you're not compelled to say anything. but you have the opportunity to do so. >> i'll tell you again, i respect this court, but i'm innocent. i would never under any circumstances hurt my wife maggie, and i would never under any circumstances hurt my son pau-pau. >> and it might not have been you. it might have been the monster you become when you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid pills. maybe you become another person. i've seen that before. the person standing before me was not the person who committed the crime, though it's the same

individual. we'll leave that at that. before announcing sentence on these cases, with regard to all of the other pending cases, are any of them here in colleton, i'm sure some of them are. >> yes, sir. >> half of them or? >> i don't have that in front of me, but there are a substantial number of charges here, buford's, allendale, there may be others i'm not thinking of right now. >> we might have warn out our welcome here. they have been and i'll take this opportunity to thank sheriff hill and all of the court officials and really everyone i've met and dealt with while here in colleton county,

just been great. without any delay we're going to schedule some of the other matters. i know mr. harpootlian's scheduling is complicated and you've sacrificed quite a bit to be able to be here defending mr. murdaugh as well as the attorney general's office with all the other many, many they thinks and obligations you have and to be able to have the attorney general here, alan wilson, for the period of time that he's devoted to being here along with everyone else, it's been quite a sacrifice. there are other victims whose cases deserve to be heard, and this case has jumped some of

those other cases, perhaps jumped it because of the -- this case resulting in an assault on the integrity of the judicial system in our state, law enforcement in our state. even during this trial the law enforcement had been maligned for the past five or six weeks by one who had access to -- to the wheels of justice to be able to deflect the investigation, and as the evidence has pointed

out in this case, the looming storm that mr. waters talked about, i can just imagine on that day june 7 when a lawyer is confronted and confesses to having stolen over a half a million dollars from a client and he has a tiger like mark tinsley on his tail pursuing discovery in a case involving the death of mallory beach and having a father for the most part on his death bed, i could imagine or really can't imagine, i know it had to be quite a bit going through your mind on that

day. but amazingly, to have you come and testify that it was just another ordinary day that my wife and son and i were out just enjoying life. not credible. not believable. you can convince yourself about it, but obviously you have the inability to convince anyone else about that. so if you made any such arguments as a lawyer, you would lose every case like that, cases you will never have an opportunity to argue anymore except perhaps your own as you sit in the department of

corrections. the nothing further? >> no, sir. >> mr. murdaugh, i sentence you to the state department of corrections on each of the murder indictments in the murder of your wife, maggie murdaugh, i sentence you for a term of the rest of your natural life. for the murder of paul murdaugh, whom you probably love so much, i sentence you to prison for murdering him for the rest of your natural life. those sentences will run consecutive. under the statute involving possession of the weapon during a violent crime there is no sentence where a life sentence is imposed on other indictments.

that is the sentence of the court, and you are remanded to the state department of corrections. and officers may carry forth on the imposition. >> yes, sir. >> may we approach? >> yes, sir. >> everybody, we have been listening to a blistering sentencing statement from judge clifton newman here in this south carolina courtroom in walterboro, now convicted murderer and former disgraced south carolina lawyer alex murdaugh convicted to two life

sentences for the murders of his wife and son to be served consecutively. joining me right now outside the courthouse is nbc's ellison barber and state attorney for palm beach county florida is joining me on set. alex murdaugh just released into the department of corrections. ellison, so much leading us up to this moment. i can't help but think this sentencing statement really culminates the weeks we have been hearing here. everything this judge was saying is quotable from the tiger on his tail and discovery of the mallory beach case, to his father on his death bed, how he's testifying it was just an ordinary day and how if he were to argue that in any of his legal cases he would lose every one and he will never have the opportunity to do that. to ellison, one of the most striking moments of that in which the judge saidky imagine you see paul and maggie when you go to sleep, i would imagine they visit you. you have to deal with your own

lies within your soul. here, let's go ahead and listen in to the judge again. >> order was issued and for the most part it's been complied with except for the jury leaving the courtroom yesterday or not the jury, but the defendant leaving the courtroom while the jury was still seated. protecting the identity of the jurors is certainly extremely important during the course of the trial to ensure that no one makes contact with the jury or attempts to influence the jury. jurors have a right to continue their privacy beyond their jury service, but they're not obligated to do so, and it would not surprise me if jurors choose

