the polls. trump's opponents vowing they will stop him, while on the democratic side, hillary clinton holds her lead over bernie sanders, despite the e-mail scandal that continues to plague her campaign. >> i'm happy that everybody now has been cooperating and giving ysion. >> we're live on the campaign trail. news that a knife was found on the grounds of o.j. simpson's former estate explodes into the headlines. >> what has been submitted to our lab. they are going to study it. >> could it be the murder weapon in the deaths of nicole brown simpson and ronald goldman or just another sideshow more than 20 years later? zika warning. a new study shows the zika virus may be even more dangerous than originally thought. researchers now saying the virus is linked to a host of birth defects alt all stages of pregnancy. and unmasked? the artist known as banksy has

spray-painting his work around the world. now a popular crime-fighting tool may have figured out who he is. so, has the artist been revealed? today, saturday, march 5th, 2016. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and welcome to "today" on this saturday morning. i'm erica hill. >> glad to have you with us. i'm craig melvin alongside chanel jones, dylan dreyer is here as well. >> it's nice to have you back in the studio. you've been on the road a lot. >> good to be back. >> and really talking to voters. >> nashville, tennessee to start the week, finished in hamilton county, southern ohio, cincinnati. let me tell you, wherever you are on the political spectrum, lots of interest in this race. lots of interest in this race on both sides. >> that's good for us, because it's our top story this morning. voters in five states will have their say today. here's a look at who's voting on this saturday. kansas residents will caucus on both sides. republicans will caucus in maine

will caucus in nebraska. and there is also one primary being held today. >> that one in louisiana, where both republicans and democrats will head to the polls. so much at stake, as both donald trump and hillary clinton try to maintain those leads. >> we have you covered on both sides. we begin this morning with nbc's jacob rascon, who's following the republicans, where the field has now dropped down to four with dr. ben carson suspending his campaign. jacob, good morning. >> reporter: erica, good morning. despite desperate and extraordinary efforts by so many to stop trump's momentum, he is the favorite to win in every state out with a poll as some look at his shifting positions and ask and wonder, who is the real donald trump? donald trump is playing by his own rules again. skipping the conservative cpac conference for a last-minerally in kansas, where the latest poll shows ted cruz catching up. this after a stunning week in

civil war within the republican party. its former nominee, mitt romney, joining a chorus of establishment leaders condemning the front-runner and refusing to vote for him. >> i'm going to do everything within the normal political bounds to make sure that we don't nominate donald trump. >> reporter: the latest complaint, trump's repeated flip-flops on immigration, suddenly arguing that highly skilled, foreign workers should be able to stay. >> i'm changing. i'm changing. we need highly skilled people in this country. >> reporter: then releasing a statement, switching back. and on torture -- >> if i say do it, they're going to do it. >> reporter: trump now telling the "wall street journal" he will not order a military officer to disobey the law. now ten days and 13 states before the billionaire business mogul could be unbeatable or a contested convention could be all but inevitable. once again, it's up to voters still flocking to trump rallies

closely by scores of protesters. and all republicans are campaign campaigning in the decision-day states today. trump is leading in those states by double digits, except for kansas, and he is moving on past today to florida, a must-win state for marco rubio, where he and ted cruz are now spending big. erica? >> jacob rascon for us this morning. jacob, thanks. >> to the democrats now, where hillary clinton is looking to hold her considerable lead over bernie sanders in today's races. nbc's kristen welker is in detroit, michigan. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: craig, good morning to you. senator sanders is hoping to gain some momentum today. his aides tell me the states that vote today and in the coming weeks are actually more favorable to him. meanwhile, the clinton campaign downplaying expectations. team sanders says they think they have a good shot at winning kansas. they think that nebraska could be a close race. both states have more of the white, working-class voters that tend to favor sanders.

louisiana and that could be part of her southern firewall with a large african-american population. meanwhile, clinton pressed again on her e-mails after her former staffer, bryan pagliano, struck an immunity deal with the fbi and told investigators her server was never hacked. here's clinton in an exclusive interview with cnbc's john harwood. >> this is the same security review that has been going on since last spring. i'm happy that everybody now has been cooperating and giving information, because i think that will finally end this and show that only appropriate steps were taken. >> reporter: clinton and sanders will face off in a debate in flint, michigan, tomorrow night. sanders' aides tell me he is going to go on the attack over trade issues. that resonates here in the nation's heartland. secretary clinton previewing her possible line of attack. on friday she called on sanders and gop front-runner donald trump to release credible economic plans. craig, erica, back to you.

