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the toughest sentences yet in the college cheating scandal "early today" starts right now good wednesday orrin morning i'm phillip mena >> thanks for waking up with us. in today's top stories, a man in arkansas is in custody i'm frances rivera this morning accused of move over influenza because u.s. attempting to blow up an suv and health officials are warning americans to get ready for the himself at the pentagon. coronavirus outbreak to hit prosecutors say an officer spotted matthew richardson in america. >> the cdc says it is just a the parking lot trying to light matter of time the warning comes as krass of fabric dangling from the the virus continue to spread vehicle's gas tank beyond mainland china. the 19-year-old tried to run but so far more than 2,000 cases was later arrested at arlington national cemetery. during a court appearance have been identified in other richardson called the charges a countries from south korea to lie. david ayers is a north italy. here's nbc's tom costello with carolina hero. the zamboni driver and back quup what you need to know. >> the warning from the cdc, the goalie was honored by the carolina hurricanes after he was coronavirus is spreading so quickly around the globe it may only be a matter of time before called upon to hit the ice for it begins rolling across the saturday's game after two goalies were injured and helping the team to a 6-3 u.s. with the potential to victory. become a when you have influx of ayers was declared an honorary individuals who are infected citizen of north carolina by from multiple countries, then governor roy cooper and cranked the danger of that outbreak in the siren before the start of this country increases the game against the dallas substantially. >> reporter: so far health stars. way more than 15 minutes playing experts say the risk in the u.s. on the ice in that game.

>> one of my favorite sports is low only 57 known cases. stories i've ever heard i think. but the centers for disease control is now advising incredible p employers and schools to think millions of christians about planning for widespread around the world are observing ash wednesday. it marks the start of lent, a disruptions like limiting travel and large meetings, allowing season of fasting and prayer leading up to easter this year out of a precaution workers to telework, and closing schools or allowing internet for the coronavirus some churches are sprinkling ashes on school work. >> we want people to be ready in the heads of churchgoers instead of smudging it on their terms of if we do see community spread what would that mean to foreheads. you? >> the concern, with a 2% in rio carnival festivities last mortality rate at the epicenter in china, the coronavirus is far for a week deadlier than the seasonal flu despite the cdc's warnings president trump in india it's considered to be one of the biggest festivals in the world downplayed the risk. cute meets cutting edge science at the xwumts zoo. >> you may ask about the a jebtic breakthrough is giving the world new hope to save one of its most vulnerable species coronavirus, which is very well nbc's gadi schwartz has the under control in our country >> reporter: the white house is story. >> reporter: at the columbus zoo asking congress for $2.5 billion a scientific marvel with spots actually more like two little in emergency funding to deal with the crisis. marvels to be exact. but on capitol hill bipartisan the world's first in vitro criticism that the administration is not doing cheetah cub. and then moments later the enough second, a twin >> it's huge for cheetahs. >> the approach right now seems to be take two aspyn and call us probably one of the biggest

in the morning breakthroughs we've had. >> i'd like to see us investing >> reporter: their birth natural more than we have been and and caught on camera but their probably more than we're even planning at this stage conception straight out of the >> reporter: meanwhile the trump future in an effort to save the economic team insists the species. today there are only around economic fallout should be minimal. >> we have contained this i 7,000 cheetahs left in the wild where only 5% of cubs survive. won't say air tight but pretty close to air tight poaching and a loss of hunting >> reporter: despite message the grounds have led to so few dock market went into another cheetahs that too many are closely related. nose dive. so now scientists are making new 879 points downn just and very modern trees outside of the serengeti. two days the cubs' biological mother kabi a lot of focus on how quickly a sxwichlt their father slash vaccine could be developed chosen for their blood line. the n.i.h. says human trials for a vaccine could start within two the it happened in a dish. months but a widely available vaccine probably won't come for another 12 to 18 months and the all under the watchful eye of virus is not going anywhere. science happy to give these frances, back to you precious cubs a hand >> hope that changes tom, thank you gadi schwartz. >> they're too adorable. outside of asia europe is on high alert for the deadly we've got to keep their species coronavirus. in italy there are now over 300 going. >> it makes me wonder how many cases of the china-borne other specietoave you with us ts illness, which has claimed the lives of a dozen people. and now italian authorities are morning. i'm frances rivera >> i'm phillip mena. hope your wednesday's off to a scrambling to keep the virus

from spreading to other countries in europe. here's nbc's molly hunter. great start. >> reporter: the cases keep abt to get even better bouec ticking up in italy. it means that italian authorities are testing a lot more people. the data set is getting bigger but let me show you. this is the duomo, milan's most famous cathedral, closed to tourists today that is one of the many measures that italian authorities are taking to try to keep people from gathering together. you see lots of people are still outside milling together about an hour from milan that is the red zone there are 50,000 people that have been essentially fenced in. for 14 days they can move in the red zone but they cannot get out. >> the measures taken by the italian government or regional governments is have been strong and most likely should contain this virus as good as possible >> reporter: the real concern is europe's porous border from milan you can take a train to frankfurt, paris, in a day but whose responsibility is it to check people getting on or off the train?

