a huge victory for donald trump in nevada, winning big with male and female voters from almost every group imaginable. >> so, we won the evangelicals. we won with young. we won with old. we won with highly educated. we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. >> t, 35 million americans in the path of severe weather that's already left at least three dead with more tornadoes expected today. the cdc has identified 14 new cases of the zika in the united states, transmitted through sexual relations. plus, sportscaster erin andrews prepares to take the stand in her civil suit over secretly recorded naked video that's been viewed over 300 million times.

it's wednesday, february 24th, "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm rob simmelkjaer. the results are in from last night's nevada caucus. donald trump took the silver state by a land slide winning every major voting bloc. we'll tell you how he did it and how the gop is reacting. but first, after a tense night in the deep south, 35 million americans are in the path of severe weather, with parts of the country bracing for more twisters today. dangerous storm systems pushed through the gulf coast region and at least three people are dead and dozens more injured. as at least five confirmed tornadoes touches down in louisiana, mississippi, and florida. and tens of thousands are still without power. this video captured the moment power was knocked out in one alabama town. meanwhile in louisiana, dueling tornadoes touched down over a lake, causing huge waterspouts, while elsewhere in the state, debris from homes scattered in

streets and yards. the louisiana state police posted these photos of one area looking more like a demolition site than a neighborhood. and over in pensacola, florida, a cacophony of lightning brought on by the storm was captured on video. the damage in the area is severe. this home, completely destroyed. the only thing left water shooting up marking the spot where the house used to stand. and the remnants of this home can now be found floating in runoff from the storm. that threat continues today. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with the extreme weather forecast. good morning. bi bill, pretty scary pictures. >> yeah, a couple strong tornadoes yesterday. we had 30 in all. you notice most of them are where we thought they'd be, i-10 across new orleans and into areas of north florida. 30 tornadoes, 15 large hail reports. there's also been some significant wind damage. all these blue dots overnight.

we'll get more of those pictures when the sun comes up and see how bad that damage is. here we are with the storm system. still sitting and spinning, strengthening. it's moving over areas of kentucky and tennessee, towards ohio. ahead of it is the cold front. this is where the air is still very turbulent. this is where we still have a tornado watch until 10:00 a.m. local time in the areas of florida. the strongest storms for the most part have weakened. we're only seeing a few areas with enough strength to do some wind damage. no tornado warnings at the current time. these storms are arriving towards tampa, orlando, jacksonville. daytona beach through the morning commute. so still concerns. later this afternoon, it's going to get worse again. i'll let you know who's at risk coming up >> >> let's hope for a safer day down there, bill. thank you very much. back to nevada now. donald trump's commanding win of the nevada caucus, his percentage nearly doubled that of second place marco rubio. trump picks up 12 more delegates. his count now stands at 79, far

and away ahead of ted cruz and marco rubio with 16 and 15 respectively. trump suppose to his enthusiastic supporters. >> trump, trump, trump! >> now we're winning, winning, winning! and soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning! >> he highlighted the across-the-board demographics of his voters. >> we won the evangelicals. we won with young. we won with old. we won with highly educated. we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. we're the smartest people with the most loyal people. 46% with the hispanics. 46%. number one with hispanics. >> and he breaks down how the next few weeks may play out. >> if donald trump wants to end this quickly obviously the easiest thing to do is keep

winning. but there are three really specific things he can do in the next two weeks right now to sort of force the issue with his three remaining opponents and that is win in their home states. look at this. this is a poll that's just out in the last day, ted cruz ahead by only eight points in his home state over donald trump. it was not long ago that the ted cruz campaign was looking at texas, and they were looking at the magic number of 50% there, because if you can win more than 50% in texas, you win every single one of the statewide delegates that's at stake. this is a winner take all primary in ohio. the buckeye state, john kasich's state, two-term governor, re-elected overwhelmingly in 2014, look at this brand-new poll out there, donald trump leading john kasich in his home state of ohio by five points. in florida, 99 delegates. marco rubio the home state candidate, not only in the latest poll, this is a few weeks ago, not only is marco rubio losing to donald trump, a few weeks ago when this poll was taken, he was running third in

his home state, behind even ted cruz. now, rubio got a decent performance in a couple of contests in at least in south carolina since then, maybe that bumps him up. but again, donald trump has done nothing but win since this poll was conducted. and so from that standpoint, maybe donald trump is moving up, as well. >> meanwhile the democrats held a town hall in south carolina. hillary clinton took questions on foreign policy, and women's issues. while bernie sanders touched on the hot button topic of the transcript from secretary clinton's private wall street speeches. >> secretary clinton said i will do it if other people do it. well, i am very happy to release all of my paid speeches to wall street. here it is, chris. there ain't none. >> sure, if everybody does it, and that includes the republicans, because we know they have made a lot of speeches, but look what is this about? this is about whether i have the best plan to go after wall street. >> you know everybody's not going to bring up their transcripts. there -- >> why is there one standard for

me and not for everybody else, chris? i mean -- everybody should be on a level playing field and i'm happy if that were the case. >> the candidates also tackled issues of race and gun violence. both are hoping for a boost in saturday's south carolina primary where clinton is favored before the whirlwind super tuesday when nearly more than 1,000 delegates are up for grabs. and that massive number of delegates up for grabs brings us tracie potts with a look at those 11 states that could all but lock up for the race for the number two front-runners. >> it's going to be very interesting to see what happens after super tuesday. take a look at that map. there are about 600 republican delegates up for grabs on super tuesday. so that could go a long way to determining who is going to get that nomination. it's about half of what any one candidate would need.