morning in detroit. thank you. >> harold ford jr. is a former tennessee congressman and nbc news political analyst. josh barro is a senior editor at "business insider" as well as an nbc news contributor. always good to have you both with us this morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> as we look at what's happening today, we ran through at the top of the show the five states where voters will be making their voices heard today. trump won 7 of the 11 contests on super tuesday but traditionally has not done as well when it comes to a caucus versus a primary. there's only one primary today. is there a window here today for a marco rubio, a ted cruz, a >> i think so. kansas is a state that should be demographically favorable for cruz. and as you note, auctions are more difficult to vote in, donald trump is more reliant on weekly attached voters, it's easier to get them out in primary. that said, polling shows trump ahead in kansas. what i'll be watching is, is trump able to win in kansas in a way he couldn't win in iowa, minnesota or oklahoma?

one primary state, the polls have trump ahead anywhere from 12 to 20 points. if he puts up a really solid margin like that, it will continue the margins he had on super tuesday and if he continues them across the map, he will win the nomination with the majority of delegates. if it's narrow, it will be a sign of trouble for trump. >> i'm wondering if the other republicans take advantage of a tough week for trump, the optics around him. i thought that romney gave a speech that a democratic opponent would give. it was scathing and compelling. >> we'll see that in ads in november, make no mistake about it. >> and counter from trump was not nearly as tough as it's been in the past when people come after him. i think josh is right, the caucuses favor him, he should do well in louisiana, but for the first time in this race, this last week i got the feeling that there was a wound with trump. whether it manifests itself today is unclear, but clearly, as we get to florida and ohio, if rubio and kasich can win those respective states, their home states, i think this idea that trump could find some trouble may be gaining some

but the data's got to be shown to date to josh's point. >> i spent a lot of time talking to trump voters in your home state, tennessee, this week, and ohio as well. and i pick up the "times" this morning, and there's a person in louisiana that seemed to echo the sentiment that i heard. i'll read a snippet of it. this is from a woman down in louisiana. she said there's "nothing short of trump shooting my daughter in the street and my grandchildren -- there is nothing and nobody that's going to dissuade me from voting for trump." this is a woman named louise butler here. have you ever seen a candidate with this kind of hold over his supporters? >> no. this is the weirdest campaign, i think not just of my lifetime but going back a ways before i was born. you know, this was the 11th debate. i've given up on saying donald trump damaged himself in this debate, donald trump went too far this time. i think we've learned that lesson. obviously, there is theoretically something donald trump can do that would shake his voters away from him, but i'm not convinced that any of the things that happened this

that were inclined to listen to mitt romney when he says you have to be grown up and not vote for this guy, they were already not going to vote for trump. >> and this woman who voted for romney last time around said she found his speech -- she was disgusted and found it disgraceful, the way he was coming out. >> the key will be whether or not -- if you look at the vote outside of what trump has gotten, the 60, 70%, wherever it might have been, whatever the state -- will that vote coalesce? i'm not sure it will, but it didn't feel right for him this week. and you're right, i've felt he performed poorly debate after debate, but he's come back and the numbers have gone up, but today we'll get more data and we'll see. but i have to say, mrs. clinton has to be feeling that some of the stuff said about trump in that speech by mitt romney can be used with some independents and independent republicans, if you know the difference between the two and what i'm saying. >> nice to have you with us. harold ford jr. and josh barro, appreciate your insight this morning. meantime, police in los angeles are scouring a new piece

possibly connected to o.j. simpson. on friday, l.a. police revealed that a knife had been found buried on simpson's former property and was not turned over until recently. could it possibly be the murder weapon? nbc's steve patterson is outside o.j.'s former home with more on what police are saying about that knife. steve, good morning. >> reporter: hey, craig, good morning to you. so, the officer who originally received that knife decided to keep it for several years before turning it over to the lapd, leading a lot of people to ask, why? well, i spoke to his attorney, who said his client tried to do the right thing. >> o.j. simpson is inside the car. >> reporter: it's back, all the drama from the o.j. simpson saga. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> reporter: the case already back in pop culture. the new ten-part fx miniseries getting big ratings. >> we need to bring in johnnie cochran and we need to do it now. >> no. >> reporter: now once again, the story in real-life headlines.

