> americans begin evacuating from a cruise ship quarantined in japan as the numbers of infected grows and now we are learning chinese leaders knew long ago about the virus. rescuers going door to door as floodwaters continue rising across theouth an exciting nba all-star weekend with one of the best matches between team lebron and team yanis are thosle president trump's appearance at the daytona 500 wows the crowd ahead of a nasty rain delay. and the hedgehog, sonic raises to the top of the happy

"early today" starts right now good monday good morning i'm phillip mena >> and i'm frances rivera. we begin with the global spread of the coronavirus nearly 400 u.s. passengers quarantined for two weeks on the diamond princess cruise ship in japan are back in america. two chartered flights carrying the evacuees headed for the u.s. on sunday. one of those flights landed at travis airforce base in california moments ago the evacuations come as 40 americans on board the ship test positive for the virus but they have been left behind >> reporter: hundreds of americans getting off the diamond princess in an evacuation involving u.s. teams in protective suits. >> i understand you guys want to go back to the u.s. is that right? >> yes as long as we'll be safe >> honestly, you're much safer getting off this ship. >> okay. >> i would not stay on this ship if i were you. >> reporter: paul and cheryl anxious to go. >> i have to put my mask on and

get going. >> bye >> reporter: leaving their room after nearly two weeks of quarantine >> the bus will take you to the airplane the airplane takes you to the united states. and then you get transported >> we know you've been through a lot. we're glad we're getting you home >> reporter: getting a chartered flight back to the u.s >> we're exhausted but we're on the plane. >> reporter: to face another 14 days of isolation at a military base her video showing what she describes as an isolation chamber on board the cruise ship a high risk for exposure with another 70 casesnd and mounting concern about the westerdam, the cruise ship rejected by five countries before docking in cambodia an american woman testing positive but hundreds of passengers were allowed to leave the ship sparking fears the

virus could spread those who decided to not take the charter can't return to the u.s. until march 4th at the earliest according to a letter from the u.s. embassy also left behind 46 americans being treated here like john herring in isolation and cut off. >> i think it's just the way it has to be with the virus i would hate to give this to anybody else >> reporter: he wanted his wife to take the flight back to the u.s. where returning passengers will be tested for the virus when they land and begin a new ordeal so what happens to americans who didn't get on the flight they will stay on the cruise ship until japanese authorities end the quarantine which should be on wednesday. but anyone wanting to leave the ship is going to have to test negative for the virus and for americans returning home to the u.s. is going to take a bit longer >> janis, thank you. a desperate situation is unfolding in mississippi this morning after days of heavy rain, the state is bracing for

potentially catastrophic flooding the pearl river is expected to crest today to its highest level since 1983 and residents around the capital of jackson are being urged to evacuate before it's too late. >> reporter: potentially historic floodwaters now threatening mississippi. >> as we continue to monitor radar and weather reports, we do not anticipate this situation to end any time soon. >> reporter: forecasters expect the pearl river to crest at 38 feet, the highest level since the 1980s. some roads and homes are already underwater a mandatory evacuation is in place for some vulnerable areas, and first responders are working to get residents to safety >> we do not want to lose anyone as we respond to what is expected to continue to be historic flood levels. >> reporter: the governor has already declared a state of emergency, and forecasters believe it could be days before the waters start to retreat.

dan scheneman, nbc news. >> and there's more severe weather to tell you about in the uk one of the strongest storms the ndsw, atlantic has seen s england, scotland and wales. it made a challenging landing for this airpl game, no star shined brighter than the late kobe bryant. tribute was paid to the lakers legend, his daughter gianna and the seven others killed in that helicopter crash chance the rapper and jennifer hudson dedicated their songs to him. >> we will never see another basketball player quite like kobe [ applause ] [ chanting ] >> you can hear the chants there. let's get to the highlights between taken lebron and team

yanis. the new all-star game format seemed to be a hit each winner nabbed $100,000 for their charity. team lebon ron the first but team yanis won 51-30 capping it all off with that wild half-court buzzer beater by star tre young. that rolled the pot over to the fourth quarter and then it was the 157. team lebron down nine but edged out team yanis 157-155 kawhi leonard scored 30 points the daytona 500 will race back into action this afternoon after a rain delay drivers only made it 20 laps before the storm forced cars off of the florida only th time in 62 years the race was pushed into a monday. they will fire up the engines again at 4:05 eastern.

despite the disappointing delays fans did get to witness some history. president trump and the first lady kicked off the race and then took a lap in the beast it is the first -- he is the first u.s. leader to hit the track in a presidential limo the president also attending the wedding of one of his senior advisers, stephen miller last night at the trump international hotel in d.c miller tied the knot with the vice president's press secretary katie woldman. ♪ the 2020 race is heading out west this morning. early voting is already underway for the nevada caucus. but candidates aren't done fighting to win over voters. right now bernie sanders is leading in the polls but the next debate on wednesday night could shake things up. nbc's garrett haake is on the trail in vegas >> reporter: good morning. early voting is well underway here in nevada and the candidates are refining their closing pitches going after each other and president trump.

