running against bernie. hillary is going to be very easy to beat. she's a very flawed candidate. >> now, running for president shouldn't be about delivering insults. it should be about delivering results for the american people. >> one mississippi, two mississippi, that's about how long it took for hillary clinton to win the southern primary. but as the night wore on, bernie sanders defied the polling to pull off a big win in michigan. plus, three more wins for donald trump. one for ted cruz and marco rubio, well, he came up short once again. and a bizarre twist in the case of a pastor who was shot just one day after praying with ted cruz. the scene of the crime was idaho, but the suspect, he was arrested just outside the white house. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. this is "way too early."

good morning. it's wednesday, march 9th, i'm jonathan capehart. we'll have those stories and breaking news, the man known as the fifth beatle, george martin, has died at the age of 90. it was a big night for the republicans when all was said and done, donald trump claimed victory in three of the four states up for grabs with wins across the country and the sea. trump won in mississippi where he took 47% of the vote. in michigan, early this morning in hawaii's caucus. ted cruz claimed a win in idaho with 45%. with trump, 17 points behind at 28%. for the night, cruz finishes only ten delegates behind trump. 68 to 58.

john kasich claimed 16 and marco rubio, well, he takes zero. trump expantdzed the total delegate lead over cruz with 456 to cruz' 363. lagging far behind is rubio with 153 and kasich at 54. republicans need 1,237 to nominate, another 367 are on the line this coming tuesday. now to the democrats and a major upset win for bernie sanders in michigan. senator sanders narrowly defeated hillary clinton there, 50% to 48%. that's a margin of about 20,000 votes. the only other contest yesterday on the democratic side was in mississippi where secretary clinton bonn in a landslide. 83% to 17%. that massive margin of victory means she walks away the winner in terms of delegate count. at this how nbc news is allow g allocating 88 to clinton. and sander has now won nine

states to clinton's 12 states so far this election cycle. based on recent polling the two-point win by sanders in michigan was a stunning result. the real clear politics polling average had clinton ahead by 20 points. independents played a major role in swinging the state in sanders' favor. independents made up nearly 30% of the vote in yesterday's open primary. among those voters sanders took 71%, beating clinton by more than 40 points. taking a look at the map, the senator performed well all over the state, losing just ten of michigan's 83 counties. among the counties clinton captured, wayne county where the city of detroit is located. she also narrowly won where the county of flint is located and where clinton was early to stand up for the city amid the water crisis. meanwhile, as the votes were still being counted last night

and the race was still too close to call, sanders held a news conference in miami. >> i just want to take this opportunity to thank the people of michigan who kind of repudiated the polls that had us 20, 25 points down a few days ago. who repudiated the pundits who said that bernie sanders was not going anywhere. i want to thank the many thousands of volunteers that we had in the state of michigan for knocking on doors and for making the phone calls that completed this kind of enormously successful night for us. and what tonight means is that the bernie sanders campaign -- the people's -- the revolution, the people's revolution that we are talking about, the political revolution that we are talking about is strong in every part of the country and frankly we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen. we're going to do very, very well in the west coast and other parts of this country.

hillary clinton meanwhile appeared at a rally last night in cleveland. ohio is one of the five delegate rich states holding democratic primaries next tuesday and despite her resounding win in mississippi, clinton made no mention of yesterday's two conte contests. instead, sounding like a candidate focused on next week's primaries and beyond. >> we can't be talking about building walls or turning the clock back. we have to build on what made america great in the first place. we are better than what we are hearing in the political rhetoric of this time. we are better. than what we are being offered by the republicans. let's turn now to the republicans and donald trump who staged another election night news conference. this time at the trump national golf club in jupiter, florida. and he did it while serving up the red meat, literally. flanking himself with trump

steaks and other brand of products that mitt romney had unfairly criticized in his speech last week. >> he really shouldn't have done it. it wasn't becoming honestly. he talked about the water company. well, there's the water company. i mean, we sell water. we have water and it's a very successful -- you know, it's a private little water company and i supply the water for all my places. trump steaks, we have trump steaks. he said the steak company and we have trump steaks. he said trump magazine is out. it is? i thought i read one two days ago. this comes out and it is called the jewel of palm beach. it's -- it goes to all my clubs, i've had it for many years. it's the magazine, it's great. here, take one. my club champion. trump airline. well, i sold the airline and i made a great deal. by the way t winery, you see the wine. because he mentioned trump vodka. it's the largest winery in the east coast and trump university we're going to start it up as soon as i win the lawsuit. does that make sense?