a knife found years ago on the land where simpson once lived. >> so, it has been submitted to our lab. they are going to study it. >> reporter: law enforcement sources tell nbc news it is described as a small utility-style knife, commonly used in construction or landscaping. the knife, they say, is not consistent with the weapon used in the 1994 murders of nicole brown and ron goldman, but police are looking into it. >> this is a double homicide that is still open and ongoing. >> reporter: los angeles police say one of their now-retired officers got the knife from a construction worker on simpson's former property while working off-duty at a movie shoot across the street. the officer's attorney, trent copeland, says his client did the right thing. >> he did what i think every person would have done under the circumstances, is that you call lapd and you let them make the call, and they made the call. and the call was, look, this doesn't have any value to us, it's not useful. >> reporter: retired detective

original murder case, doesn't by it. >> why would someone sit on a knife, especially a cop who should know better? >> reporter: carter douglas was part of simpson's defense team. >> that's pure fantasy. i'd rather be talking about the easter bunny instead. >> reporter: and in a statement, doubt from the family of ron goldman goldman, saying in part, "the validity of the knife as it relates to ron and nicole's murder is purely speculative." so, several experts have chimed in on this, and even if there is a link proven between this knife and the 1994 murders, they would still say that it would be impossible, nearly impossible, for o.j. to be retried because of the country's double jeopardy protections under the fifth amendment. yet, it's work that is still being done, investigators looking into this. it's work that could take some time, though. craig? >> steve patterson for us in los angeles this morning. steve, thank you. >> ari melber is msnbc's chief legal correspondent and joins us this morning with more. as steve just pointed out,

again with murder. are there any other charges, though, that could stem from this discovery, potentially? >> this is a fascinating and downright weird development in the o.j. simpson case. it is unlikely that anything would happen to him, as you say. it is possible that if this knife was used in the underlying double homicide in any way, that it could lead to charges for someone else or some sort of break in the case, beyond what is already known. >> george maycot, this is the officer who says that he called the lapd that knight, talked to the watch commander. watch commander essentially says, there's nothing we can do, we can't prosecute him again, and sends him on his merry way. is this officer in any sort of potential legal trouble? >> well, this officer definitely made a mistake at minimum, because you don't want any evidence, let alone a potential murder weapon, just sitting around. so, that's why this is another example where this case had so much in it, it's captivated people, but it also has opened up all the questions about how

mistakes are made, and if this is what happens in a case with high scrutiny, what's happening the rest of the time? yes, if there was any malice or malfeasance, a deliberate idea of obstructing justice, that could potentially come down the line, but i doubt it. i'll also say, look, in any murder investigation, the things you want to look at are motive, physical evidence at the scene of the crime and a murder weapon. it was always an issue that no murder weapon was found in this case. based on what we know, it's unlikely that this is the actual murder weapon. >> ari melber, we enjoy having you around so much, we'll bring you back next hour and talk about that high-profile case involving hulk hogan that's heading to court over a sex tape. >> thank you, craig. best-selling author pat conroy has died. conroy turned his troubled childhood into emotional novels like "the prince of tides," "the great san teenie" and "the lords of discipline." all three of those were turned into major movies. his life story, like his books, centered around surviving a brutal father who beat him, his mother and six siblings.

he had pancreatic cancer just three weeks ago, he wrote "i've spent my whole writing life trying to find out who i am, and i don't believe i've even come close." in tennessee, it is now up to a jury to decide if popular sportscaster erin andrews should get $75 million after a stalker videotaped her naked in her hotel room and then posted it on the internet. nbc's morgan the areaford has been covering the trial for us. morgan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, craig. we're standing outside of the courthouse here in nashville. and after yesterday's closing arguments, the case is now with the jury, who could have a verdict as early as monday. after two weeks of trial and emotional closing arguments -- >> she's living a nightmare. >> reporter: -- for sportscaster erin andrews, it all comes down to this. >> we won't begin deliberations until monday morning at 9:00. >> reporter: she's suing for $75 million, and now the jury must consider seven days of testimony, 22 witnesses and 49