to come forward and to speak, and they're encouraged to do so if that is their desire, i have no problem whatsoever with the jurors unmasking themselves and speaking freely with the media because they have undergone a life changing experience. >> all right, everybody, we are going to continue to monitor what happens inside this courtroom. but i want to bring back ellison and dave here with me. so ellison, i was talking about just the striking statements and the judge's sentencing talking about paul and maggie visiting alec, but also i think one thing that has struck all of us here is maybe some emotion that we're seeing from john marvin, his brother, relatively lack of emotion from buster. no emotion from alex murdaugh. >> reporter: yeah, and you think of who the victims are in this case, right? paul murdaugh, maggie murdaugh, their family is in that courtroom. anyone who has been impacted by this, any victim of the defendant in south carolina has a right to address the court and

give a statement, sounded like no one wanted to speak out on behalf of maggie and paul. there were no victim statements today, but you heard the judge say to alex murdaugh after he stood up and again said, your honor, i am innocent. i would never hurt my wife maggie. i would never hurt pau-pau. he kept maintaining that as the judge said at one point it might not have been you. it might have been the monster you've become. the judge talking about how he had to order the removal of a portrait of alex murdaugh's grandfather from that courtroom so he could have a fair trial. the state could have sought the death penalty in this case. they chose not to referencing that, the judge said as i look around this courtroom, i respect the state's decision not to pursue the death penalty, but i look around this courtroom and i think of the fact that your family for a century has tried cases here, and they have

probably sentenced people to death for lesser crimes than this. this has been a long trial, six weeks, over 70 witnesses testifying, hundreds and hundreds of pages of documents. alex murdaugh did not admit being at the kennels around the time his wife and son were murdered until he took the stand to testify some 20 months after that first night of the murders when he first told investigators he was not there. the judge bringing that up after alex murdaugh claimed on the stand he had reached out to the prosecution to try to clarify that. reminding him of something you and i have talked about the, you and i have looked at in the documents in recent weeks. he and his attorneys filed a motion in alibi to the court in november, the idea that he had wanted to change his story to stop lying about being at the kennels at some point, it defies logic on its face for everyone regardless of what you thought

should or would happen in this trial, and the judge zeroing in on that and saying bigger picture. i know who you are. you have tried cases before me. i have seen you out and about in legal circles. you were a respected member of this community, and now i've seen you make this duplicitous turn. he said to him, the jury 80 plus percent of people they all think you have lied, you have lied, you have lied. the question for you is when will it end. when he asked him to comment on some of his own testimony when he said, oh, what a tangled web we weave when he was asked about why he first lied about being down at the kennel and why he kept lying -- >> i'm so sorry to interrupt you. we're looking at a live picture, dick harpootlian, one has to wonder what they're talking about and discussing. there's a shaking of the hands, cordiality, even slight smiles here. one has to wish they could be a

fly on the wall this this courtroom. >> all these people know each other, right? there's a lot of interconnectedness in south carolina. my family is from florence, south carolina. i went to school in this state, spartanburg, south carolina, it's not hard to find someone who knows someone here because so many of these communities, particularly in this part of south carolina, are so small. these are all people who do know each other or know of each other, and this has been a very tense, long trial, but you see- yeah, you see everyone seemingly kind of talk and make their way out of here. we do expect an appeal from the defense on this. that's one reason why the judge said to alex murdaugh he wouldn't expect him to say anything other than being innocent, but he did expect him to say something more than what he said in court today, which again was just him repeating i'm innocent. i would not hurt my wife maggie, i would not hurt pau-pau, and that's the language he kept

saying and that's the language he used on the stands saying i would never intentionally hurt them. i did not do this. >> stick around for us, please, we have some of that from alex murdaugh's statement right here in court before he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. let's listen. >> judge, i'll tell you again, i respect this court, but i'm innocent. i would never under any circumstances hurt my wife maggie, and i would never under any circumstances hurt my son pau-pau. >> per ellison's point, dave aronberg, you and i were listening to that, you told me he keeps lying. and to ellison's point we expect that he will appeal. we expect maybe appealing on the grounds of those financial crimes that were allowed in, which he admitted to on the stand. but the judge even today saying when will it end? when will the lies end? >> the judge gave him a chance to finally come clean at the end before his sentencing and he

