesterday. Is it possible the weight of the attacks is actually helping you . I think so. I mean, you see the numbers i got. In mississippi, i love the people of mississippi and michigan, and you look at whats happened. The numbers were astronomical. Im surprised at it, matt. Ill be honest, ive never seen i mean, they came at me. I heard what you said about, somebody said, what are you going to start now . Last week, they spent 30 million on negative ads. The more they call you a con man and a fraud, the more your supporters dig in their heels . Thats one of the reasons i did what i did last night. I brought out a magazine which i have. Mitt romney got up last week and talked about the stakes. Well, we have a great stake division. We have a great magazine. We have a great all of the things he talked about, you know, i have. He went through a list of things. I dont want to even do that, but what he said was a lie. It was fraudulent, and he shouldnt have done that. I understand where hes coming from. He had a very horrible loss, and he hasnt recovered from it. Youre making me hungry. I know. Matt, the truth is, you had a loss and he hasnt recovered. We have to recover as a party. This Tremendous Positive energy were setting records going to the polls. 65 up. Millions of millions of people, some people have never voted before, and theyre voting for trump. Theyre voting in the party. Thats a good way to get to the next question. On the Election Nights youve been saying, im a unifier. I can unify the party. Yet, you do have this big segment of the party, orthodox conservative, traditional republicans, who are terrified at the prospect of your candidacy. To the extent it is on you to do so, how can you unify . How can you get them over to your side . Okay, savannah, we have something going on thats the biggest political story all over the world, and its whats happening with the republican party. You see it better than anybody. Where millions of people are coming out and voting in the primaries, millions more than 65 more. Whereas, the democrats are down 30 and 35 . No spirit behind hillary and theres nothing to be spirited about. What happens is we have something that if we could embrace it, were going to have a massive victory in november. Instead of all of this negative stuff, i was at the tournament last week, where adam scott won, and i turn on the television and every time there is a commercial, it was a negative ad in florida about me. A horrible and false ad. These are false ads. These are disgusting, false ads that were written by people that are absolutely haters. If this party came together, matt, nobody could beat it. Thats one of the things i respect. Paul ryan called me, such a smart call, such a wonderful call. Mr. Trump, as always, thanks for your time. We appreciate it. Thank you very much, matt. Wif the e have the wines, steaks in there, magazines. A lot of things. Branding has been accomplished. As we mentioned, the upset of the night wept nt to sanders michigan. Will it reshape the democratic race and the delegate race . Kristen welker has more on that. Morning. Good morning to you. Secretary clinton wakes up with more delegates this morning, but it is senator sanders who has new momentum after the major upset in michigan. Now, the win is significant because it shows he can be competitive in these larger, more diverse states. A lot of folks asking this morning exactly what happened. There are indications this morning that clintons ground game in michigan may have been lacking. Sanders message resonated. He hammered clinton for supporting nafta, unpopular in michigan and throughout the midwest. Even sanders seemed surprised by the win, speaking to reporters in a hastily arranged press gathering after the results came . What we have done is created the kind of moe mentum that we need to win. Once again, this has been a fantastic night in michigan. Were getting new poll numbers out this morning. Lets take a look at florida. Secretary clinton firmly in the lead. She topped senator sanders, 62 to 32 . In ohio, shes leading 52 to 43 . But michigan underscores that this democratic race just got a whole lot more competitive everywhere. Kristen, thank you so much. Lets bring in chuck todd, moderator of meet the press, and steve kornacki. Fellas, good morning to you. Morning. Lets start with the democrats. The michigan victory for sanders, did it seem a surprise . Well, maybe most to sanders and his team. What does it mean for momentum and the delegate mass . The delegate mass, it didnt do anything. Hillary clinton got more delegates because of her dominance in mississippi. He actually lost ground. But it does mean something in momentum. I think its a reminder to do to gain trust of sort of the spectacle part of the Democratic Party when it comes to trade deals, this or that. The bitter she etter she learns this now, the better shell potentially be against donald trump who will go after her on the same issues. Sanders won in michigan, he can win in ohio. There are Northern Tier states he can do well in. Lets switch to the republicans. Donald trump had a big night. Marco rubio had a bad day with a couple of third and fourth place finishes. If florida wasnt on the calendar next tuesday, is there any way he could stay in the race . The performance was so bad for rubio. Maybe under normal circumstances, a candidate in that situation might think about, do i even want to contest my home state . This is the problem for rubio and why it was a big win for trump last night. Early voting is already underway in florida. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of votes already in if marco rubio were to say, im going to get out of the race, let the party unite around ted cruz, even if it united from this point forward around cruz, wouldnt be enough to stop trump in florida. In florida, winner take all. You get 99 delegates if you win. Donald trump is in a good spot right now. How is the effort, the antitrump effort to take away florida, take away ohio, how is that looking this morning . He has a better shot at ohio than florida. John kasich is a sitting governor. You get the sense that Florida Republicans arent comfortable rallying around rubio. But the Ohio Republicans are comfortable to rally around kasich, but its still not looking good. Kasich finished third, not second in michigan. No extra bump. Of course, what we described with rubio. Neither kasich nor rubio got momentum out of last night going into their home states. Its trump with the momentum. Differently going forward, since there seemed to be bumps in the road . We are under sampling, i think, and all pollsters are doing it, under sampling the trump i agree. Ill give a pass in michigan. First Democratic State