twisters carve a deadly path of destruction. hundreds of homes decimated. for the first time, we see the massive scope of the damage. targeting trump. a critical night for cruz and rubio. it could be their last chance to blunt donald trump's m to the nomination. super lice warning, striking in 25 states. extremely resistant to the ways we usually get rid of them. what every parent should know. don't drink the water. another big city warns its residents about what's flowing into their homes. and video horror. the chilling moment that made erin andrews get up and leave the courtroom. as jurors see the tape that she says turned her life into a nightmare. "nightly news" begins right now. "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening. states of emergency are in effect in virginia, and north carolina right now.

took devastating blows of a violent and deadly storm that rampaged from the south up the eastern seaboard. today we're seeing the full extent of the damage from some 50 reported tornadoes over the last two days. nine people were killed. and millions were impacted from downed trees and power outages, to floods and canceled flights. tonight t t region is stilil trying to recover. nbc's miguel almaguer ports. >> reporte tonight this is what the damage looked like in seven states. homes have been shredded, lives are in shambles, after more than 50 reported tornadoes. >> i went to see where the house was,t wasn't there. >> reporter: in waverly, virginia, there's as much heart break as destruction. in the f-1 tornado with winds up to 110 miles an hour, carving a path nine miles yard and 300 yards wide. this foundation, all that's left in the bull's-eye. the bodies of two adults and a toddler didiovered 300 yards

room where they were trying to ride out the storm. >> it could be@your loved`one. the feeling is unbearable. >> reporter: toya jones lost her 2-year-old cousin ian, as well as her uncle larry and friend devine. >> he was thehebest, he was fufuy. >> reporter: i i all, at least nine are dead across the region. >> no clue where even the building is. >> reporter: in north carolina, hunts boro road is obliterated. the tornado peeled the roof and walls off pam west's house. she and her husband, rick, went back to salvage what they could. >> there's nothing really to get. >> it's all gone. >> it's all gone. >> reporter: winds flipped a semi in new york city. on nearby long island, falling trees tore down electrical wires sparking fires. and this morning, the dramatic rescue after a coast guard boat helping a stranded fishing vessel capsized. the fishermen had to

and ef-2 tornado in pennsylvania crushed more than 50 homes. parts of amish country leveled. in a community that uses no electricity, it's the power of nenehbor helping neighbor. what took minutes to destroy will now take months to rebuild. this three-day storm system plowed a path across 70 million people showing very little mercy. on one block alone, the damage can easilien in the millions. while the storm moved througug thiss community in a matter of minutes, it will take months to rebuild. >> miguel, thank you. a critical night in the race for president. the final gop debate before super tuesday, when voters in a dozen states go to the polls. and it could be the last shot for marco rubio and ted cruz to do anything to knock donald trump off hisis march to the nomination. meantime, the clinton campai strategizing not only about democratic opponent berniesanders, but also looking ahead to a potential matchup

we have it all covered starting with hallie jackson in houston. hallie? >> reporter: good eveving, lester. righgh now, donald trumum appears to be leing in all of those super tuesday states, except for one, texas. we'r here tonight. he'll again be at the center of the bull's-eye. in texas, where everything's bigger, so are the stakes at tonight's debate. the last stand before super tuesday for donald trump'p' rivals to stop him. he's facing fire today, not from his competitors in houston, but across the border. >> we're going to build a wall, and who's going to pay for that wall? >> reporter: now in a war of words, colorful ones with mexico's former president. >> i'm not going to pay for that [ bleep ] wall. he should pay for it. he's got the money. >> reporter: trump now demanding fox apologize as he gets ready for a different battle with ted cruz and marco rubio in texas. but it's the sunshine state where trump looks hot.t.

tonight, as rubio's top strategist guarantees a victory in florida. tweeting, take it to the bank. rubio n nds to win there, le ted cruz needs to in texas. new numbers show cruz still in command in his home state for now. trump and rubio jockeying for second place. a cruz aide tells nbc the candidate is preparing responses to accusations he'll obably face about dirty tricks or lies. and ready to engage both rubio and trp. >> we can't be fooled by p.t. barnum. >> the time for the clowns and the acrobats and the dancing bears has passed. >> for tonight's debate to matter on tuesday, one of two things must have. donald trump musttave his worst d date so far, or ted cruz or

able to land a solid punch on trump. >> reporter: setting up a wild night in the wild west. hallie jackson, nbc news, houston. >> reporter: hillary clinton is setting her sights on donald trump. >> it's been most surprising to me to see somebody who was affable. really traffic in the prejudices and paranoia. >> reporter: her campaign girding for a potential general election matchup, sending out a fund-raising e-mail titled, everything's coming up trump. her top surrogate taking constant aim. >> he wants to make america great again. i don't think america ever stopped being great. we need to make america whole again. >> reporter: campaign sources telling nbc news they're working on challenges to trump's divisive and unconventional campaign if clinton should win the nomination, with a strategy that might also be unconventional. the most recent national polling gives clinton a slight lead over trump.