refused to do so. a liar is going to continue lying. that's his m.o. a con man's going to con. and then you can see he got the full sentence, and the defendant here, alec, was playing for the appeal. he knew that this judge was going to give him two life sentences no matter what he said, so he was playing for the appeal. he's also playing for his family name. i think the reason why he went to trial and admitted all the financial crimes was because he was okay being labeled a crook, but he did not want to be labeled a family anighlator, a murderer. he's going to keep that secret until his grave. the problem is it's not really a secret anymore. >> let's talk about the death penalty. ellison was saying the prosecution wasn't pushing for that, but even in that courtroom, even with murdaugh's trying cases people have been convicted of the death penalty for less. >> you'd be surprised that in south carolina, a very conservative state, the last time they executed someone was in 2011. so it's rare and here you have

someone who is an upstanding member of the community, at least was, and so i think the prosecutors there decided that it would complicate things. it would be additional paperwork. you have to get the jury to be qualified for the death penalty, and they wouldn't get it anyways. and the fact is they've had trouble getting the death penalty in the last decade in south carolina. but you see the judge, look, we have seen the death penalty for less than this, so this is another example in the judge's mind of murdaugh's privilege. >> let's talk about the victim statements, the lack of victim statements here. the two victims this this case, paul and maggie are no longer with us. we've seen throughout the trial too, the support of buster murdaugh, of john marvin, of members of alex murdaugh's family. did it strike you that nobody spoke today for victim statements? >> yeah, a little bit. this is a chance for victims to finally speak up. you know, the victims are not here, and others who have been affected i think just knew he

was going to get a life sentence and just decided they were done with him. but yeah, this is the chance for anyone who's involved in the case to finally have their say. it's the only time. i was a little surprised. i was more surprised, though, that alex said so little. i thought at least he would throw himself on the mercy of the court. he would apologize to the community for everything he put them through and be vague, not to cop to anything but just a general apology. he didn't do that. he doubled down on his lies and it was shameful, but that's who this guy is. >> let's hear a little bit about how the judge characterized alex's character. >> amazingly, to have you come and testify that it was just another ordinary day, that my wife and son and i were out just enjoying life, not credible. not believable. >> talk to me about that, i mean, as we've mentioned, we know that he and his team are

going to appeal. talk to me about his standing not only in terms of the financial crimes that he admitted to on the stand and whether those could stand muster in an appeal here. one could argue that the financial crimes may have been helpful for the defense because maybe jurors would have a tough time assigning motive. because everything's going to come crashing down, i'm going to kill my wife and son, but also about the fact that he has been impeached as a credible witness. >> by taking the stand it hurt his cause. it gave prosecutors an additional motive. you were hopped up on opioids. you admitted that it makes you paranoid and energized so it's very plausible you committed murder. the judge referred to that. so i think that actually hurt him. >> it makes you paranoid to talk to police, but doesn't make you paranoid to do something this drastic. >> that's one reason the jury rejected him.

one reason the jury was repulsed by him. it's one thing to lie to investigators, it's another thing to lie to your family. but it's even worse to lie to the jury and the judge. that's why this judge showed such contempt. when you saw him walk out, alex out of the courthouse yesterday in handcuffs, you saw an image of the jury for the first time, and they couldn't even look at him. >> and you weren't supposed to. >> you weren't supposed to. they referred to that in the clip. they wouldn't even look at him, they were so repulsed by this guy, and rightfully so. >> which was interesting. we had heard some anecdotes from the court that some jurors almost seemed like they were connecting with him. they were crying. one passed him a tissue box. in the end we know that they did convict him. >> they were crying with him, two of the jurors, last thursday but friday was very different. friday the prosecution went after alec. they were much sharper. you saw a different alex murdaugh, select memory, and he