>> trump also addressed the super pac attack ad airing in florida that shows clips of him using vulgar language. >> no words, i have the best words. this [ bleep ]. he gets the nomination they're going to sue his [ bleep ]. i don't give a [ bleep ]. we'll beat the [ bleep ] out of them. they're ripping the [ bleep ] out of the sea. what the hell are we doing? i was a little concerned with that ad until i saw it. i think it's better than any ad i have ever taken for myself. when i have 16 people coming at me from 16 different angles, you didn't want to be so presidential. you have to win, you have to beat them back, right? but i would say more presidential and i have said this a couple of times, more presidential than anybody other than the great abe lincoln. he was very presidential. right? people are sick and tired of being politically correct. and i actually think that ad is good for me. that ad shows a certain degree of anger and it shows a certain

degree like we're not going to take it anymore from all of these countries that have been ripping office, taking our jobs and our money like we're a bunch of babies. very, very stupid babies. i watch that ad and i think if i had my choice of saying, i could have it down or let it run, let it run. exit polling shows trump's voters were more enthusiastic than those of the other candidates. 68% of the voters said they cast their vote because they strongly favor them. and he sal also did well among michigan voters looking for a candidate who tells it like it is. in michigan and mississippi he did well with voters who want the next president to come from outside the establishment, drawing two-thirds of those voters in both states. trump narrowly beat ted cruz among white evangelicals in mississippi. he was also the top vote getter among white evangelicals in michigan as well. when it comes to mississippi voter who identify as independents who made up 20% of the vote, trump took nearly half of them.

senator marco rubio is now pinning his hopes on his home state of florida after failing to pick up a single delegate in mississippi and michigan last night. and finishing a disstacht third in idaho. while the rubio campaign has yet to spend money in the sunshine state they'll receive some help. "the washington post" reports that the billionaire backed conservative solutions super pac is hitting florida with an $11.3 milli $11.3 million blitz of tv ads in hopes he can make up grabs before the winner take all primary on march 15th. the super pac has reported spending more than $53 million in total so far. ohio governor john kasich celebrated his third-place finish in michigan last night. kasich led much of the night, but with 97% of the vote in kasich trails senator ted cruz by fewer than 8,000 votes. kasich had predicted a strong finish in mississippi but fell to third, tell -- still well

ahead of marco rubio. kasich effectively wrote off rubio's candidacy, referring to just the three of us vying for delegates. >> with the contest going forward, the three of us competing for the delegates that remain, we are in a virtual dead heat among those who have yet to decide. just wait one week from tonight. we are going to win the state of ohio and it will be a whole new ball game. >> now earlier in the day the ohio governor seemed to be happy to be back in his home state, theatrically kissing the ground during a rally in broad view heights. still winless, a loss for kasich in next week's primary, that could mean the end of his campaign. the man accused of shooting an idaho pastor outside of his church on sunday is in custody this morning. kyle odom was arrested in the nation's capital more than 2,000

miles away from the shooting scene. odom was apprehended by secret service after authorities say he threw objects over the white house fence. police in idaho say the objects included documents and a computer flash drive. nbc's station khq of spokane and other media outlets report receiving a manifesto from odom. in the 30 page document, odom calls pastor tim remington the man who was shot a martian and a quote, member of an ancient civilization from mars. odom had a history of mental illness, police said. remington was shot six times on sunday. it happen addae after he delivered a prayer at a campaign rally for ted cruz. no official connection has been made between the shooting and the rally. overseas, an american tourist was killed when a palestinian man went on a stabbing rampage in israel yesterday. the victim is 28-year-old taylor

force, a u.s. army veteran who was enrolled in the mba program from vanderbilt. a stabbing spree in the neighborhood of jaffa left four dead and ten other people wounded. state department spokesman john kirby has condemned the attacks. the stabbing took place the same day that vice president joe biden was scheduled to meet with former israeli president, shimon perez. and in a tweet he said, there's no justification for such acts of terror. force had deployed to iraq and afghanistan and he was a west point graduate. iraq is flexing its muscle in the wake of the nuclear deal with the u.s. and other world powers. the regime test fired two ballistic missiles with the phrase, israel must be wiped out written on them. the u.s. state department says washington would review the incident and would seek an appropriate response. if confirmed the launch would

not be a violation of the nuclear agreement, however, the head of centcom said at a senate hearing said that the agreement has not deterred iran militarily. the world is mourning the loss of sir george martin. he's better nope as the fifth beatle, he died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 90. news of his death first emerged in the tweet from ringo starr and was later confirmed by martin's management. he signed the beatles to parlaphone records when others turned him down. he would guide the beatles from their first meeting in 1962 until the band broke up in 1970. during his seven decade career, he produced all but one of their albums and went on to produce artists including elton john, celine dion and jeff beck. an endorsement from way out of right field. we'll tell you the latest pro

athlete to pitch for donald trump. plus, more stormy weather set to hit the south. the threat of flash flooding and possibly more tornadoes. the latest on the severe weather next on "way too early." constipated?