a lot of coordination. italian authorities with their european counterparts to figure out how to both contain the outbreak in italy and stop the spread across europe molly hunter, nbc news, milan. . good wednesday morning. february 26th. a live look in san francisco seven democratic candidates took the debate stage one last this morning. time before the south carolina getting started with this hump day. half way through the workweek. primary. they got their chance to weigh in on the deadly coronavirus thanks for joining us this morning. i'm marcus washington. outbreak >> and i'm laura garcia. many of them criticized the all right. wednesday morning, what is in president's response to the store. >> looks good again today. situation. >> the president fired the another warm one. pandemic specialist in this in fact we're talking being near country two years ago. record high temperatures for today. so there's nobody here to figure here is a live look outside in out what the hell we should be walnut creek with a clear start. doing. >> we increased the budget of no issues with fog this morning the cdc. and temperatures feeling quite het.ncreased the nih budget. mild, in the mid-40s right there and then warming up by 11:00 at >> whawoult d i do 66 degrees. our south bay high temperatures i would better coordinate throughout my presidency to be in the upper 70s again today. ready for the next pan demmic we'll get a look at our and to prepare for this one. microclimates and talk about a >> president trump responded on cooler weekend coming up. twitter by saying the cdc is and mike i doing a great job of handling the coronavirus. he says that even if the virus disappeared tomorrow democrats would say he did an incompetent

job. president trump also tweeted, "so far, by the way, we have not had one death. let's keep it that way." when it comes to attacks at the debate most were targeted at front-runner bernie sanders. for more we're joined by nbc's ali vitale good morning >> reporter: frances, on this debate stage in charleston it was clear that every single one of the candidates up there was feeling the pressure having their last appeal to voters before not just the south carolina primary but the big super tuesday contest. bernie sanders came in as the front-runner he was on the receiving end of a lot of attacks but so was former new york city mayor michael bloomberg. he sort of p t blow and took a little spotlight away from bernie sanders because a lost other people's eyes on th bloomberthis debate was a little chaotic at times but it was also illuminating for what some of the candidates on stage were finally willing to say about their opponents. specifically talking about elizabeth warren listen to what she said.

>> bernie and i agree on a lot of things, but i think i would make a better president than bernie and the reason for that is getting a progressive agenda enacted is going to be really hard and it's going to take someone who digs into the details to make it happen. bernie and i both want to see universal health care but bernie's plan doesn't explain how to get there, doesn't show how to get enough allies into it and doesn't show enough about how we're going to pay for it. i dug this, did the work, and then bernie's team trashed me for it >> reporter: i think the word really frances to desc elizabeth wates bernie sanders is efficiency the two of them are sort of a one-two punch when it comes to progressive policies that's an argument elizabeth warren also mounted tonight, that progressive policies are popular. she's just making the case for herself now in this home stretch before super tuesday that she's going to be the best bet for progressives and democrats to actually enact those policies. >> big days ahead. that was ali vitale reporting. one day after harvey weinstein was found guilty of

two felony sex crimes the newly convicted rapist was hospitalized in bellevue's prison ward. he was supposed to be headed for riker's but authorities took a detour after he suffered chest pains. nbc's stephanie gosk spoke to one of his accusers. >> reporter: after the startling guilty verdict harvey weinstein is in a new york city hospital as a precaution. according to his lawyer. >> and he looked like he was in good shape obviously for any human being yesterday was a tremendously jarring and shocking event >> reporter: his attorney said he was suffering chest pains after being convicted of raping jessica mann and sexually assaulting mimi haley. the crime against haley carrying the most serious penalty of up to 25 years in prison. the expectations of more than 100 women who have accused wine steeb ofng haley >>id yourself, i don't know if i can go through with this? >> absolutely. i knew what the truth was. it became just important to me

to follow through. and just show up for it. and speak the truth. >> reporter: she wants this verdict to send a message. do you hope that women will speak up further >> absolutely, yes and i really hope this verdict is one more step toward that >> reporter: a hope shared by some of the movie mogul's other accusers >> the public has seen that men, even a man as powerful as mr. weinstein, will be held accountable for their abuse of women. >> reporter: after his sentencing in new york weinstein will be extradited to l.a. to face more sex al salt charges. >> harvey, you messed with the wrong women. we will see yo angeles, where hopefully your conviction will leave you in jail for life. >> reporter: back in new york from his hospital bed harvey weinstein insists he's innocent. this was just a stop for weinstein on his way to riker's island we're told by a spokesperson that he's hired a prison

consultant to help him get ready for what could be a lengthy time behind bars. phillip? >> stephanie, thank you. now to a meeting of two of the world's most inspiring young minds. teen climate activist greta thunberg met nobel peace prize winner malala yousafzai. greta is in the uk to join a school strike on friday and she paid a visit to oxford university, where malala is studying greta called malala her role model and malala said, "she's the only friend i'd skip school for. parts of africa are battling the worst locust swarms they've seen in decades. the pests have now spread to the congo marking the first time those insects have been seen in that country since 1944. u.n. agencies are warning of a majom ose flying pests. >> apocalyptic what that looks like there with the locusts everywhere let's get a check you have no our weather with nbc me meteorologist bill karins. >> what do you do if you're farmers and those show up you're done >> a lot of snow overnight in

