senator bernie sanders, the self-proclaimed democratic socialist, wins the new hampshire primary. as mayor pete and amy klobuchar round out the top three. we'll tell you what it all means now that joe biden's days are numbered all of the prosecutors involved in the roger stone case have resigned. did the president influence the justice department to lens stoens prison time we'll sort it out for you. harvey weinstein skipped the witness stand as his defense wraps up the case in his rape trial. how will the jury decide today pope francis will rule on whether or not to allow married priests and female

deacons. and meet siba, the standard poodle who was just named top dog in best in show at westminster. this morning warren, biden and buttigieg were all spotted at dunkin' donuts. dunkin' was like you can't buy this kind of publicity then mike bloomberg was like yeah, you can. >> "early today" starts right now. good to be with you this morning. i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. as the dust settles in the granite state we're getting a more concrete image of the 2020 race nbc news is projecting bernie sanders as the winner of the new hampshire democratic primary but just like in iowa he's neck and neck abowith pete buttigieg. while the two front-runners are the same the nation's first primary still packed plenty of surprises including a strong surge to third by minnesota senator amy klobuchar. sanders garnered about 26% support. buttigieg trailed by two points. and klobuchar won about to% of the vote elizabeth warren and joe biden finished in fourth and fifth

respectively with sanders emerging as the clear front-runner, he's looking forward to the next challenge. >> with victories behind us, popular vote in iowa and the victory here tonight, we're going to nevada. we're going to south carolina. we're going to win those states as well. >> nbc's amanda golden joining us now from the campaign trail in concord amanda, so we're done now with new hampshire. next up, nevada. >> reporter: yeah, good morning. it was a busy night here in new hampshire. we saw bernie sanders come out on top followed closeby by south bend, indiana mayor pete buttigieg and that surprise finish by senator amy klobuchar who had been barnstorming the state really trying home in on her grassroots and ground game organizing in the state. but now it's going to shift to nevada and south carolina and then the super it is states. while this contest has remained super close for the top three in the state here the overarching message is coming down to who

can defeat donald trump come the election in november take a listen to what the candidates had to say to that point. >> our country cannot take another four years of donald trump. >> we are going to unite together and defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country >> we can't defeat the most divisive president in modern american history by tearing down anybody who doesn't agree with us 100% of the time. >> reporter: for the candidates who had a more disappointing finish here last night, senator elizabeth warren and former vice president joe biden, they are now fully shifting their focus over to the remaining states, going all in on nevada and south carolina and the super tuesday states to come it was interesting to see that former vice president joe biden actually left the state early, being up in the air while votes were still being cast here in new hampshire as he headed to south carolina to be there last night, skipping his primary party here in new hampshire. now, as we look ahead and see where the candidates are going to go over the next couple of days it will be really interesting to see what that support looks like here in new

hampshire to then go on to the other states or if people are going to completely try to change the message moving forward. >> all right that is amanda golden for us in manchester, new hampshire. thank you so much, amanda. well, the granite state as we know is always where the rubber meets theroad road in presidential races and it's also where candidates start to skid out. businessman andrew yang and colorado senator michael bennet both calling it quits over a disappointing finish yang rose to prominence on the promise of a basic universal income while bennet advocated for a more moderate approach >> i have been persuaded that the message of this campaign will not be strengthened by my staying in this race any longer. endings are hard, new hampshire, but this is not an ending. this is a beginning. >> i wish all those candidates well that are going beyond new hampshire. i think it's fitting for us to end the campaign tonight >> former massachusetts governor deval patrick is also weighing his future in the race and says

he will make a final decision today. now to the latest developments in the case against roger stone. a stunning 180 from the justice department, backtracking on the recommended prison sentence for the long-time adviser to president trump. now there are questions this morning about whether the president has crossed the line here's nbc's tracie potts. >> reporter: all four prosecutors in the case against long-time trump ally roger stone have dropped out one's leaving the justice department altogether. stone convicted of lying to congress and obstructing the russia investigation, was looking at seven to nine years behind bars. but the justice department reversed its own recommendation, calling it excessive and unwarranted, leaving the sentence up to the judge this came after president trump tweeted "it's horrible, unfair, a miscarriage of justice." >> they ought to be ashamed of themselves what they've done to general flynn. what they've done to others. and then the really guilty ones, people that have committed major