was not likable on that friday, and i think that was a huge difference because all it takes is one juror to have reasonable doubt and it's a hung jury. in the end it was unanimous and a quick verdict. >> let's go ahead and listen, one of the jurors spoke to abc news, let's listen to some of that. >> so it took basically 45 minutes for you guys to come to a decision. >> probably about 45, maybe an hour. >> that's really fast. >> the evidence was clear. >> what made you so sure that he had? >> his responses, how quick he was with the defense and his lies, steady lies. >> did you feel like he was a liar? >> a good liar, not good enough. >> i mean, there's so much that we can analyze here with this juror's interview with abc news. the fact nine jurors believed

guilt right away. they took a poll when they went into the deliberation room. that's what we all want to know. two of them thought maybe innocent. one was unsure. it took about 45 minutes for the majority to convince the others. the video, yes, placing his voice at the kennels a few minutes before prosecutors say the murders occurred, but him getting on that stand and saying, yes, i've been lying all the way up until this point. we heard the judge talking about that alibi statement as recent as november where he was still lying about his alibi. there's so many things we can dissect and pick apart. >> there were so many holes in his story. he said he was paranoid on opioids. that's why he lied. but not paranoid enough to kill, right? he said that he was threatened by state law enforcement, that he felt paranoid towards them, didn't trust them, but he started lying at the time of the 911 call before he was ever a suspect. >> right, i was at my mom's, what was it, 90 minutes and i didn't see -- iner went to the kennels after we had dinner,

which we now know was a lie. >> when he called 911, he was calling police. police were not calling him. he was a suspect. here's a guy who loved police. he was a former prosecutor. he would have his badge hanging out of his pocket, so people would see it. he installed blue lights in his car. does that sound like someone who's paranoid of law enforcement? quite the opposite. >> let's talk to ellison barber who is outside the courthouse right now. we're hearing and seeing people stream out of that courthouse. what's the mood on the ground? >> reporter: there are lot of people who have come for days to see this trial. the attendants picked up a lot when alex murdaugh took the stand. we are expecting to hear from murdaugh's defense team. yesterday when his defense attorney, one of them, jim griffin who delivered the closing remarks on behalf of the defense team, was leaving court he told reporters that they were disappointed in the verdict but would not have a comment until after sentencing.

so soon shortly any minute now we are expecting to possibly hear something from them. this morning, lindsey, i was around the back of the courthouse. that's where murdaugh comes in every morning. today was different than the other days. when he arrived he was not in plain clothes. he can continue to say he is innocent. in the eyes of the state, of this juror, he is a convicted murderer and when he arrived to the courthouse he was dressed like one. he was in a tan jumpsuit. his hands were shackled and they were attached to his feet and they were also shackled. he was wearing, you know, these orange slip on shoes as he sort of shuffled in. a bunch of different reporters shouted out to ask if he had anything to say. he didn't. he made his way in. soon he will be on his way to the state department of corrections. we've been told he will likely spend his term, his sentence either in a state prison in

columbia or nearby charleston, south carolina. >> dave, throughout this trial we have been hearing a lot of criticism for both sides, prosecution and the defense. and of course people playing armchair quarterback. a lot of people poking holes in the defense especially what they called a shoddy investigation job by s.l.e.d. it was the south carolina attorney general who said ultimately alex murdaugh getting on the stand in his own defense is what did him in in their belief. let's listen to that. >> what do you think was the state's most persuasive piece of evidence that led to this conviction? >> alex murdaugh. i think he was our biggest piece of evidence when he took the stand, i think that was fatal for him ultimately. obviously he had created a web of lies for over a decade that led to this culminating point in this trial. >> so when we have what the prosecution would call the gathering storm, when we take

that into consideration with the cell phone data, the fact that it showed alex whereabouts, the gm onstar data also putting him at the house right before at the time -- remember, this was prior to him taking the stand when he was still maintaining his innocence, and he was never there, and then we had that snapchat video where we heard his voice minutes before, i believe it was five minutes before prosecution says they were killed or at least that their phones had locked for the last time. do you agree that that's what it was that finally did it for the jury? >> yes, yes, the videos were damning. video showing he had different clothes. >> daytime snapchat video where alex was at the tree and he was wearing a blue shirt and khaki pants which i believe to this day have never been found. >> the clothes have never been found, the guns have never been found. and also on this stand he gave this preposterous story that it had to be 5'2" hitman who came