in 24 years. He said hes pulling in nontraditional voters. Were not correctly polling the trump pollsters. The weekend shooting of an idaho pastor the day after he led a prayer at a ted cruz rally. The suspect taken into custody more than 2,000 miles away from the shooting at the white house. Pete williams has the latest. The secret service says this man was arrested after throwing nonhazardous materials over the white house fence. Then officers discovered he was wanted in idaho. That the president needed to do more to resist space aliens. Reporter the secret service says Kyle Andrew Odom was seen outside the white house tuesday night throwing documents and a computer flashdrive over the fence. The scene around the white house was active hours later. The 30yearold was immediately taken into custody, putting an end to a threeday man hunt. I think everyone can breathe a sigh of relief that this part of the case has come to a conclusion conclusion. Reporter the case started in idaho where a man shot a pastor on sunday, just a day earlier, pastor tim has delivered the opening prayer for ted cruz at a campaign rally. You get all the glory, all the honor and all the praise for it, lord. Reporter remmington was walking out of his church to his car when he was shot six times, critically wounded. Odom was identified as the suspect after video from the silver 2004 honda accord linked to the former marine. They believe odom flew from boise, idaho, to washington, but theyre baffled at how he boarded the plane in the first place. The pastor was not the only target. Odom, who had a history of mental problems, revealed his plan in a letter sent to his parents and news media. There is a number of people that were listed in the manifesto. There is a number of u. S. Senators and house of representatives people, Israeli Government officials. It was extensive and disturbing to us. Authorities in idaho say the pastor who was shot in the head and back is recovering, awake and talking. For the man who was arrested, members of his family say theyre grateful he was safely apprehended and nobody else was hurt. Pete williams for us on this story, thank you. This morning, were learning more about the american who was killed in a stabbing rampage in israel. De arrives there for key talks with leaders. Kelly cobiella is following this for us. Good morning. Good morning. West point grad with a brilliant future. Thats how the Vice President described taylor this morn g ing. The texas native and veteran of iraq and afghanistan was visiting israel, out for a walk by the sea, when he was stabbed. Reporter a blood bath on the seafront. Tourists were out, commuters on their way home when the attack started. Ten wounded, the sidewalk stained red. The man with a knife was caught on cell phone video running down the seaside street, trying to stab drivers stuck in traffic. It took 20 minutes to stop him. Witnesses tried to help. There was a man on the floor, received stab wounds here and on his back. I took off my jacket and i put it on his eye. Reporter American Taylor the 29yearold veteran of iraq and afghanistan was studying business at vanderbilt. In telaviv on a school trip to share his insights and knowledge with startups in israel, the university said. Describing force as a young and hopeful life, who exemplified the spirit of learning and service. The stabbing spree was one of three attacks by palestinians across israel over an hour and a half on tuesday. The worst day of violence in weeks. Vice President Joe Biden meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu today was a mile from the stabbing where force was killed. My wife and my two grandchildren and granddaughter were having dinner on the beach, not very far from where that happened. It can happen anywhere at any time. The Vice President also saying this morning that the u. S. Stands firmly behind israels right to defend itself, along with passing his families. This morning, israeli media is reporting that taylor forces wife was also stabbed and is in Critical Condition. Nbc news hasnt been able to independently confirm that. Matt and savannah . Awful story. Thank you. Breaking news out of seattle overnight. Nine firefighters taken to the hospital after a massive explosion leveled several buildings. The firefighters were at the scene, responding to reports of a gas leak. Some residents several miles away say the sound of the blast woke them up. The firefighters are listed in satisfactory condition with injuries ranging from burns to abrasions. Investigation now underway into that explosion. Thousands of people are expected in simi valley, california, to pay their respects to nancy reagan. Shell lie in repose at the Ronald Reagan president ial library today and tomorrow. She died sunday morning of congestive Heart Failure at the age of 94. Held on friday, and she will be buried at the library next to her husband. We turn to al. You are watching storms in the south. We have wild weather going on right now. Look what we saw yesterday. This is just outside of ft. Worth, texas. You can see, transformers exploding there, as a tornado moves through. I mean, really amazing stuff. As this pushes through, were starting to see torrential down downpour downpours. You can see the damage. As this moved to the east, we go to louisiana, outside of shreveport. This is video in this morning from overnight flooding. Its going to continue today. Look at the radar right now. It is lighting up from san antonio, dallas, little rock and parts of northern louisiana. 22 Million People under some sort of flooding risk. 2 Million People under a flood warning. For texas on into northern louisiana. We watch this rain pushing in. Severe storms, possibility of more flooding as we move into today and tomorrow. The rain moves to the northeast. Look at the rainfall amounts. Some places could pick up another 16 inches of rain from central louisiana on into arkansas. Itll be catastrophic in some places. Well get to your local you can help prevent blindness in undernourished children all over the world. When you get your vitamins at walgreens, you help give lifechanging vitamins to kids across the globe. Get vitamins here. Change lives everywhere. Walgreens. At the corner of happy and healthy. Hazy out this morning. 45 in the park. Still chills north and west. Low to mid 30s, upper 30s across the hudson valley. Unseasonably warm by this afternoon. So warm that we break the record of 69 degrees. Were forecasting a high of 75 this afternoon. Old record set in 2000. We break that by several degrees. We think it5g will be much cooler along the shore. Sevenday forecast, stillix in the more thats your latest weather. We were talking about recordsetting temperatures coming up in a bit.