common sense plans to move america away from chaos to progress! i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. fight night in las vegas the democratic candidates started out attacking newcomer mike bloomberg but they ended up viciously going after one another during the two-hour melee. we have all the highlights >> d-day for roger stone will the white house follow the attorney general's more lenient sentencing suggestion? we'll know in a few hours. >> high drama in the harvey weinstein case as defense attorneys are now pushing to have one of the deliberating jurors tossed from the case >> and then after many years of foster care and welcome home to a new forever family "early today" starts right now good morning to you on a thursday i'm cori coffin. >> and i'm phillip mena.

the gloves came off in the 2020 race after a true fight night in las vegas. the debate stage felt a lot more like a ring as the democratic candidates unleashed a blistering barrage of attacks on each other, and president trump. >> i'm better positioned according to your poll than anybody else to beat donald trump. >> i'm a new yorker. i know how to take on an arrogant con man like donald trump that comes from new york >> look, democrats want to beat donald trump, but they are worried. they are worried about gambling on a narrow vision that doesn't address the fears of millions of americans across this country who see real problems and want real change. >> but the democratic hopefuls saved the most searing criticism for the newest contender, former new york mayor michael bloomberg. his hometown paper, the new york post summing it up with the headline black and bloom for the highlights and low

lights, let's go to mariana sotomayor in las vegas mariana, by far this debate was the most contentious so far. >> reporter: that is right, phillip. as you mentioned, everyone had their eyes on michael bloomberg. just the attacks were much sharper, much more succinct and direct not to mention how the other candidates started to also attack each other, you had klobuchar going against buttigieg on experience. senator elizabeth warren really trying to insert herself again into the debate, attacking many of her opponents of course, as i mention and as you mention, everyone on bloomberg. you just played a little sound there of just exactly how they went after donald trump, but take i listen at just how these candidates went after the newest member on that debate stage. >> a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horsefaced lesbians and no, i'm not talking about donald trump

i'm talking about mayor bloomberg. >> the fact of the matter is he has not managed his city very very well when he was there. >> mr. bloomberg had policies in new york city of stop-and-frisk which went after african-american and latino people in an outrageous way. >> and the only candidates left standing will be bernie sanders and mike bloomberg, the two most polarizing figures on this stage. >> i can't speak for all billionaires, but all i know is i've been very lucky, made a lot of money and i'm giving it all away to make this country betterf money and i'm giving it all away to make this country better. >> reporter: now, the reviews have been mixed as to how bloomberg defendered himself of course, the campaign is saying, listen, this is the first time he has been on the debate stage and he will only improve next time he is on the debate stage leading up to super tuesday. phillip? >> all right, mariana sotomayor joining us from vegas with the very latest. thank you, mariana >> president trump is waging a

battle with his own justice department the president deciding to ignore william barr's pleas to stop tweeting about d.o.j. cases. nbc's peter alexander has the details. >> reporter: president trump after his attorney general told people close to the president he was considering resigning, firing off a barrage of new tweets, again ignoring william barr's warning that he butt out of justice department criminal cases. the president amplifying conservative allies attacks on the department including one calling on barr to clean house at the d.o.j barr publicly silent on the issue, but a justice department spokeswoman insists he has no plans to resign. still, officials are bracing for the president's reaction to the sentencing of his long-time friend roger stone back home in chicago, after president trump commuted his sentence >> i'm returning home today from a long exile, a free political prisoner >> reporter: disgraced governor rod blagojevich, praise for the president. >> president trump is a man who

is tough and outspoken, but he also has a kind heart. i'm a trumpocrat >> reporter: blagojevich, a poster child for the pay to play politics, mr. trump said he would end. >> drain the swamp that's what we're doing. >> reporter: tweeting rod blagojevich did not sell the senate seat. true, but he was convicted of trying to profit off the seat barack obama vacated >> i've got this thing and it's [ bleep ] golden and i'm just not giving it up for [ bleep ] nothing. >> reporter: also lawyers for wikileaks founder julian assange are claiming in court that a now former republican congressman in 2017 offered assange a pardon behalf of the president. if assange agreed to say russia was not involved in leaking democratic emails during the 2016 election. nbc news has not obtained the lawyer's full statement that former republican congressman and the white house both disputing assange's lawyer's claims the white house calling it a complete fabrication and a total lie. and today we have learned president trump is expecting the

name richard grinel to germany as his acting director of national intelligence. gilroy nel is a long-time political operative and fierce ally of the president's whose divisive facing heavy criticism for his outspokenness. cori >> peter, thank you. and of course as peter just mentioned it is sentencing day for roger stone. the long-time trump ally will learn his fate after a jury found him guilty of seven charges for lying to congress and obstruction and witness tampering. tracie potts has the latest. >> reporter: the long time friend of president trump will be sentenced even though the defense lodged a complaint against one of the jurors alleging bias, a juror whose facebook comments, they say, were biased against president trump. now, this was not the first time that we heard this during jury selection. both sides knew that this juror had been involved in democratic politics she was allowed to serve and now