onto his property when alex wasn't there but his son and wife were there. they didn't bring their own guns. they didn't have weapons. they borrowed the family's guns. it didn't make sense. i want to give a hat trick to bubba, bubba helped solve this crime. had the dog not had the chicken in his mouth, then you would never have heard alex's voice on the recording and that is what did him in. without that recording, i don't know if they would have had a conviction. alec had taken care of everything. he planned this. he had two separate guns. he had a change of clothes. he had a fake alibi. what he didn't plan for is that short video that his son took minutes before the murders. >> when we think about -- okay, ellison barber, david aronberg, thank you, we're going to leave it there for right now. appreciate all of your analysis. ellison our thanks as well on the ground. still ahead, a fiery town hall in east palestine, ohio, where folks are demanding answers and accountability from the train company's representative over the toxic train derailment.

plus, look at this video, people in california still trying to dig themselves out of snow in the san bernardino mountains, inside the emergency there that has left people stuck. we are back in just 60 seconds. stuck. we are back in just 60 seconds homequote explorer makes it easy to compare home insurance options. man...i told my wife i'd be in here for hours. what do we do now? we live... ♪♪ save time and money with progressive's homequote explorer. what you do afterwards, is up to you. oh, whoa, i was actually just thinking i would take a nap. pretty tired. okay. (vo) with verizon, you can now get a private 5g network. so you can do more than connect your business, you can make it even smarter. now ports can know where every piece of cargo is.

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night's town hall? >> reporter: yeah, lindsey, we learned from the epa that they were in the process of going through approval, which they said could have happened last night. we're waiting for final word on if this has, in fact, happened yet. when this approval goes through, we're told that norfolk southern will begin to temporarily remove train tracks and dig up soil to excavate and get rid of contaminated substances there. this is one of several issues that concerned residents at this town hall last night, another event for that community, where emotions were running high. >> overnight, emotions and anger running high in east palestine. >> don't lie to us! >> residents sharing health and financial worries at a tense town hall demanding answers from government officials and getting a rare opportunity to grill a representative from norfolk southern itself. >> we are sorry. we're very sorry for what happened. we feel horrible about it. >> if you care about us, get our

grandkids out of here now, get our children out. >> has there been any talk about looking? >> there has not. >> reporter: residents questioning why norfolk's southern ceo's failed to show up. >> where's alan? >> facing criticism of his own, president biden reversing course now saying he plans to visit east palestine. >> i've spoken with every official in ohio, democrat and republican on a continuous basis. >> reporter: it comes as east palestine braces for a new phase of cleanup leaving some residents concerned. >> it's scary. it is absolutely scary. >> reporter: the environmental protection agency says once it approves norfolk southern's plan, the railroad as early as today could start temporarily removing train tracks and digging up contaminated soil. >> once we open the ground there could be potential vapor releases and odors. engineering controls will be put into place. >> reporter: the federal agency is also ordering norfolk southern to test for toxic

pollutants that may have been released during the derailment and chemical burn. meanwhile, federal investigators reveelg they're looking at how melted aluminum from tank cars may have compromised safety after the derailment. the search for answers ongoing as residents fear they're getting the run-around from the railroad and the government. >> did this help? >> absolutely not. we're still not getting answers. >> reporter: there are some changes already underway. the association of american railroads says seven major freight railroads including norfolk southern have signed on to a voluntary federal system that allows railroad employees to confidentially report close calls. this is coming as we expect next week to hear from the ceo of norfolk southern. he is set to testify, according to a source that confirmed to nbc news that the ceo of norfolk southern is expected to testify on capitol hill next week. lindsey, back to you. >> i can feel the emotion and

anxiety in those people's voices. let's bring in the dean of the university of pittsburgh school of public health. she's also worked for nearly two decades with the federal agency for toxic substances and disease registry and worked on disease prevention after the deep water oil spill. thank you for being with us. we just heard from jesse this plan from norfolk southern to remove tracks and begin excavating soil. right now residents do not like that plan. they are worried. how should all of this be handled? >> i'm glad you mentioned where i previously work and i'm glad you mentioned also the hurricane katrina. there are important lessons learned. one is that communities must be at the center of everything that's being done. the second is that worry and mental health effects are real, as real as physical effects. recovery takes a very long time