decide if the manager and former owner of the vanderbilt marriott nashville should pay andrews for her emotional distress. >> this will always be there. there will always be a reminder every single day. >> reporter: after she was secretly filmed eight years ago barrett. >> they embrace barrett the same way they enabled barrett. >> counsel's trying to tie my clients to the criminal, but they had nothing to do with that guy. >> reporter: at the heart of the issue, whether the hotel did enough to stop him. >> this could have been stopped. >> reporter: andrews' lawyers say the reservations confirmed andrews was staying there, even accommodating barrett's request. >> and she typed in "yes, request to room next to erin andrews." >> reporter: the hotel says they did not give barrett her room number and was manipulated to give him the room next door. >> criminals find ways to get around systems and exploit systems, and that's what happened here. >> reporter: now it's up to the

to decide if andrews should be paid. >> it's a difficult process for a juror to determine these kind of damages because there's no formula for it. >> reporter: for emotional damages. >> for emotional damages. it's just -- it's difficult, but that's their job. >> reporter: a job to come up with a verdict -- >> that should be quite significant. >> reporter: -- and possibly a number. now, craig, when this verdict comes down, the jury will have to say, one, if erin andrews should be paid, and two, if so, how much, and three, by whom. back to you. >> morgan radford for us this morning in tennessee. morgan, thank you. there is scary news this morning about the zika virus. a new study in the "new england journal of medicine" reports the disease may actually be worse than scientists imagined. according to that study, zika may cause more birth defects than microcephaly and it is

than just in the beginning as first believed. we'll go through this with the director of allergy and infectious diseases next hour. dylan dreyer's here. out west they're dealing with some wet stuff. >> yeah, they had a bit of a dry spell, but we're going to get more wet weather moving in, a series of storms. you can see them developing over the pacific. you can see the swirls, the areas of low pressure. these will be the reasons why we'll see heavy rain, especially from washington state through oregon and into northern and central california. we do have some heavier pockets of rain moving east of seattle and stretching down into san francisco where we could see a couple of inches of rain, but it's not just rain, it's heavy mountain snow with 2 to 4 feet possible in the sierra. and look at all this brown here. those are your wind advisories and high wind warnings. we could see gusts up near 50 to 60 miles per hour. so, as we go through the day we'll see thisto round of rain move in later on today, lasting through sunday morning. we'll get a break before the next storm system moves in as we go into sunday night and monday morning. the majority of the problems we'll see will be with the first

we could end up with as much as 5 to 7 inches of rainfall. that could lead to mud slides and, again, in the sierra, we could end up with that's your latest forecast. if you are familiar with banksy, he anonymously travels the world spray inpainting his art everywhere he goes. he's never publicly shown his face.

been unmasked. thanks with help from science. kelly cobiella joins us to explain. >> reporter: this is the science used to find criminals, instead, used to catch an artist. the person behind this, banksy. and scientists say they're 90% sure they have their man. from london to new york, l.a. to gaza, it's been stolen, auctioned, covered up for being too controversial. last summer, banksy's art even came alive. >> welcome to the land. enjoy. >> reporter: at dismal land, his take on the so-called happiest place on earth. the world has been left guessing for the real person behind the street art collected by celebrities and sold at times for millions of dollars.

a guy named robert banks, the bbc in 2006, no, it's robin gunninggun ing ingham said the daily. >> it's a huge geographical area. >> reporter: a group of scientists tried to crack the code with a technique called geographic profiling. >> it's used by a number of police agencies in the united states, including the los angeles police department, the new york police department has used it. >> reporter: instead of crime scenes, they mapped banksy's art in london and bristol, comparing the data to homes and hangouts of ten so-called banksy suspects. the result, these fancy dots and spikes or spatial locations in geek speak which led them to one prominent candidate. robin gunningham. >> the spatial evidence of the artwork supports the theory he is banksy. >> reporter: mystery solved? don't bank on it.

who's he? and we don't have an answer for that yet. in fact, even the study's authors are protecting this person. all of those addresses they used for his geoprofile have been left out of the study. erica? >> interesting. kelly, thanks. keeps us guessing still. >> i like the mystery. >> it's good we kept the mystery alive. >> you raise a good point,. >> maybe it's not about the money. >> it's about the art. still to come, we'll watch you up on the week's big stories, including this incredible caught on camera moment when a child falls out of a van. the good news, the kid is okay. also ahead, what do you get when you combine morgan freeman and justin bieber? pure magic. that's what you get. that's coming up in pop start. but first, this is "today"

>> sold out concert.