>> thank you, carson city! >> reporter: the democratic candidates descending on nevada. mayor pete buttigieg in las vegas hoping to keep his early state hot streak going how do you keep the momentum going? >> what i see now is a tremendous amount of energy and an opportunity to reach out to voters >> reporter: on "meet the press" health care, a key issue in the silver state >> he's been talking about health care, medicare for all, universal health care for 35 years. nothing's happened >> reporter: across the state more than 12,000 nevadans cast their vote campaigns and voters anxious to avoid a chaotic or consing caucus process next saturday >> are you confident that the caucus process will go off without a hitch here >> we definitely don't want the iowa 2.0 i feel so bad for those people >> reporter: michael bloomberger, the former new york city mayor spending millions of

dollars on ads >> he has to answer questions. >> he thinks he can buy this election well, i got news for mr. bloomberg, and that is the american people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections! >> reporter: bloomberg won't be on the ballot in nevada betting on the super tuesday states instead, and so far with a laser focus solely on president trump. >> he's not going to bully me, and i won't let him bully you either [ applause ] >> reporter: as for michael bloomberg, he needs one more poll before tuesday night in he's going to qualify for this debate all the candidates are hoping they can have a night like amy klobuchar had a few weeks ago helping lift her into third place in new hampshire to help close the deal for them here in nevada >> you can watch thedemocratic debate right here on nbc that'll be this wednesday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern let's check in with nbc

meteorologist janessa webb and see how we're looking. >> we have the wettest record in the south for flooding right now. we're going to continue to see this moisture flood in across the pearl river. third highest crest in a hundred years. and unfortunately we're going to continue to see the moisture flow for the south and southeast. today i do think that river starts to recede by tomorrow afternoon storms are going to pick up once ut of the area pretty quickly, even for the southwest. we're going to sit in the mid-70s with a lot of sunshine >> also have you noticed the temperatures slightly warmer we'll talk about that coming up. >> wonder how long it'll last.

residents are calling this the leaning tower of dallas. developers tried to demolish this 11-story high-rise but things didn't quite go as planned. the building's center column refused to fall. the leaning tower was eventually leveled with an excavator. new apartments and offices will. still ahead a desperate mom calls 9-1-1 for baby formula and then the apple watch that saved a teenager's life the incredible details next. n as pick the starters? great question, no. but it can help you pick your room from the floor plan. can the hilton app help us score? you know, it's not that kind of thing, but you can score free wi-fi. can it help us win? hey, hey! we're all winners with the hilton price match guarantee, alright? man, you guys are adorable! alright, let's go lose this soccer game, come on! book with the hilton app. if you find a lower rate, we match it and give you 25% off that stay.

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broke down in tears before being helped offstage. some police officers in utah are going viral this morning for going above and beyond to help a desperate mother in need this mother of five said she called 9-1-1 about 2:00 in the morning because she was home alone and needed formula after she wasn't able to nurse >> i have no formula and i have no idea how i can get formula to her. and i've been calling neighbors and no one will answer >> some officers responded to the call and picked up a gallon of milk. once the the baby was too young for regular milk, they headed back out for formula.e lone police dt praised the officer saying so very proud of our officers a good samaritan is being credited for his good thinking after he helped police nab a

suspected thief. the incident happened in a parking lot in the walmart in georgia. the suspect appeared to run past a guy with a shopping cart the bypasser pushed his cart in front of the suspect's path which then allowed the officers to catch up with him and arrest him. the suspect was charged with felony shoplifting and obstruction. the teenage boy says he is alive today thanks to his apple watch. it alerted him to a potentially deadly heart problem so how accurate are those high-tech wearable devices nbc's erin mcloughlin reports. >> reporter: a smart watch warning saving a teen's life this helps monitor workouts and count calories but for this teenager, it helped diagnose a rare and serious heart condition. the then 13-year-old was sitting in his class when his apple watch sent an unexpected alert his heart rate skyrocketed to 190 beats her mite