and goes long beyond and far beyond this hazardous substances. and communication and coordination is key, and so all the lessons that we've learned after hurricane katrina and hurricane -- the oil spill, seems like they haven't been learned. residents are worried about not only one chemical, but they're worried about a mixture of chemicals. residents are worried about what's already in the soil, what the's in the surface water, what might be in the drinking water, and what will be in their homes. and so those worries cannot be addressed by one sample, one check point, those worries have to be addressed over time. >> those chemicals that were created during that controlled burn. doctor, if we have these residents who understandably are worried and upset about the environment they're living in right now, we heard them at the

town hall asking has there been any talk of relocating people? how should norfolk southern and the epa here, all of these different agencies respond? >> this is a public health issue, so public health needs to respond, not only looking at exposures now and health effects now, but exposures now and health effects much later, have to measure what's in the environment including what's in people's homes as well as what's happening in people's bodies. those kind of studies have to take time and will be over time as well as many years after the exposure. for example, vinyl chloride is known to be a cancer-causing agent. so cancer takes a long time to develop, 10, 20, sometimes 30 years, and so it's really important to measure the adverse

impacts over time long after the exposure and the train derailment has faded. >> how infuriating. thank you for your time. we hope you'll come back and talk to us about this. >> thank you. coming up next, golf ball sized hail and reports of tornados, we'll have an update on the extreme weather ripping across the south. this is what some of the folks in the san bernardino mountains in california are dealing with after walloping winter weather. i'll talk to someone still digging himself out.

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have been reported, hundreds of flights in and out of dallas were either canceled or delayed. nbc meteorologist angie lassman is timing it out. where are the biggest trouble spots? >> a lot of people are going to have trouble over the next 24 hours. much of that focus towards the eastern half of the country. last night we started to see this line of intense storms developing, texas where we saw winds up to 80 miles an hour, reports of tornados. today it's continued to march its way to the east. this system isn't just severe weather, though. of course there's many impacts. they include things like winter weather alerts that extend into parts of the great lakes and into the northeast. the flood alerts with ample amounts of rain expected to work through and are already working through parts of the ohio valley and extending to missouri. we have a tornado watch in effect for a couple of more hours here. this i expect to continue marching to the east. et potential for tornados is there.

it's not as impressive as it was yesterday, but it is not zero, so staying connected on this through the afternoon if you live in the southeast is going to be important. notice the snow working into parts of the great lakes and northeast. those are some areas that will deal with not just snow, a wintry mix, rain as well. here's the bull's-eye for the severe weather. we'll watching for 32 million people at risk for this through the afternoon. >> thank you so much, appreciate it. in southern california, some communities are still trying to dig themselves out after a wave of monster snow storms. the california national guard is on the ground to help stranded residents after governor newsom declared a state of emergency for several counties. officials say it could take more than a week to reach some people buried in as much as 7 feet of snow. joining me mike mcclintock, and lake arrowhead resident who's been stuck in his home for the last week. let's talk about your rescue efforts here, how you guys have been working around the clock to

help people. what's the latest? >> yeah, we've been working around the clock for the last week after more than ten feet of snow black et some of our mountain communities. our firefighters are up staffed, staffing more than eight snow cat apparatus, which are our specially tracked apparatus that allows us to get to hard to reach areas due to unplowed roads. we continue to respond 24 hours a day responding to even some structure fires in the lake arrowhead area. we have more than 300 boots on the ground working feverishly to clear snow, help our county roads and our state resources really get kind of the infrastructure back going so we can start the recovery process. >> benji, i believe where you are is sort of a county island where your services come from san bernardino county. talk to us about how you got to the position you're in. we're going to show viewers pictures of snow you've been dealing with. how have you guys been faring? >> well, you know, this isn't our first storm, it probably

won't be our last. we've definitely never seen anything like this. so when we heard the storm was coming, we prepared as much as we could, but we knew we had to hunker down. so we've never seen so much snowfall so fast. and we've spent all day shoveling and snow blowing and trying to protect our property from debt collapse and keep the doorways open and moving and in the event that our street does one day get cleared, which it hasn't in over a week, we wanted to keep our driveway active. so everyone around is feeling back pain from all the snow removal and efforts to try to maintain their property and, you know, stay ahead of it. >> good spirits all around, benji, good attitude there. when you hear stuff like this, i mean, obviously it's -- you know, it's tough. you try to help everybody,