at the 9th hour -- or the 11th hour really, the stone defense wanting to pull her off. the judge said, no, there had been enough delays the sentencing will continue today. you will recall that the entire team of prosecutors in this case quit the case after their original recommendation for a sentence, 7 to 9 years was reduced by their boss, by the attorney general and the justice department alleging that president trump had gotten involved the president in the justice department said that was not the case back to you. >> tracie, thank you >> less than a 48 hours after the devastating crash at the daytona 500, a remarkable recovery for driver ryan newman. his team says he was joking around with hospital staff and even playing with his daughters before walking with him hand in handout the door nbc's sam brock has the update >> reporter: a sight that's stunned the car racing world ryan newman walking out of the

florida medical center, holding his daughters' hands after standing on his own 2 feet, all smiles >> crashed into the wall, into the air! >> reporter: less than 48 hours earlier, a fiery crash at the daytona 500 left many fans and fellow drivers wondering if he'd even survive >> ryan newman is known as a tough hard nose race car driver. he's harder than everybody else. he also, away from the track, you see him with his daughters you see this side of him that is completely different than the driver side. >> reporter: jeff burton is newman's friend, former competitor and a nascar and nbc analyst. he said some rough crashes led newman to champion safety changes in the sport for years >> he pushed nascar, and he pushed them to make it better. he pushed the tracks he pushed his competitors to make things better we need that kind of advocacy. >> reporter: from a head stabilizing feature to the hans device to newly designed cars with stronger cages and better driver seat position

known as rocketman, newman is beloved by fans. what was your reaction when you saw this pick tour >> god is on his side. it looked like he didn't crash >> wow, to see him standing up and hugging his girls, that's awesome. >> reporter: newman shattered race cars in a lab, hoping to make safer cars in the future. as for when newman will be back on the track, burton said he would be shocked if number 6 isn't out there sooner rather than later phillip? >> what an incredible outcome. sam, thank you drama unfolds in a new york courtroom as we enter the third day of jury deliberations in the harvey weinstein trial we're learning that attorneys have been pushing to toss a juror off the case here's nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: phillip, good morning. the weinstein trial is now entering its third day of jury deliberations. there's no telling when we could see a verdict. but there is some drama now over one of the jurors.

just after harvey weinstein walked into court, his defense team was on offense asking a judge to throw out one of the jurors nbc news is not identifying the woman who wrote an upcoming novel about predatory older men and reviewed a book about a sexual relationship between a teenager and her teacher the judge is allowing her to stay my finding is, nonetheless, that she just hasn't done anything wrong, he said the defense team first raised their concerns during jury selection, but they were rejected by the judge. >> i think it was clear one of the last jurors lied on her questionnaire and omitted some very important information that could be very integral to this case >> reporter: prosecutors argued she did not lie because she said one of her hobbies is novel writing. >> from the beginning of this trial, the defense has been laying the groundwork for an appeal in the event that mr. weinstein is convicted >> reporter: the jury made up of 7 men and 5 women asked

questions about mimi haley's testimony regarding a sexual encounter with weinstein two weeks after she alleged he assaulted her. jury asked to re-read emails between weinstein and haley after the altadena assault the jury also asked questions about the testimony of several key witnesses. again, deliberations are set to resume this morning. phillip? >> gabe, thank you >> this morning emergency funds have been approved in nebraska to try to stop serious flooding. officials believe these massive ice caps are responsible for a breach in the levee there. they block the river current and cause upstream flooding. crews try to divert the water away from the city of fremont at this hour. >> all right his name is not james taylor it is bill karins, but carolina is still on your mind this morning. i did butcher it a little. >> a for effort. virginia beach now under a

winter storm warning that came in this morning. almost to raleigh, too, now. 14 million people impactedment southern virginia and north carolina, the snow will be later on this afternoon into this evening. charlotte could go from rain to a little bit of snow maybe only an inch raleigh looks like 2 to 3 inches mostly right around the evening rush hour. that area in purple e eastern north carolina, i lived ere fothd to your local nbc station to take you through your first winter weather event of the season that's really the crazy thing. by the time we're done north carolina will have more snow than d.c. and philadelphia >> that's a jarring number >> so unpredictable.

thank you, bill. a para glider in california made a very unexpected landing when he crashed into power lines causing widespread outages in the area firefighters were on the scene three hours before the guy was free and taken to the hospital for treatment. officials say the para glider was conscious and talking to first responders during the rescue the incident caused over 2000 people to lose power in the area >> just ahead, a cleveland brown t.ayer caught with 50 pounds of >> we are live with the new toll >> we are live with the new toll from the outbreak next0 hours. breathe happy with febreze plug. roll introducing jimmy dean a nebiscuit roll ups.st. we took delicious sausage, eggs, and cheese and rolled it all up, in a soft flakey biscuit. give your family a good hearty breakfast that you can eat on the go. vea essentially enriched body challenglotion with can be. nourishing serum deeply nourishes skin,