>> he's an athlete why is my child's heart rate going up >> reporter: his mom rushed him to the hospital. he was diagnosed with a condition called svt it causes rapid heart beat >> his heart rate got up to 280 in the middle of the night >> reporter: he was in surgery for eight hours, one of a growing number of people detected the symptoms of deadly disease including blood clots, kidney failure and heart arrhythmia >> this is a good screening tool but it's not something should depend on all the time for everything >> reporter: the tech is getting more and more sophisticated. the fitbit inspire monitors your heart 24/7 the apple watch 4 series has a feature that allows you to give yourself an electrocardiogram. >> it depends how you are wearing it, if you're sweating, possibly even your skin color. >> reporter: doctors now keep tabs on hit using an

internal monitor, more sophisticated than the smart watch. his future now possible thanks to new technology. >> how lucky was he that he had that >> and we're hearing so many versions of stories about those apple watches now helping people out. just ahead, a sonic boom breaking records at the box office and inspiration on ice the message to one mom touching countless of others this morning. tee-time savers. and especially medicare part d savers. so you probably know making walgreens your preferred pharmacy means up to $5 off on copays and 100 rewards points on prescriptions. because you're smart like that. save smartly on med d. walgreens. trusted since 1901. stop struggling to clean tough messes with sprays. try clean freak! has tg power

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the world's largest rubber band ball, we gotta see it >> no. this is not some fun family road trip >> eh, you're right, it was lame >> sonic sped its way to the top of the box office this weekend with $57 million in its debut, the biggest opening ever for a video game-based movie "birds of prey" scored a second place finish while fantasy island scored up just 12 million. these athletes finally said i do jj watt married e weekend. they met through jj's former teammate who is ohai's sister. they tied the knot in the bahamas tweeting it was the best day his life >> he hosted "snl" for the first time this month and now he's getting married. >> one more big event coming up. a hospital in ohio is

sharing a beautiful message meant for one of its patients. this is the notehere carved in the snow it reads, mom, be brave. it was written by a woman whose mother was in a room above being treated forbrain cancer. the hospital tweeted out the photo hoping to inspire others going through difficult times. >> a great message for so many janessa is straight ahea with a lour day ahead. plus, check out these bone-crushing waveths at attract the world's best surfers can you guess where this is? e taking entresto, it may lead to a world of possibilities. entresto is a heart failure medicine prescribed by most cardiologists. it was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. heart failure can change the structure of your heart, so it may not work as well. entresto helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. and with a healthier heart,

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relationship and 5% of some of the world's best big wave surfers converge on these monster waves off the coast of nazare portugal. the massive waves are created by a deep underwater canyon that reaches some 60,000 feet beneath the surface. it may not be sun, sand, and waves but some of us may be getting some temperatures that are more mild. here's janessa >> right compared to last week we were all bundled up but this yellow, this is all good news to start off your week if you're across the south, mid-atlantic to the plains we are back to 80 degrees. dallas in the mid-80s. we will be right back. when i started cobra kai, the lack of control over my business made me a little intense. but now i practice a different philosophy. quickbooks helps me get paid, manage cash flow, and run payroll. and now i'm back on top... with koala kai. hey!

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about finding true love. for decades people used to send letters to juliet of romeo and juliet addressed simply to her hometown, the way kids write letters to santa at the north pole until one day a group of locals decided to write back. nbc's kate snoh has the st, the fictional home of romeo and juliet here les on, not just through notes stuck between these stones but through thousands of letters sent to the club here bearing her name >> there are many love stories, complicated ones we try to give real advice to everyone our volunteers reply personally each letter. >> reporter: this woman's father started the juliet club as a service in 1972. >> dear juliet, i am 34 years old woman. >> reporter: she and her volunteers answer letters

helping mend broken hearts all over the world >> love is the most important thing in everyone's life it can be happy, but it often hurts. >> reporter: six years ago nathan harrison was feeling unlucky in love. >> one night i was feeling pretty down about the way things were going in my life romantically and i just thought about this movie i saw once about the juliet club.al thing >> oh, my god. so you write all of them back? >> yes >> you're all juliet >> reporter: he found the real club and took a risk >> dear juliet capulet, in my own humble admiration of your story, i find myself seeking advice from you. >> reporter: he calls their common sense reply life-changing. >> the advice for me was to not give up on love and to not give up my hope and to pursue my interests, pursue my hobbies and

just get out and meet more people >> reporter: for nathan, like so many others in the juliet letter archives, true love followed >> sarah and i, we fell in love. we got married in a friend's backyard here in colorado. and a little over a year later we were blessed with our son murray >> reporter: his advice, open your heart >> writing all of these things down in a letter is always a good thing talk to people about what those feelings are and don't give up on love. >> wow this group has answered more than 200,000 notes over the years. and a lot of pressure for the people to respond back >> you're absolutely right but what a great way to put a bow on this valentine's day. thank you so much for watching "early today. i'm frances rivera we hope yourhillip mena. m

the coronavirus isn't showing any signs of slowing

down as hundreds of americane o. the death toll stands at 1,700. an avalanche details ahead. is reason it may all end up in the same landfill. sir elton john breaks down in tears in middle of a performance. why he had to cut his concert short. the nba all-stars, kobe bryant and his daughter gee jeend seven others who