crimes are getting away with it. i think it's a disgrace. >> this is as bad a thing as you could expect from the justice department >> reporter: democrats are asking the inspector general to investigate. >> this wonderful justice department is just being totally perverted to donald trump's own personal desires and needs and it's a disgrace. roger stone should get the full amount of time the prosecutors recommended. >> reporter: the president says he never spoke to the justice department and justice says the decision to reverse was made before the president's tweet. tracie potts, nbc news, washington one day after the u.s. confirmed a 13th case of the deadly coronavirus, nearly 200 americans who had been quarantined after evacuating from china are headed home their release comes as the infection rates and death toll continue to rapidly rise it has now claimed the lives of over 1,100 people and infected over 44,000. and because of this the world

health organization says it should be viewed as public enemy number one for the latest on the outbreak we turn to chapman bell who's live in london chapman, what else did the organization have to say >> reporter: well, frances, a strong assessment from the world health organization director general, also adding that the fight against this virus will test political solidarity. whether the world can come together to fight an enemy that does not respect borders or ideologies that common enemy now also has a name covid-19 coronavirus disease 19, from 2019 there are a lot of guidelines now that are taken into account when naming new viruses these days not referring to geographical locations, animals, individuals, people, avoiding anything that's inaccurate or stigmatizing now the advice is to avoid names like spanish flu or middle east respiratory syndrome or swine flu, which had a negative impact on pig farmers throughout the world. the strain of flu similar to one

found in pigs causing panic, leading to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of pigs. unnecessarily. and depressing the u.s. pork industry but back to the virus, those americans evacuated from china now leaving quarantine, we're also seeing new cases emerge around the world including 39 new positive cases on that cruise ship, the "diamond princess" off the coast of japan, bringing the total to 174 passengers and crew who've tested positive, and we've also learned there's a health worker from japan who's been assessing people on the ship, now testing positive china reporting its lowest numbers, but the w.h.o. saying countries need to be aggressive in fighting this disease >> covid-19 a term we're going to hear a lot more of unfortunately. thank you, chapman actor justicee smollett is facing new charges the "empire" star charged with faking a hate crime months after the the case was dropped now the actor is being indicted by a special prosecutor in

chicago. here's nbc's ron allen with the details. >> reporter: jussie smollett faces a new six-count indictment charge he filed four separate false reports to chicago police when he claimed last january that two masked gunmen tacked him, insulted him with homophobic and racist slurs, and looped a noose around his neck the grand jury's investigation saying smollett planned and participated in a staged hate crime attack a special prosecutor saying a new investigation launched after similar charges were abruptly dropped last year revealed smollett reported a heinous hate crime that he in fact knew had not occurred smollett also has proclaimed his innocence. >> i've been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. >> reporter: police and the city's mayor then outraged when the first 16-count indictment was dismissed. >> this is without a doubt a whitewash of justice and sends a clear message that if you're in a position of influence and power you'll get treated one way, other people will be treated another way. >> reporter: authorities said

prosecuting smollett is in the interest of justice and because police expended so many resources to investigate the false reports. attorneys for smollett have not responded to today's new charges. the actor and the city already locked in a bitter civil lawsuit. ron allen, nbc news, chicago a huge merger in the phone business cleared a big hurdle tuesday after a judge approved t-mobile's purchase of sprint for more than $26 billion. the merger would leave just three major providers. while t-mobile's ceo says it will lower prices, some expect the opposite let's get a check on the weather with nbc meteorologist janessa webb good morning i'm from el paso, right? i started getting all these messages yesterday with like it was sthoeg, dude, it was snowing. oh, my god west texas >> yeah, they're excited for it. and they're even seeing it this morning. right now a little bit of freezing rain and sleet making its way across that area temperatures will continue to warm up throughout the day and that will increase the severe weather potential. we still have the flash flood