taking on bernie sanders in south carolina, where a black lives matter activist confronted clinton last night for seeming to disparage black youth while talking abobo the druru problem as first lady, describing, quote, predators saying, we need to bring them to heel. tonight in a statement, clinton saying, looking back, i shouldn't have used those words. still, the moment underscores her challenge connecting with some young voters. everyone person in is room is enormously powerfrf. >> reporter: they continue to flock to senator bernie sanders, today in ohio and in flint, michigan. a "new york times" editorial calls on clinton to release the transcripts on the paid speeches given to wall streetet saying the stonewalling o oy fuels speculation. it could be a cloud that hangs over her campaign whether she's taking on senator sanders or the gop nominee. >> kristen, thank you. let's bring in our political director,

press," chuck todd. you've been doing the mathth how might this play out for trump and his rivals? >> let's start with our best estimate of what the delegate count is going to look like after super tuesday. it's over here on the board over here. essentially if donald trump wins all of these super tuesday states like he did in south carolina, he will build a little over a 100 delegate lead, starting a methodical march to the nomination. and then he has a chance to accelerate it, and essentially cinch the nomination two weeks later. how does he do it? if he wins all of these winner take all states, by beating kasich, all delegates in florida by beating rubio, he gets to 650 delegates. basically halfway to the magic number of 12 1237. however, if john kasich can beat trump in ohio and marco rubio can beat trump in florida, look at how the delegate map changes. we did the math here. what does this mean, lester, is the bottom line?

left in the republican nomination race. donald trump wins this nomination by march 15th, we're headed to cleveland in a contested convention. there is no other scenario. >> all right. chuck, thank you. high drama tonight in the battle between apple and the fbi.i. the company filed a tion today to throw outt judge's order for it to help the fbi crack an iphone used by the san bernardino killers. saying the feds are seeking a dangerous power, all of it as apple insiders say the company is now working on a new version that would be impossible to unlock by anyone but the userer ouou justice correspondent pete williams has details. >> reporter: apple has always made security a selling point. >> these are the new iphones. >> reporter: when it released the iphone 6, snowden was warning about government surveillance, apple made a point saying it would noonger help police get information out o o the new phones when they were locked, even when served with a search warrant.

make the phones more secure, working to develop an iphone that cannot be unlocked by anyone but the user, not by the police, not even by apple itself. it's fighting the fbi which wants apple to modify the softwar in the phone to disarm the security and let agents try to unlock an iphe used by one of the san bernardino attackers. the fbi director told congress today it's a lead that must be pursued. >> we must do a competent investigation following the murder of 14 people in san bernardino. and we'll use whatever lawful tools are available to us. >> reporter: apple said the fbi is trying to force it to create a brand-new version of the iphone by changing the software, and it says the government cannot do that. >> you cannot ask a private citizen to create a product for it. and it cannot ask apple to c cngehe iphone in ways that was never intended to be used or to be employed in. >> reporter: apple today told a judge in san bernardino that what the fbi wants would create a back

to hackers, identity thieves, hostile foreign agentnt and unwarranted government surveillance. next week both apple and the f will fac off in a hearing on capitol hill. they both say it should be up to congress, not the courts, to settle this fight. pete williams, nbc news, at the supreme court. chilling and uncomfortable moments in court today that prompted star sports anchor erin andrews to leave the courtroom, as jurors saw for the firstime the tape at the center of her lawsuit against a hotel giant that captured her private moments in her hotel room, shot by a stalker in the room next door. we get more from nbc's morgan radford. >> reporter: today the video that she says changed her lifeas shown to a roomm full of strangers. erin andrews stepped out as the jury sat in the dark watching those stolen images viewed almost 17 million times. >> so this is the first one at the national marriott, correct? >> yes, this is one of the -- once it's on the internet, it's on

many peopleeave individual copies out there. barrett modified the peephole of the door and filmed her getting dressed in 2008. executive admitted to following her to three different hotels across the country. caught in 2009, he offered a tearful apology, if he was half years in jail, begging for >> his apology isn't good enough. it doesn't take down the video off the internet. i've ced enough. it's not taking the video down. >> reporter: earlier today, andrews' therapist testified by video, describing the panic andrews felt when her stalkerot out of jail and she wasn't told. >> she was extremely concerned that this would reinvigorate the story on the internet. is expected to take the stand next week. hearing new testimony left her hurt and humiliated. morgan radford, nbc news. jackson, mississippi, are facing a scary and

sounding crisis over lead found in drinking water. children and pregnant women have been warned not to drink the water in this city of more than 170,000 people, where 30% live below the poverty line. there are questions about why they weren't warned sooner. >> reporter: the lead warnings rattled the people of jackson. many like the mother of three worry their city is another flint. >> just to hear that water is goneerong in another city, in another state, and now my own cit and state. it's something i would have never thought of. >> reporter: officials downplay the comparisons, while at the same time warning pregnant women and children under 5 not to drink the tap water for six months. small children need lead testing, and everyone should avoid hot water and run the tata two minutes beforee using it. the problems began last june. 20% of home samples had high lead levels.