you're working as fast as you can. you're getting some help from the california natural resources agency fire department. they've committed about 255 crew members to you guys. how helpful has that been, and what else do you need? >> absolutely. we've cleared more than 7 million cubic feet of snow, which is unprecedented. you know, we have more than 3 to 400 firefighters working around the clock with our folks from local and state and county agencies clearing snow. so i think that, you know, the help from our local agencies and our state agency has been really helpful for a county to fete really get back on the road. we've been running hundreds of incidents as well on the fire department side. >> benji hoping you have enough supplies so you can stay hunkered town. but have you heard anything about when things might get cleared for you? >> that's the big question is when will the roads be open, when can we get back to the grocery store. we are faring fine here. the power has remained on

consistently, which is actually a surprising thing because in the past storms definitely bring power outages pretty frequently. so we're happy about that. we're comfortable. we've had opportunity along the way to, you know, pack up and leave with breaks in the storm early on as the snow was falling, the roads were passable enough, but we decided we wanted to experience and actually now that hopefully we're on the tail end of it we're kind of having the time of our lives sledding and being in the snow and just experiencing, you know, this unique time in nature. >> obviously a serious situation for some. i love that spirit of making the best, making lemonade when life gives you lemons. mike mcclintock, best of luck to you, and benji, thanks so much for joining us and talking about what you've been going through. appreciate both of you. >> thanks. tennessee's governor just signed the first of its kind law restricting drag performances. the larger ramifications of the

push and the penalties for breaking that law. plus, cpac in full swing with the likes of marjorie taylor green and matt gaetz speaking to fellow conservatives this morning, but does this event still hold sway for the gop? >> what does it say about you being here versus the likes of a mitch mcconnell or even a kevin mccarthy? >> well, if you keep going down the line, you're going to name enough names where i'd say, well, i'm not a rino, and that's why i'm here. y i'm here business. unlimited premium data. unlimited hotspot data. (woman 2) you know it's from the most reliable 5g network in america? (vo) when it comes to your business, not all bars are created equal. so switch to verizon business unlimited today. next on behind the series... let me tell you about the greatest roster ever assembled. the monster, the outlaw... and you can't forget about the boss. sometimes- you just want to eat your heroes. the subway series. the greatest menu of all time. big pharma has been unfairly charging people

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there's new momentum this morning in the intensifying gop campaign against drag queens. tennessee's republican governor bill lee has now signed the first law in the u.s. restricting drag performances in public or in front of children. the new legislation classifies, quote, male or female impersonators as adult cabaret entertainment and restricts it to adults only venues. the law is set to go into effect april 1st. multiple offenses could result in up to six years in prison. nbc's antonia hylton has more from nashville. >> reporter: good morning. just yesterday tennessee governor bill lee signed senate bill 3 into law. this makes tennessee the first state to pass a law of this nature that is going to restrict drag performances in public and in any place where a kid might be able to see them. the lawmakers who work on this say that it's all about

protecting children from overly sexualized adult cabaret performances, but the people who work in this space, the performers, the business owners say that the lgbtq community here has been targeted and that it's no coincidence that this law is passing at a time when lawmakers here in tennessee work on other measures to ban health care for trans youth or to allow teachers to, for example, not use the pronouns that a child requests that they use. and here the community is grappling with this and trying to figure out how businesses here in nashville and in other parts of the state are going to function under this new statute. i got to sit down with the senator jack johnson who wrote this legislation and worked on it for months, and here's what . >> the only signal i'm trying to send is that you shouldn't be doing sexually graphic, you shouldn't be simulating sex acts in front of children. that's the message i'm trying to send. i believe you should be able to live your life in any way you want. but the state of tennessee has a compelling interest to protect

children. >> reporter: already civil rights organizations and first amendment lawyers are working to challenge this law here in tennessee. and keeping an eye on almost a dozen other bills that are moving through states that are very similar to this one. so, while this law here in tennessee goes into effect on april 1st, the fight is far from over. back to you. >> our thanks to antona hylton. it is a big weekend with the cpac conference in full swing and candidates including donald trump and nikki haley looking to rally the base with speeches there. there are some notable absences from cpac. ronna mcdaniel isn't there, neither is mike pence or the person many believe could pose the toughest challenge to trump in the presidential primary, florida governor ron desantis. joining us from the convention in national harbor, maryland, is nbc's vaughn hillyard. busy behind you. you've been chatting with people, we saw a little bit of your conversation with sarah palin who have you been talking to, what have they been saying? >> reporter: right. this is an active scene here.