donald trump coming off three straight wins. the entrance polls in nevada showed us that he won a number of key voting blocs. young, old, people of various levels of education, people with different concerns. he won them and won them big in nevada. we saw similar results in the south. ted cruz hoping that texas will be a big win for him. that's his home state. marco rubio, who's been, it appears to be, at least based on nevada so far, second in the last two contests, is hoping to become the person that ted cruz says he is the one who can beat donald trump. now looking at the democrats, you just heard hillary clinton, also bernie sanders, his home state of vermont voting on super tuesday. could be a big one on both sides. >> all right. really make or break time for both challengers in these races. thank you very much. appreciate it, tracie. meanwhile in other news, president obama formally announced his plan to close down

the controversial detention center at guantanamo bay, cuba. >> for many years it's been clear that the detention facility at guantanamo bay does not advance our national security. it undermines it. this is not just my opinion. this is the opinion of experts. this is the opinion of many in our military. >> that opinion isn't shared by everyone. especially across the aisle. >> but it would be illegal, under current law, to transfer foreign terrorists at guantanamo into the united states. >> not only are we not going to close guantanamo, when i'm president if we capture a terrorist alive, they're not getting a court hearing in manhattan, they're not going to be sent to nevada, they're going to guantanamo and we're going to find out everything they know. >> donald trump also addressed the president's decision in his victory speech late last night. >> we're going to keep, as you know, gitmo, we're keeping that open, and we're going to load it up with bad dudes. we're going to load it up with a lot of bad dudes out there. >> the plan rests on the

transfer of between 30 to 60 of the detainees to u.s. soil while the rest of the 91 detainees could be sent to other countries. the house armed services committee plans to hold a hearing on a closure plan. nbc meteorologist bill karins has more on today's severe weather, particularly in the southeast. >> yeah, it includes more people today than it did yesterday. here's a map to show the areas at risk for the potential severe weather and tornadoes today. it includes 35 million people from the nation's capital, washington, d.c., all the way back down into areas of central florida. the area of greatest risk, the red bull's eye paints the picture. raleigh area, just south of rich mann mond. it's around 2:00 p.m. to about 5:00 p.m. we get the strongest of those storms. if we're going to get more deadly tornadoes, that's thebea

conditions. 76 in fresno. and the final part of our story, we have snow today in st. louis, chicago, and detroit. a little bit of everything with this big eastern storm. >> that time of year. a lot going on, bill karins. thank you very much. coming up, erin andrews' $75 million stalker lawsuit gets under way. plus, scary moments as a small plane crashes into traffic on a busy california street. "early today" is back in two. see see me. don't stare at me. see me. see me. see me to know that psoriasis is just something that i have. i'm not contagious. see me to know that i won't stop. until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine

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man was traveling to a zika-affected area, developed symptoms that were consistent with zika, and within two weeks of the man's symptoms, the female partner developed symptoms consistent with zika virus. >> the cdc advises expectant mothers to use condoms or abstain from sex during pregnancy if their partner has traveled to a zika-infected area. >> and in california surveillance video caught a single engine plane crash landing right in the middle of the street on monday hitting several cars. the pilot was trying to return to the airport in a plane owned by his son joshua. he's currently in jail for allegedly stalking actress sandra bullock. no injuries were reported. jurors heard opening statements in the $75 million lawsuit brought by sportscaster erin andrews. she is suing a man convicted of stalking her and secretly filming her while naked along

with a hotel that andrews claims allowed that man to have a room right next to her's. nbc's morgan radford has the details. >> reporter: sports reporter erin andrews heading into a nashville courtroom, eight years after a stalker secretly recorded her naked in her room at this marriott hotel and then posted it online. a video viewed more than 300 million times. >> she's so afraid now. she is so afraid. >> reporter: andrews' attorney said her stalker, michael barrett, asked for a room next to hers and got it. he served 30 months and is now free. in the civil case andrews wants $75 million from the marriott hotel in nashville, it's management company at the time, and michael barrett. the hotel denies it's responsible. >> what he did to her was terrible. but counsel is trying to tie my clients, who were simply trying to provide a hotel room, to the guest, to a criminal stalker. >> reporter: andrews was stoic in court but previously shared

her embarrassment. >> i won't get this down in 30 months. i won't get it down in 30 years. my kids, my future husband, will have to deal with this. >> reporter: andrews alleges her stalker was able to find out where she was staying from marriott. a former central reservations agent testified by videotape. >> during your training you were told that it was perfectly acceptable to provide the information that somebody was staying at a specific hotel, correct? >> yes. >> reporter: michael barrett will also be testifying by videotape in a trial expected to take two weeks. and andrews is expected to take the stand. morgan radford, nbc news. just ahead, a trio of terrific basketball shots, all of them buzzer beaters. sports coming up next on "early today." ll of a freshly bound presentation fill you with optimism? do you love your wireless keyboard more than certain family members? is your success due to a filing system only you understand? does printing from your tablet to your wireless printer give you a jolt of confidence?

