bye, everybody. it's thursday, february 25th. coming up on "early today," death, destruction and delays. extreme weather and tornadoes from pensacola right through the northeast. fresh off his nevada victory, the donald has set his sights on super tuesday. while cruz and rubio are seemingly battling for second place. and a rare interview with the woman who could become first lady. incredible images of exploding e-cigarettes inside people's pants. why is this happening? plus an emotional day in court as erin andrews breaks down during her dad's testimony and her $75 million lawsuit. astronaut scott kelly returns to earth after spending one year in space. "early today" starts right now.

rivera. breaking overnight, four dead after 19 tornados reportedly touched down along the east coast yesterday. two people including a 2-year-old boy were found dead in waverly. they enacted a 7:00 p.m. curfew last night, as first responders continue searching door to door for missing residents. the county associated with robert e. lee's surrender back to a post apocalyptic battleground, cutting houses in half, and turning entire neighborhoods to rubble. this has already claimed the lives of four others and spawned roughly four tornadoes in the south. the massive ef-3 tornado that hit pensacola, florida with winds topping out at 155 miles per hour. one resident says his neighborhood resembles a war zone with trees, cars and debris scattered everywhere. thousands of people up through

thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed due to the storm. delta even bought pizza for frustrated hungry passengers after the flight that was to land in new york rerouted to syracuse. as new york city saw rain and heavy wind strong enough to blow over this tractor trailer on the george washington bridge. and a vehicle burst into flames as winds brought power lines right down on to it. getting covered in snow in indiana. a fire broke out after power line s lines came down in illinois. and meteorologist bill karins will join us in just a few minutes for the latest forecast. and donald trump continues continues to dig into ted cruz's evangelical base. on the endorsement front, trump

backing from new york's chris collins, who previously backed jeb bush. he said that donald trump had the guts to get jobs back. california's duncan hunter who recently made news by vaping at a hearing said he would also support trump. but former gop nominee mitt romney warned that a quote blockbuster was on the way when trump released his tax returns. an issue that rankled the governor in the 2010 bid. >> we really ought to see from all three of these fellows their taxes in case there's an issue there. i think in donald trump's case it's likely to be a bomb shell. trump responded to romney's prediction. >> why not just get them out there? >> my returns are extremely complex. i'll make the determination at the right time. i'm in no rush to do it. >> he also talked about picking up votes when his rooifbls dropped out.

i don't know that i will but i could win. that's the only state that i'm a little bit down. and i laugh at the pundits who say if you add up all the rest, it's 53. when people leave, i pick up a lot of votes. >> later, the front-runner tweeted this, when ted cruz quits, i will get most of his voters, no problem. and we also heard from mrs. trump in one of her rare interviews. she spoke to mika brzezinski about disagreeing with donald trump. >> well, do i agree all the time with him? no. i don't. and i tell him that. i tell him my opinions. i tell him what i think. sometimes he listens, sometimes he don't. >> a fascinating look at a very private potential first lady. and some of the latest polling out of ted cruz's home state has the senator a few points ahead and even neck and neck with trump. on the democratic side, hillary clinton is adding the

platform, releasing a new ad. featuring flint mayor weaver, pastor and flint resident. be sure to tune in to msnbc later today at 5:00 p.m. eastern and at 8:00 eastern, chris matthews talks to bernie sanders as part of the hardball college tour. be sure to stay tuned. now to an alarming and dangerous side effect from those e-cigarette devices. nbc's joe friar explains. >> reporter: a customer was simply stopping for snacks at a kentucky gas station when the security camera captured this startling moment. >> suddenly there was a flash in his pocket and there was fire. >> reporter: josh hamilton suffered second-degree burns. he said the spare battery for his e-cigarette device exploded. it's the latest injury tied to electronic vapor products from oklahoma to california. doctors at harbor view medical

different patients in the past five months. >> the way the battery is in the device, it becomes a high powered rocket that can cause significant force and injury to the patient. >> reporter: the problem center around lithium ion batteries which power the devices that can overheat, especially if the wrong charger is used. the vaping association says when charged and used under proper conditions, vapor products pose no more of a fire risk than other products that use lithium ion batteries like cell phones and laptops. and employees tell customers don't carry the batteries in your pockets. >> sometimes it might touch the loose change in your pocket or key. it will start to get hot. i recommend a battery case like this here and then pretty much protected. >> reporter: advice to make sure people can vape without the fireworks. joe friar, nbc news, los angeles. a video purportedly made by