>> after this. do you have her? >> she won't get on the phone. >> then get her detail on the phone. >> i did. we can't force her to talk to

>> we need to think about what to say when i show up at this event and she's not with me. and i don't want to make it worse by mispronouncing this. how do you say this word? >> we are back this saturday morning, march 5th, 2016, with a look at season four of "house of cards." the new season dropped yesterday on netflix. coming up in "trending," we'll tell you why binge-watching it this weekend could actually be quite bad for your health. >> uh-oh. >> quite bad. outside studio 1a, we've got some folks, got a nice,ittle crowd out there. so happy to have them start their day with us. we're going to get outside in just a bit. it's a chilly one out there, too. >> it is a little chilly, but it's not going to last, which is just wild. >> 70s next week. >> can't beat that. >> that's crazy. let's get you caught up on what's making headlines this saturday morning. voters heading to the polls today in kansas, maine, kentucky, nebraska and louisiana. donald trump is poised to pick up more key states today. hillary clinton is expected to maintain her lead in today's contests over bernie sanders. the sports world is mourning

industry's most colorful commentators. bud collins died at his home friday. collins, who helped popularize tennis, started broadcasting the sport in 1968. he is best known for his commentary during wimbledon called "breakfast at wimbledon," also known for being quite fashion forward as well. bud collins was 86. >> loved "breakfast at wimbledon." and check out death valley like you've likely never seen it before, covered in gold. this is what's known as a rare superbloom. yellow wild flowers covering one of the hottest, driest places in the world. it only happens about once every ten years. >> a superbloom. let's start with "the download." sheinelle has the week's biggest headlines. >> from the drama inside the republican party to scott kelly's long-awaited return home after a week in space, here are the stories that caught our attention. donald trump feeling super on super tuesday. >> it looks like we could win

>> reporter: from the northeast to the deep south, dominance from donald trump, racking up seven wins. hillary clinton riding high as well. >> what a super tuesday! >> reporter: with clinton the likely democratic nominee this fall, infighting is tearing the republican party apart. the last republican presidential nominee waging war on trump. >> in under 20 minutes, romney branded his party's front-runner as dishonest, dangerous and dumb. >> here's what i know -- donald trump is a phony, a fraud, his promises are as worthless as a degree from trump university. >> reporter: while at the republican debate, trump went below the belt. >> look at those hands. are they small hands? he referred to my hands, if they're small, something else must be small. i guarantee you, there's no problem. i guarantee. >> reporter: the discovery of possible debris from malaysia airlines flight 370 stirred up

>> the piece was found on a sand bank off the coast of mozambique by tourist blaine allen gibson. >> this could possibly be from malaysia 370. we don't know yet. >> reporter: another ill-fated voyage for one of the world's largest cruise ships. "anthem of the seas" cut short its week-long trip, royal caribbean says, because of a severe forecast storm. >> very disappointed. i wanted to cry. reason? reports indicate dozens of passengers and crew are sick with symptoms of norovirus. home sweet home for nasa astronaut scott kelly after nearly a year in orbit. >> it was just before 10:30 a.m. local time when the soyuz space capsule carrying two cosmonauts and american scott kelly touched down in kazakhstan. >> scott kelly back on mother earth after 340 days in space. >> reporter: a scary moment for a child and his family in china. >> this is unbelievable. a toddler -- look at this video -- tumbles from the back of his grandfather's van on a

a good smarltan rescued that little boy, reunited him with his family. and it was a fun week in the world of sports. first, gary woodland stripping down during the honda classic. >> woodland's tee shot landed on the water's edge near the edge of the fairway. he didn't want to get his outfit and shoes and some white pants. and some infectious laughter from the milwaukee brewers. >> his name is brett phillips. that's him on the left laughing. he plays for the milwaukee brewers. the team released this video showing how he just couldn't hold it together when he heard some corny jokes. >> what did the duck say to the bartender? >> quack. >> put it on my bill. very good. i like that one. >> he's taking in too much air! >> oh, my god. >> makes me so happy just to watch. you know, sometimes laughter's infectious. >> it is. yes, it is. >> especially when you're not supposed to laugh. that's when it's better. >> yeah. >> difficult to control.