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all right. let's get to sports now. some amazing basketball shots. we begin with a halftime baylor buzzer beater. as the bears throw a perfect pass to gathers, who drains the three as the clock strikes zero. that was gathers' first three-point shot of his college career. the excited 275-pound guy slammed into an excited baylor fan. kansas went on to win that game 66-60. next, charleston south carolina girls. three seconds left. a stolen inbound pass leads to a

desperate half-court shot. the lady bulldogs pulled off the win. they're headed to the lower state claip. congratulations. and the shot of the day is from vanderbilt. seven-foot senior josh henderson launches an 80 footer just before halftime and nails it. henderson's shot took about two seconds just get through the air. vandy went on to win that one 87-74 in the swamp. just ahead, a literary classic is headed to the silver screen. plus, why some stars are skipping out on sunday's oscars. here's a hint. it's not in protest. you're watching "early today."

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now to entertainment news. "selma" director ava dubernay has been tapped to conduct "a wrinkle in time." the script is written by the director of "frozen." in lieu of attending the oscars sunday night, several stars will be attending a fundraiser for flint, michigan. "creed" director and janelle mo'ne are expected to attend. and hillary clinton took a detour on the campaign trail yesterday to visit with kerry washington and the cast of "scandal."

clinton was in town for a fundraising event in los angeles. artist kendrick lamar will be inducting nwa into the rock and roll hall of fame this april. dr. dre, easy e, ice cube, and mc rememb mc ren among the inductees. and vh1 announced yesterday it will be reviving the long running reality competition "america's next top model." the show has been renewed for 14 new episodes and tyra banks will serve as executive producer. i'm rob simmelkjaer, and this is "early today." (baseball on tv in background) with heart failure, danger is always on the rise. symptoms worsen because your heart isn't pumping well.

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leading the news in "the washington post," how donald trump dominated nevada. in one word, anger. he's always been seen as the outsider candidate, but now he's also the candidate who can't be stopped. a preliminary entrance poll shows nevada republicans are angry at the government and don't believe a politician can address that. meanwhile in "the hill," trump might not even need two months to lock up the nomination. at least that's what the candidate is saying. trump thanked his supporters and assured them they'll be celebrating for a long time after his win. which leads to this out of "the huffington post." ted cruz faces a tough road after a third consecutive trump victory. all eyes turn to his home state

of texas. cruz initially edged ahead of donald trump by winning the iowa caucus, but his nevada loss now sets up an interesting battle ahead of the crucial super tuesday states coming up next week. let's now get another check of the weather from nbc meteorologist bill karins. hey, bill. >> we're talking so much about the big storm in the east. we haven't taken the time to show you how beautiful it is in the west. the temperatures have been very mild. over the next three days, we're going to continue that trend here. high temperatures will be in the 50s to 60-degree range. further to the south, no problem at all. l.a., about 80 today. 77, thursday. friday at 76. same story, phoenix gets a little warm. up to about 87 degrees on friday. for today's forecast, really from about texas westward, no issues whatsoever. all the problems at the airports will be in the east today. chicago, st. louis, detroit. the big cities, especially this afternoon, new york city included, and down to atlanta and tampa. then as we look towards tomorrow's forecast, no problems whatsoever in the areas in the

middle of the country. the big storm in the east, severe weather threat will be over. a little bit of leftover snow in the great lakes. take your pick of great weather. pick your site in the west. you can go from montana for upper 50s, which for end of february is beautiful. >> what else is new out west? thank you, bill. appreciate it. now let's take a look ahead. spacex is expected to launch its falcon 9 rocket from cape canaveral this morning carrying its satellite into orbit. they will try to land the first stage booster on an ocean platform about 400 miles offshore. the company says a successful landing is not expected. happy birthday to retired boxing champ floyd mayweather, who turns 39. "sex and the city" star kristen davis is 51. and barry bostwick from "spin city" turns 71. now, keep it here for more news and weather as well as sports. i'm rob simmelkjaer.

breaking overnight: a well-traveled route in nepa-- e . break overnight, a 20 minute flight in a well traveled route in nepal ends with fire and tragedy. we're learning more about the 23 people on board plane that crashed in the nepalese mount n mountains. searching for claire tain gruesome discovery. a woman's torso found at the dumbarton bridge and looking for more. condoms not just for high school ers but now officially for middle schoolers in san francisco public schools. today in the bay starts right now. good wednesday morning. thank you for joining us. >> let's get right to that forecast. it's been gorgeous lately. good morning. >> good morning. more of this beautiful weather