risk for 15 million across the south all the way into the tennessee and ohio valley. now 5 million at risk for severe weather. temperatures are very high across this area we're going to continue to see that spark up throughout youe s, southeast in florida with highs near 90. and then on the other side of this storm we'll talk about this coming up. winter weather advisories and alerts across the board. >> oh, boy >> seeing another chunk of snow there. all right. thanks, janessa. in today's quick hits it has been a slow start to 2020 for boeing, which recorded zero orders for new planes in january. the lack of orders stands in contrast to main competitor airbus, which logged orders for 274 commercial aircraft in january. following its historic oscar

win the movie "parasite" which won for best picture has seen a huge spike in ticket sales of 443% jump compared to last week. and although streaming has 3w5078d over the past few years, it only acund cotefor about 19% of the time americans spend in front of the tv. that's according to nielsen. there's no turning back to breakfasts like this... [coworker sneezes] vo: nope! vo: or this... vo: or this... woman: wow. vo: it's time to change your life... for breakfast... ...with freshly-prepared buttery, crispy mcchicken biscuits and savory sweet chicken mcgriddles now at mcdonald's nationwide. wake up breakfast. chicken mcgriddles now at mcdonald's nationwide. you try to stay ahead of the mess. but scrubbing still takes time. now there's new powerwash dish spray. it's the faster way to clean as you go. just spray, wipe and rinse. it cleans grease five times faster. new dawn powerwash. spray, wipe, rinse. [son] mom! yeah... [son] i fell.

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♪go straight till the morning look like we♪ ♪won't wait, we're taking everything we wanted we can do it♪ ♪all strength, no sweat leading the news, the fbi says they've arrested a new york man on sex trafficking and other charges. lawrence ray is accused of moving into his daughter's college dorm and abusing her roommates. >> ray used physical, psychological, and sexual abuse to make his victims confess to alleged wrongdoing and then agreed to make substantial payments to ray, payments that these young students did not actually owe and could not possibly afford. >> ray is charged with nine counts including ex-portion and facing a possible life sentence if convicted celibacy takes center stage in the catholic church with the pope expected to release an eagerly awaited text about the possibility of ordaining married

men to address a priest shortage in the amazon. nbc's claudia lavanga has the details from rome. good morning, claudia. >> reporter: good morning, frances. speculation over whether pope francis agrees with the proposal of ordaining married men in communities that are very remote to the point that there is a shortage of priests has been ripe for months now. since october when bishops in the amazon region, the faithful there were going months without being aable to attend mass because of a shortage. they found a solution, to or dane married men who are respected in the community to do the sanctions of a priest on a temporary basis. that idea outraged catholics around the world to the point they saw it as a threat to priestly celibacy and one of the catholics who spoke out against it is none the less than pope benedict -- pope emeritus

benedict xvi who at the beginning of this year co-authored a book with a conservative cabinet in which they strongly defended priestly celibacy even though the personal secretary of pope emeritus benedict xvi was very quick in saying the notes and thoughts of the pope emeritus were never meant to be part of a co-authored book, he definitely brought those notes and they were seen by some as an attempt to undermine or influence pope francis on his decision, a decision that we will know in about three hours from now at 6:00 eastern when that letter will become public frances? >> all right, claudio, thank you. just ahead, we'll tell you who was named top dog at the westminster dog show >> and what fialarofcis e now saying about this terrifying bus crash that sent students flying. just won't. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair's fastest retinol formula works so fast.

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the best in show goes to the standard poodle. >> yes yes! >> siba takes it all >> there's a new top dog crowned at westminster the super bowl of dog shows. this year's victor is siba, the standard poodle. she is the fifth standard poodle to win best in show. look at that face. >> she looked frightened >> the first since 1991. i guess that's her frightened slash excite face. >> i guess oh,man, i know dogs like attention but it's just that funky haircut. i wonder if they get embarrassed in front of other dogs

this morning there are renewed calls to require seat belts on school buses after police in ohio released terrifying video of this school bus crash nbc's steve patterson has the story. >> reporter: it started like any other day. kids on the ride to school until the moment no one saw coming the violent impact slamming students against the ceiling, then pinning them in as the bus flipped on its side. >> come on, everybody get out! >> reporter: officials in ohio releasing video from the december crash, saying the bus was struck when another driver blew through a stoplight 25 students on board eight were taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries along with the bus driver, the only person on board wearing a seat belt. >> we believe that every school bus should have a lap-shoulder belt >> reporter: ohio is one of 42 states that does not require seat belts on school buses the ntsb now calling for