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to nbc's bill neely. he is live in hong kong for us this morning bill, first of all, good morning to you how is china reacting to these latest numbers >> reporter: yeah, good morning, cori here in hong kong, a second death, a man in his 70s, but yes, the real story is in china. the latest figures show the biggest drop in infections in almost a month 114 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, but it's the number of infections that really counts so yesterday it was 1,749 new infections today it's 394, a four-fold drop now, does that mean the virus is beaten no the best explanation is that the chinese have changed the way you define how you are infected by the virus. but nonetheless, the world

health organization is happier, it's saying it's tremendous progress in a short space of time, but we're not at a turning point yet. and as you say off japan, off that cruise ship, more passengers, hundreds of them leaving today. among them we believe some americans. there are also americans on board. the worrying thing is the two passengers who left have now died, and also in south korea more infections there and panic spreading. not just in seoul, the capital, but in degu, the fourth city where we understand 23 people were infected. so, once again, this is a global epidemic, this virus knows no borders. guys >> and it is starting to see a ripple wave coming out of china. thank you so much, bill. we appreciate it >> just ahead here, badge of shame. a new hampshire police chief is stripped of his uniform literally. >> and the very od bgooy right

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leadership that makes a difference. vo: a great president and an effective mayor. obama: he's been a leader throughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: together they worked to combat gun violence, and again to improve education for every child. obama: i want to thank the mayor of this great city, mayor bloomberg, for his extraordinary leadership. i share your determination to bring this country together to finally make progress for the american people. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg, and i approve this message. i'm kareem abdul-jabbar. the revolution was fought by many people with many backgrounds. now get to know the unsung heroes of the revolution >> we are celebrating black history month all month long, and so is nba great kareem abdul-jabbar you see there he's released a new documentary

on the history channel called black patriots, heroes of the revolution it highlights the impact of black soldiers in america's fight for independence during the revolutionary war. gentleman bar al jabar also serves as executive producer >> fired up, ready to watch it a police chief took it literally when he was stripped of his duties, walking home in his underwear after his department was eliminated and he was asked to immediately turn in his uniform and his cruiser. richard lee says he did as he was ordered with no other means of transportation and no spare clothes, he walked for almost a mile in a snowstorm wearing boots, a hat and underwear before his wife picked him up. >> was he that upset i don't understand >> he didn't have a job any more usually you walk around like that, the cops will come stop you. but not in this town >> that's it >> not any more. all done no video you're welcome >> all right still ahead, the nfl player arrested and amounts of

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in today's top stories, george zimmerman has filed a $265 million defamation lawsuit against elizabeth warren and pete buttigieg over their tributes to trayvon martin on what would have been his 25th birthday warren tweeted, we need to end gun violence and racism. and buttigieg referenced white supremacy, prejudice and fear in his post about martin. in 2013, zimmerman was acquitted of killing the teenager. he says he shot martin in self-defense this lawsuit alleges the candidates defamed him for political gain the campaigns did not immediately respond to the requests for comment >> cleveland browns offensive tackle greg robinson is in trouble with the law after being arrested at a checkpoint near

the u.s./mexico border according to the department of justice, the 27-year-old and two associates were traveling through the federal border when authorities found 157 pounds of marijuana in their possession. robinson and the driver of the car free agent wide receiver jakwan gray were charged and could face 23 years in prison. a third unnamed person was charged. >> a small town in colorado has sworn in a big furry new leader. parker, the snow dog, was officially sworn in as the honorary mayor of georgetown he was already a bit of a local celebrity there, serving as a therapy dog at a camp for people with disabilities. he can often be spotted at denver bronco games. >> i think his ties are the best part >> that whole thing. >> it's great. all right. now to the day one boy has waited half his life for here's nbc's catie beck. >> reporter: 8-year-old nike could fill an album with family photos but these special moments of holidays and vacations are with

a foster family. >> we got him when he was 4. he showed up at our doorstep at midnight and we, we've had him ever since >> i thought i would never get adopted. >> reporter: but they didn't know if they could have him forever, not until monday. >> at this time i am officially granting the adoption. [ cheers and applause >> reporter: 300 people packed in a texas courtroom to see the family pledge to nike. his second grade class, church friends, even a superhero, signed swag from his favorite football team, the dallas cowboys. and t-shirts merging the names of mom and david david and christy schwartz, and nike's love of "star wars." may the sports be with you >> it was special, surreal >> reporter: the big event likely added a few new pages to nike's family album. >> you see every one of those people in the courtroom is his family he knows now >> awesomeness and awesomeness feels like happiness

happiness feels like joyfulness. >> reporter: and a first official picture of what home looks like catie beck, nbc news >> and thank you for staying with us. i'm cori cof

i heard, like, someone got sexually assaulted here. and it's like, wow, it's just terrible. >> right now at 4:30, a terrifying attack inside a bay area gym. a live report with more on what unfolded during a zumba class. mangled messes. two overnight crashes. the investigation into what went wrong. and working to house the homeless. the action gavin newsom is making to help. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washingt