you got marjorie taylor greene who i just talked to here in the hallways of cpac, matt gaetz is on stage, you have lauren boebert here later, kari lake, nikki haley, mike pompeo, a lot of speakers back to back to back. i want to take you to see what cpac looks like from our viewpoint. take a listen. >> we are at the 2023 cpac! yes! >> reporter: this place, cpac used to be conservatives weekend out. it was annual gathering for the who's who of across the republican party. >> the conservative movement is alive and well. >> reporter: george h.w. bush made the rounds here, george w. bush and john mccain. mitt romney and paul ryan too. >> i don't see this great divide in our party. what i see is a vibrant debate. >> reporter: but the rise of donald trump has changed these halls. >> trump, trump, trump, trump!

>> reporter: nikki haley, pompeo, tom cruz are here. what does it say from the trump team's perspective about governor desantis not being here? >> i think the absence speaks volumes. i know who is going to show up because he does every time, which is president trump. >> reporter: also not, mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy. what does it say about you being here versus the likes of a mitch mcconnell or even a kevin mccarthy? >> well, if you keep going down the line, you're going to name enough names where i would say, well, i'm not a rino and that's why i'm here. >> reporter: other members of congress are. how has cpac changed since the rise of donald trump? >> well, look, cpac is always raucous and wonderful. there is electricity to it. i think there has been more of an electricity. >> reporter: other republicans including speaker mccarthy are not here. you are here. why are you at cpac? >> are you kidding me? these are the activists of our party. we can't do anything without them. >> reporter: there are presidential candidates you maybe haven't heard about. perry johnson one of them. you got a shot for 2024?

>> i wouldn't be here otherwise. >> reporter: this is media row. they're all right wing outlets. >> it is have politically biased. >> single best news source in the conference. >> reporter: cpac is grassroots? >> yes, it is grassroots. >> reporter: the attendees here, largely remaining trump loyalists. why are we at cpac? >> donald trump! >> reporter: who do you got in 2024? >> trump. >> trump. >> trump. >> reporter: this is the merchandise expo room that includes a mock oval office. and all of this ahead of trump's appearance for the final major speech on saturday night. what does it say about donald trump coming here this weekend? >> it is awesome. he's ready to go. got a lot of energy. i'm anxious to see him get out on the trail and start touching flesh and telling people what he's going to do. >> reporter: and, lindsey, as you heard, i couldn't begin to tell you how many folks here said they got donald trump's

back again in 2024, which leads me to be extra increasingly interested in the reception that the likes of nikki haley gets this afternoon when she takes the stage here at cpac. there is a lot of open questions as to whether any of these other potential candidates could try to cut in some of that grassroots support that donald trump is continuing to lay claim here at cpac with. lindsey? >> vaughn hillyard, appreciate you and your reporting so much there. looking forward to more of it throughout the weekend. that does it for me this hour and this busy week. "jose diaz-balart reports" starts next. busy week "jose diaz-balart reports" starts next. oking at their phon? they're banking, with bank of america. see cousin jimmy over there? his girlfriend just caught the bouquet so... he might need a little more help saving. for that engagement ring... the groom's parents. you think they're looking at photos of their handsome boy? they're not! she just saw how much they spent on ballroom dance classes... won't be needing those anymore. digital tools so impressive,

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good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific, i'm jose diaz-balart. breaking this morning, alex murdaugh sentenced to two consecutive life sentences after convicted of murdering his wife and son. we have all the developments and a look ahead to the other legal challenges he faces next. anger boiling in east palestine, ohio, as residents face off against officials at a town hall about last month's toxic train derailment. >> i want you to tell me why everybody in my community is getting sick. >> i want the same answers. >> why am i sitting here -- let's get them. >> victory for police officers and members of congress looking to hold former president trump liable for damages from the violence on january 6th.