that is when the state alerted city leaders. the public wasn't warned until wednesday. nearly eight months after the first high readings. state officials say they were following epa guidelines. >> we've done exactly what the federal -- >> you look at the requirements and your evaluation is actually not sufficient. >> they're not sufficient. and we've made the change so that they will be more sufficient. >> reporter: it won't an easy fix for jackson. the mayor said the plants need urgent upgrade. a problem facing nearly every city. >> lead is all over the country. this is going to become a national issue. >> reporter: at this children's clinic, worried parents have been calling all day. >> better to be safe than sorry. especially with the children at stake. >> reporter: monica says her church sent bottled water to flint. but now they wonder if they should have kept it here. stephanie gosk, nbc news, jackson, mississippi. the risk from

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research now shows an outbreak of so-called super lice, much more resistant to treatment in 25 states so far. here's how to stop it. >> reporter: 11-year-old lylea is getting checked for lice today. sure enough, they're back again. her mother, andrea, says this is the fourth time in a year for her family. head. it wasn't like she was itching her head. >> reporter: she's not alone. scientists have recently identified super lice, resistant to the main chemical in over-the-counter treatments. the so-called super lice have now spread to 25 states. >> it's important not to panic. lice are not a health hazard. they don't transmit disease. >> reporter: to kill these super lice, experts advise first try learning how to comb them out. use over-the-counter treatments repeatedly

ask your doctor for prescription treatments. wash clothing and linens in hot water. there's also a lice clinic like hair genie. >> there's nothing to be ashamed of. we tell the kids, it's not your fault. somebody gave it to you. >> reporter: lyla is learning to stop it from spreading. >> they have a spray. i use their spray. before i go o school. >> what do you and your girlfriends do? do you share hats, hair brushes? >> no, i get my hair brush, and since we're on the phone a lot, we have to make sure our heads aren't together. >> reporter: familils need to stay super gilant against super lice. we're back in a moment with a big but rather unexpected name who has a role to play go, go, go, go, go, go... touchdown! choir and harp music. this place, it's the best-kept secret in football since... hey, how did he get in here?! and with toe nail fungus! fight it! with jublia. jublia is a prescription medicine used to treat toenail fungus.

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tibbles to find out in one small texas town in our series "we the people." >> reporter: it's a bitter wind that blows through the oil fields south of s s antonio. here in the city, people say 95% of the jobs depend on the price of a barrel of the black stuff. and it's dropped like a stone. >> it's horrible. >> reporter: chaz manages a small oil service company. 50% of his business has vanished. he wants the economy back on track. >> we have to let somebody go. it weighs on you after a while. >> reporter: zack is 27 with a family, a mortgage and no job. >> it will break you down as a man. i have a 7-month-old little girl that relies on me that didn't ask for this life. >> reporter: here's the kind of candidate he's looking for. >> someone that's going to fight for us. >> reporter: with the southern border less than 200 miles away,

immigration go hand in hand, over beers and bris cut at the red dog ice house. >> immigration has to do with the sovereignty of our nation, not just me, but every job. if somebody's coming across the border taking their job. >> reporter: stanley has also been laid off. >> i think we should build a wall. you don't want me to tell you what kind of wall i would build. >> they're coming from a different background. >> reporter: in a place where opportunity has dried up, it is troubling for a young father. >> i don't know where i'm going to be or what i'm going to be doing, but i'm going to go to work. >> reporter: and for the moment, there is no sign that the wind is changing direction. kevin tibbles, nbc news, karne kre, texas. i'm lester holt reporting from our studios in los angeles. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for

night.(matt) good evening... thanks for joining us. i'm matt breen. (sheila) and, i'm sheila brummer. major changes are coming to the 108 parishes in the sioux city catholic diocese. (matt) in t t end, dozens of parishes will closesen an effort to strengthen and d stain its minist. the diocese faces several challenges. mass attendance has fallen 27-percent since 2008. and the total number of registered cathoilic households has dropped more than seven- percent. add to that a projection that the diocese will have just 31 full-time priests 2025, and diocese officialalsay the time had co to make major changes.

pastoral planning. a years-worth of work yielded "ministry 2025", a plan to strengthen and sustain the of the diocese. but, changes will be madef "we understand that the change is going to be difficult," lingle said. 40 of the 108 parishes in the diocese will be closed in july "simply put, we have too many sunday masses in too many places that are too sparsely populated," lingle said. "the impact on sioux city's eight parishes will be minimal," said matt breen. "they will stay open. but, they will be "clusters". each cluster will have a pastor and an associate to celebrate mass at all of the sites." the clusters look like this: sacred heart becomes itsown cluster. blessed sacrament and st. michael's will form the holy cross cluster. cathedral of the epiphany, st. boniface, and st. joseph will form the cathedral cluster. and, immaculate conception and nivity will form the mater dei cluster. "the same can't be said for 40 other parishes in the diocese, which will close," said matt breen. here's an example of the