threats against two social media titans, facebook ceo mark zuckerberg and twitter ceo dorsey and are apparently in response to their recent efforts to remove posts that promote terrorism. there have been threats made against dorsey, but it's the first public threat made against zuckerberg. the video, which has not been verified, was allegedly posted on a social media site popular among isis supporters. it shows both ceos riddled with bullet holes. they're known to use such sites as facebook and twitter to promote propaganda and recruit supporters. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with the latest on that severe weather going on. >> strongest winds since hurricane irene in 2010. thunderstorm warnings last night. that's the first time they've ever done that in february during overnight storms. very strange, very warm, unusual. strong jet stream at the low levels was really responsible

of course, we have the tornadoes out there. in all, we'll probably end up somewhere close to maybe three or four dozen tornadoes with this storm. as far as the severe weather outbreak yesterday, all the blue dots were the damaging wind reports, carolinas and new england last night. we're still dealing with 100,000 people without power. hopefully, the airports will try to get back on track. the storm is still nearby. last of those damaging thunderstorms in down east maine this morning. even lightning strikes in down east maine this time of year, extremely rare. there is cold to this storm, too. we're watching snow in areas of michigan and through west virginia. that's some of the spots they did pick up, especially there in northern indiana, blizzard-like conditions. most of the snow is over with. temperatures continue to be about 10 to 15 degrees above average. unfortunately, that snow pack is melting in the mountains. that's your national weather. now here is a closer look at your day ahead. temperatures are the warmest spots in the country in the

temperatures continue to be the mid 80s. beautiful weather. central california, gorgeous stuff with temperatures very comfortable in the mid 70s for mys. highs. unfortunately for the west, no rain in site, especially for southern california. rainy el nino season is starting to look disappointing. >> good for them, a lot of kids jumping in the parents' bed. >> in the east, yeah, dogs under the beds and all that. leaders circling the wagons. and playing cute little game of peek-a-boo. we'll have details ahead on this. you're watching "early today." so you can coax out great flavor effortlessly. hillshire farm. because it's worth doing right. at hillshire farm, there's a reason our slow roasted turkey taste so fresh

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republican governor of nevada. also the state la tchlt's first latino judge. >> this is a way for democrats in the white house to extract maximum pain on republicans on their stance not to hear any nominee. >> and president obama said the nominee he's looking for would eminentally qualified with impeccable credentials. astronaut scott kelly due to return back to earth on tuesday. he's made a huge following after posting stunning photos of the earth from space on social media. i follow him. he has a great sense of humor, too. during an interview with "nbc nightly news" anchor lester holt, kelly shared what he will miss the most. >> the ability to press our limits with regards to exploration and discovery. i think it's been a privilege of being a part of that and it's something that i'm going to miss. >> by the time kelly returns, he will have travelled more than 143 million miles in space.

photo of a polar bear that seems to be playing -- do you know what he's doing? kind of looks like he's playing a cute game of peek-a-boo at the zoo. well, it was a dramatic day in the civil lawsuit brought by sports reporter, erin andrews, in court. she looked on in tears as her father talked about her trauma after a stalker secretly filmed her naked at a hotel. she sued the hotel, claiming they let it happen. nbc's morgan radford has the details. >> reporter: an emotional day for erin drews, wiping away tears as her father describes her as a shell of the person she previously was. >> she's terrified, she's depressed. she's not the girl that we used to know. >> reporter: steve andrews, a veteran reporter, testifying on behalf of his daughter and her $75 million suit against the man convicted of stalking and secretly filming

room in 2008. >> she kept screaming, i'm on the internet. i'm on the internet. i'm naked. everything i've worked for is done. >> reporter: michael barrett removed and altered the peep hole in her hotel room. then he used a cell phone and recorded her naked. >> i remember thinking to myself, how does this happen? >> reporter: andrews' attorney called a hospitality expert to the stand. >> that's a cardinal sin in the hospitality industry, to give somebody's room number away or let them know they're staying there. >> he deceived, connived, stalked. that's what mr. barrett did. >> reporter: mr. andrews believes someone needs to pay for what happened to his daughter. >> for the first time in my life, as her -- sorry. as her father where i didn't know if she was safe or not. i feared for her life. >> morgan radford, nbc news.