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we have another special man. paul o'neill of the yankees. stand up, paul. paul. in fact, paul, you come -- you originally come from ohio, right? oh, you. paul o'neill of the yankees. hey, paul, you come from ohio? do you endorse me? i love you. thank you, paul. thank you. wow. that's a great endorsement from ohio. >> donald trump showing some love for former yankee outfielder paul o'neill. after appearing with the sports icon in ohio -- and ohio native at his election night rally. the four time world series champion would be the latest on

a long list of professional athletes who have endorsed trump for president including john daly, nascar's michael waltrip and former nba star dennis rodman. even legendary chicago bears coach mike ditka said last week he's probably voting for trump. at the very least o'neill joins bill belichick and quarterback tom brady on the list of sports icons who are considered friends of the republican front-runner. in other sports headlines, a big announcement from one of the nfl's most talented receivers. reports have been confirmed, calvin johnson is hanging up the cleats. he released a statement from the team yesterday. nicknamed the megatron, he played nine seasons in the league. in that time, accumulated 15 nfl records including the mark for the most receiving yards in a single season back in 2012. johnson said in the statement, he will not hold a news conference to discuss the

decision. finally, there's lots of buzz at royals spring training in arizona. we're not talking about a return trip to the world series, at least not yet. a swarm of bees outside the kansas city dugout threatened to delay yesterday's game against the rockies. but with some help from a retired beekeeper and royals fan, and royals fan who came out of the stands to aid with the removal, things returned to normal after the top of the third inning. let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> such a contrast, the east coast will see record high temperatures bawl of the struggles are texas, louisiana and arkansas. let me show you the pictures from yesterday's devastation. these people had to be rescued here. this is denton, texas. the water rose quickly with the thunderstorms that produced about two to three inches of rain an hour. then when the storms rolled through dallas, this was near stephenville, this could have easily been a deadly situation.

thankfully we don't have any fatalities, but a lot of wind damage there. there was a tornado that went through the toler area. then around dallas and ft. worth, you dealt with extreme winds. right during the peak of the morning rush hour yesterday. look at the video that came in from saginaw. so this morning not so much devier weather. but a ton of rain. this is what i was afraid of. the thunderstorms have sat overnight in same positions all night long. we have flash flood warnings for many areas around shreveport, austin was under a flash flood warning. that's been lifted. the thunderstorms continue this morning so this is a lot of moisture in the area. and we're just getting torrential rains. shreveport here is under a flash flood warning right now. that's going to continue until about 8:00 or 9:00 this morning. around greenville, mississippi, we're under a flash flood warning. water rescues are ongoing right now, which means there are fire departments out there with their boats going and rescuing people from their homes where the water

is very high in northern louisiana and northeast texas. 20 million people under the floodwater. another four to eight inches is possible. this area of yellow here, that's seven inches of rainfall from little rock southwards to lake charles. get the flash flooding and then we're dealing with river flooding through the weekend. that's major itself. a slight risk of severe weather from houston over to new orleans. 75 in new york city. nor 80 in washington, d.c. and cherry blossoms are moving up two weeks because of this warm spell. looks like we'll hit our cherry blossoms mid march which is very early. >> wow, good news for us, but thoughts for everyone down there with that severe weather. thanks a lot, bill. still ahead, mitt romney reads mean tweets. plus, hulk hogan takes the stand in his $100 million sex tape trial against the website gawker. what he says when video of him and the wife of his former best friend was leaked. "way too early" is back in a moment. the future belongs to the fast. and to help you accelerate, we've created a new company...

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now let's get a check on the morning's other headlines and for that we head to the control room up in new york and louis burgdorf. >> hulk hogan testified for a second time yesterday in his $100 million lawsuit against gawker. now, hogan is suing the website for invasion of privacy. he claims to have suffered humiliation and personal setbacks after the online news outlet posted a secretly recorded sex tape of hogan and the wife of his then best friend.

>> when the video came out, it just totally flipped my world upside down. and i just remember going days without being able to sleep. >> in court, hogan appearing under his legal name terry bollea explained how he has tried to separate his personal life from his wrestling persona. lawyers for gawker claim hogan made his sex life a a puck lib matter. and the first artistic director of rapping is q-tip. he is expected to perform at the kennedy center in d.c. former massachusetts governor mitt romney stopped by jimmy kimmel live to talk about his fight to stop donald trump from winning the republican nomination. he capped off the interview to a

reading of mean tweets. >> mitt romney had his chance and blew it. lindsey graham ran for president, got zero and quit. why are they speaking out against me. sad. got zero. the only people i know who got zero are those who paid 25 grand to be at trump university. @mitt romney equals loser that's true, actually, i lost. you may not have noticed. who are you anyway and by the way, where do you buy the shoe polish you wear in your hair? @trump 2016, i buy it at costco in bulk. @cheddar biscuit. i'd pay good money to watch mitt romney crying in a ball pit at chuck e. cheese. >> how much? >> how much?

that's the right question. something tells me that cheddar biscuit may have had personal experience doing that. >> jonathan, nice to see mitt romney having fun there. >> i know. it's great. that mitt romney you can enjoy. >> definitely. >> thanks a lot, louis. that does it for me and "way too early." coming up on "morning joe," trump notches three more victories in four contests on the republican side. the front-runner joins joe and mika live this morning. "morning joe" is just moments away. those who speak in cliches and think in them. it's time for something cliche proof. can't put it in like that... ... you have to rinse it first. that's baked- on alfredo. baked-on? it's never gonna work. dish issues?

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we started off to 17, we're down to four. of the four, they're pretty much all gone. pretty much. they didn't do so well tonight, folks. i'm not going to say anybody didn't do well. they didn't do well. there's only one person did well tonight, donald trump. i will tell you. it's true. >> let me tell you what some in the media may not know. that is in almost all of the national polls we beat donald trump and we beat him by big