the areas of midwest during the day today. areas like detroit are going to be shoveling snow and likely a school day or early dismissal. the blue in the nap is the snow. from saginaw down to chicago a little bit in peoria and even in st. louis. maybe an inch in st. louis heavier snow detroit two to three inches, cleveland two to four buffalo four to six over the next few days and northern new england will get significant snow as we go tonight into early tomorrow morning there's the warm showery, drizzly, a little bit of foggy weather through new york city, maybe down to d.c. we'll continue to see the airport effects of this storm

too. we'll give you that forecast for travel coming up >> could be some headaches for people in today's quick hits prince harry is back in the uk. after relocating with wife meghan markle and son archie to cannedate duke of sussex is back in town to speak at a summit today for the travel initiative he helped start. disney's ceo is handing over the keys to the magic kingdom. bob iger will be stepping down effective immediately. he'll be chairman until 2021 a national guard soldier set to become the army's first female green beret in the coming weeks. according to military officials she's in the final stages of training before graduating dead skin cells! gross! so now, i grab my swiffer sweeper and heavy-duty dusters. duster extends to three feet to get all that gross stuff gotcha! and for that nasty dust on my floors, my sweeper's on it. the textured cloths grab and hold dirt and hair no matter where dust bunnies hide.

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coming under fire on capitol hill for its autopilot feature the ntsb blasted the electric automaker for a deadly crash while the car was in pilot mode. safety officials say the driver was playing video games on his phone before the accident and had both hands off the steering wheel when it slammed into a concrete divider in california the ntsb says there was no alert and the emergency braking system didn't activate. tesla says that before en-gauging autopilot drivers must agree to keep their hands on the wheel at all times and if they don't an alarm will sound an ntsb official called the autosteer system completely inadequate another person has been sentenced for their role in the infamous college admissions scandal. snack food heiress michelle janavs, whose family invented hot pockets, was sentenced to five months for trying to buy her daughter's way into the university of southern california here's nbc's steve patterson >> reporter: after ducking into federal court one last time hot pockets heiress michelle janavs

finally learned her fate the judge sentencing her to five months in prison after she admitted to paying $300,000 to cheat college admissions for three of her daughters prosecutors named her one of the most culpable parents charged. >> she understands the harm that her choices caused ♪ hot pockets >> reporter: janavs is the heir to her family's multibillion-dollar microwavable snash fortune. in october she pled guilty to paying $100,000 to fix two of her daughter's a.c.t. exams and $200,000 to fake a profile for another daughter as a volleyball recruit to usc janavs is one of nearly two dozen parents who pled guilty to the scandal so far, including "desperate housewives" star felicity huffman, who served less than two weeks in prison. meanwhile, actress lori loughlin and fashion designer massimo giannelli continue fighting their charges maintaining their payments to usc were legitimate donations, not bribes

today's sentence won't so much be a present but it could be something of a benchmark loughlin's case is expected to go to try trial in october as the gavel falls on more elite families in court. steve patterson, nbc news. just ahead the m&m challenges why all the fans are imitating the real slim shady. and choosy moms say jif the peanut butter brand aims to end an online debate once and for all. finally a household cleaner that keeps killing bacteria for 24 hours. watch as both brands kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. the difference? even after multiple touches, microban 24 keeps killing 99.9% of bacteria for 24-hours. new microban 24. available in multi-purpose cleaner, sanitizing spray, and bathroom cleaner.

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in celebration of black history this month we want to shine the spotlight on mary frances early, the first african-american to graduate from the university of georgia in 1962. in honor of her trailblazing contribution to collegiate racial equality efforts the university named a college after her. uga hosted a ceremony to celebrate the new mary frances early college of education think you can keep one slim shady? check out this verse here. ♪ and it goes on and on and on eminem has announced the godzilla challenge on twitter. he's called on fans to replicate that tongue twisting verse from his hit song godzilla. he rapped the whole 224 words in just 31 seconds. he'll be reposting his favorites and he says there will b does h

dry mouth. all of that. >> it's why he's one of the best that's ever done it. busta rhymes't that.f per is fiy settling the jif or gif debate the peanut butter is joining forces with giphy. they say they are putting a lid on the debate. the special edition jars are being sold on amazon so whether you say gif or jif just so you know the guy who invented it way back in '87 told "the new york times" it's presented gif with a hard g. >> that's how i always said it gif. what was he doing with it in '87? we weren't sending it anywhere blowing up now way to capitalize on it, by the way. just ahead bill will be here weve your travel forecast as snow hits the midwest as snow hits the midwest >> and the scienfibreakthrough e cosentyx works on all of this. four years and counting. so watch o i got this!

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