business with cnbc's lana dowdy. lana, good morning. >> good morning. the faa is considering allowing small drones to fly over the general public. that could pave the way for other commercial flights. amazon said they would start flying drones. and ups is setting up to work with retailers to offer same-day delivery. which works with macy's, kohl's and other stores. meanwhile, beijing is the new billionaire capital of the world, surpassing new york. now home to the most billionaires with 132 new members of that list last year. the study shows how china elite continue to accrue wealth despite a shaky stock market and economy. over to you. >> lana, thank you very much. just ahead, college basketball's top tier toppled

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this morning on "today," brooklyn 99 and old spice actor, terry crews reveals he went to rehab for porn addiction. terry crews speaks out later today on "today." it was a night of upsets in

xavier in cincinnati. they managed to dominate the wildcats who got into foul trouble early and often, xavier taking this one 90-83. unranked wisconsin taking on iowa. hawkeyes seemed to dominate most of the game until the final five minutes. badgers turned it on late and held on to hand eighth-ranked iowa their fourth loss. next we have legendary walton feeling rocky mountain high and a last second desperation three pointer for arizona right at the buzzer. no good. buffalo fans stormed the court as colorado upsets number nine arizona 75-72. in the nba, golden state behind, steph curry nails the go ahead three pointer with 38 seconds to play.

win in 15 games. finally, progressing nicely. that's tiger woods who's still recovering from back surgery posted along with this 13-second video on twitter showing him shooting a 9 iron in a golf simulator. no word on when he will return to the tour. singing super star adele is crowned queen of the british music scene but it's what she said that has everyone talking. plus, ellen degeneres has audiences seeing double. 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? if so, you may be gearcentric. someone who knows that the right office gear helps you do great things. and there's one place that has it all.

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now for some entertainment news. an emotional adele conquered the brit awards nabbing four statues last night. even one presented from space. before apologizing for her ugly cry face, the singer took a moment to publicly support kesha. it was also the first time kesha made a statement about her legal battle. she thanked everyone for their support. and the red carpet is ready for this sunday's oscars. and who else is ready? maybe vice president joe biden who is rumored to be a presenter at the show. >> the white house was grooving last night there with a tribute to the late great ray charles.

performance at the white house which honors music that shaped america. and ellen degeneres herself playing ellen degeneres. >> i'm ellen. >> i'm ellen. >> i'm ellen. >> no, i'm ellen. i got this. step aside. >> you're going to do the monologue? >> that's right. because i'm ellen. hi, everyone. happy wednesday. >> she can do ellen degeneres and hillary clinton. i'm frances rivera 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. (water filling room) about 50 percent of people die (dog whimpering)

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leading the news, it's the most read article in "the washington post." justice scalia spent his last hours with elite society of hunters. the order of the st. hubris dates back to the 1600s. a review of their public records shows some of their members were with justice scalia where he spent his last days. it's still unclear what association scalia had with the group. and on nbcnews.com, emergency room visits double for marijuana-using colorado visitors. the number of visits from tourists more than doubles, the first year it was legalized in the state, compared to 2014. they say it's due to edibles and they're cautioning people to

risks before they try it. and in alameda, california office workers had to be quarantined yesterday after an employee became nauseous and dizzy after opening a suspicious package. two other employees became ill. all three felt better in the afternoon. the package was sent to a lab for further testing. and check out this surveillance video showing robbers in southeast texas smashing a ford pick up truck into a store on monday. three men then ran inside, slipping on broken glass but they made off with a whole atm. police are still searching for the suspects. and they're probably still working on breaking it open. and facebook has rolled out new action emojis. you can do more than just like a post or picture or thumb's up. you can pick love, anger, humor and sad. sometimes people post sad things and it's weird because you like it when something is sad.

>> i have. i've had the dilemma. an art critic is drawing comparisons but not for what you might think. this say robot that can judge artificial taste to whether or not it likes art or not. it uses the data to develop its own unique taste. the five remaining republican presidential hopefuls face off for the 10th time at the university of houston. it's their last debate before super tuesday t will be siem ul cast on telemundo. and happy birthday to rashida jones, park and recs actor,

tea 3 >> a new team is coming to reno... what will there name be?a look at what's in store for today coming up... 3 (samantha)>> plus.. reports of sexual assault on the u-n-r campus are on the rise...hear why university officials say this might be happening. 3 (bill)>> and.... a home invasion sends an elderly man to the hospital and the suspects are still at large. who you need to be on the lookout for. these stories and more.. coming up on this thursday, february 25, 2016. 3 ((male voice: you're watching news 4 today on your side in high definition.)) 3 (bill)>> good morning 3 and thank you for choosing us to start your day. i'm bill