three-point seat belts on all new buses. >> we're dumfounded as to why districts are not requiring this >> reporter: 25 million children take a school bus every day. accidents cause four to six deaths each year and about 7,000 injuries prosecutors now looking into the crash that officials pushing for more regulation say could have been much worse. steve patterson, nbc news. >> still terrifying to watch >> it blows my mind that 42 states, kids on there no seat belts required >> i've been on there with them. no seat belts at all still ahead harvey instein's rape trial enters a new face plus a report that blasts faa oversight on safety. ...much better. my psoriasis, clearer... cosentyx works on all of this. four years and counting. so watch out. i got this! watch me. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are feeling real relief with cosentyx.

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plus, it eliminates odors with a water-based formula and no dyes. for freshness you'll enjoy. good morning, everyone you know what today is, wednesday trivia frances, phillip, who's snowier, el paso or philadelphia? >> this is a trick question. so i'm going to go with el paso. >> last week i was in el paso, it snowed as well. and this week too, which is pretty rare over there >> still below average 3.2 inches how about lubbock or washington, d.c. >> i'll go with lubbock. >> phillip >> i'll go with lubbock. >> all right you're on a roll oklahoma city, new york. >> oklahoma city >> there's nothing in nyc. >> tricked you >> yeah, you did >> that was fun, though. thanks

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in today's top stories the faa admits its inspectors failed to oversee safety at southwest airlines putting more than 17 million passengers at risk the agency acknowledged a lack of oversight when it came to ensuring the airline followed mandatory maintenance standards in 2017. since then southwest has flown more than 150,000 flights on 88 jets one confirmed maintenance histories. southwest says 80 planes have been inspected and are flying again. eight are undergoing maintenance. harvey weinstein's wrapped up its case in his rape trial without him taking the stand here's nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: the defense team rested >> were you thinking about

testifying >> he didn't have to >> if his name was not harvey weinstein and it was john doe, the manhattan district attorney's office would have never brought these charges. >> reporter: at the center of the case two witnesses who say they were assaulted but also testified that following the alleged attacks they had unforced sexual encounters with harvey weinstein legal experts say very often prosecutors steer clear of cases like this. >> the fact that we're here is itself extraordinary most cases with facts that resemble the facts in this case would never, ever reach this stage of the criminal process. >> reporter: jessica mann accuses weinstein of raping her in 2013. overcome with emotion when she described it to the jury mann says she went on to have a relationship with the hollywood producer that lasted for years asked by the defense, "you made him believe that you wanted to be there, isn't that right for my safety, yeah. well, miss mann, you sent him e-mails telling him how wonderful he was, isn't that

right? yes. an expert for the prosecution told the jury victims of sexual violence often maintain relationships with their attackers. in days deliberations will begin. a unique case under a glaring spotlight. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york natural light is kicking off the third year of its annual college debt relief program. this year the beer brand is offering up to $100 to rent diplomas as part of their highly classified plan to raise awareness around student debt in america. college grants over the age of 21 can fill out a rental agreement online in exchange for a prepaid envelope to send in their degrees. naty light will then send money via a cash app or a check. the company promises to return diplomas in its exact same condition. anything that will help student debt i'm all for >> and if you're going into cent vooiz it that's one way to do it >> the only people that drink naty light that i can remember were in college.

so it's so appropriate smart on their part. >> that's the way to do it right there. >> thanks for waking up with us on this wednesday. i'm phillip mena >> great being with you. i'm frances rivera coming up on the "today" show the unique focus o obama: he's been a leader throughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: leadership in action. mayor bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education, and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. obama: at a time when washington is divided in

old ideological battles he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. beginning of the end for donald trump. [ crowd chanting ] right now at 4:30, this morning new hampshire feeling the burn. the final numbers are in overnight from the nation's first primary. plus a new push for safer streets in the south bay. a live report on the new program being launched today. but first a live look outside in san jose and san francisco. the warm-up across the bay area and how long it will last. very good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. let's get straight to the weather today. another nice