been really expensive. >> right? you actually -- is that the first time that's ever happened? >> didn't he take his shoes off, too? >> shoes, socks and his white pants. >> let's be thankful he stopped there. >> and with that! >> expensive pants. >> why not pick another pair? >> that's a great question. >> i do ask the deep questions. >> it's great because it's the things everybody wants to know. and why are you wearing them? >> helps with his follow-through, perhaps. >> yeah, sure. all right, dylan dreyer's back. another check of the forecast here. what are we looking at? >> that warm-up that's moving in. we've just got to get through a cooler weekend in the northeast, but then we've got a big ridge in the jet stream. that's going to allow temperatures to be about 20 degrees above average through the northern plains. today kansas city about 63 degrees, chicago 42, cleveland 39. then watch what happens as we go into sunday. temperatures in omaha about 69 degrees. that's 23 degrees above average. close to 60 in minneapolis. in the northeast, we'll be in the upper 40s. raleigh about 60 degrees, which is right around average.

starts to move eastward. indianapolis 65 degrees, pittsburgh 64, raleigh 66, new york close to 60. then we keep the warm-up going. and in the northeast, by the time we get to wednesday, it should be close to 70 degrees. today, though, that area of high pressure keeping things high and dry, lots of sunshine. that first storm system makes its way into the pacific northwest. heavy rain, mountain snow, wind gusts up near 50 miles per hour, and we'll also see a few

showers up i >> and that's your latest forecast. >> all right, dylan, thanks. just ahead, best boss ever? you won't believe what one ceo did to reward his employees. also, who you gonna call? >> ghostbusters! >> good. >> thank you. a first look at the new "ghostbusters" your body was made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to a biologic, ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little as two weeks, and help stop further joint damage. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma, and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts, and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened.

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time for a little "trending." first up, something you don't see every day. linkedin ceo jeff weiner gave his annual $14 million stock bonus to all of the company's employees. >> wow. >> nice. >> the decision comes on the heels of linkedin's falling stock prices. they're reported to have 9,200 full-time employees, so it works out to a little over $1,500 in stock shares for each employee. >> that's really cool. >> that's nice, huh? >> can i call out my father-in-law? he was talked about this linkadin for a long time, no one knew what he was talking about. >> linkadin. >> it's a great place to work, apparently. in honor of national grammar day, which was yesterday -- ironic, i suppose -- which was yesterday, by the way, a little online dating help for you on a saturday morning. according to the dating site zeus, bad grammar could be getting in the way of your dating life. zeus says nearly 50% of the singles they posed said grammar was a deal-breaker.

it varies between gender. 60% of men say they would not let grammar get in the way with pursuing a date -- >> well, now. >> 65% of women would. however, 72% of singles agreed that blatant spelling errors were a turn-off. >> i believe that. >> i can see that. >> 60% of guys. >> it is a little annoying, though. you just have to take the time to go back and look. because even with autocorrect. autocorrect wants everything you make plural to be possessive, which annoys the crap out of me. >> i'll forgive you for autocorrect, but if we're sitting down at dinner -- >> what i take from those numbers is, if you're a guy, if you're hot enough, doesn't matter what you sound like. >> pretty much. >> no question. >> pretty much. >> and we're naturally more judging. >> you said it, not me. >> now that we've figured all that out. if your weekend plans include "house of cards" binge watching, a new study says maybe you should just watch an episode or two at a time instead of all of them at once. why? researchers at the northern california institute for research and education found 18

than three hours of tv a day and did less than 2 1/2 hours of physical activity a week had the worst cognitive function even before they hit middle age. and this is much younger than researchers initially realized. >> too much. >> i can see that. >> i can, too. >> i like to spread it out, anyway, though. >> yeah, but it's not just shows. >> no, binge-watching anything. >> i thought it was middle of the night and you're still up, like why am i watching? >> but if you binge-watch the "today" show, it's good for you. >> confirmed by reputable physicians, yeah. four ladies afraid of ghosts? and how could anybody confuse prince harry for someone else? sheinelle has that in "pop start." >> we have good ones. first up, the ghosts, outfits, the goo. it's been 32 years since the original "ghostbusters" battled their way through the streets of new york city. and now we're getting a look at the highly anticipated all-star, all-female reboot, thanks to this newly released trailer. >> let's go. >> let's go.

>> sorry, i'll let you. >> next time. >> someone is creating a device that amplifies paranormal activity, and we might be the only ones who can stop it. >> holtzman, come on! >> the hat is too much, right? is it the wig or the hat? >> starring kristen wiig, kate mckinnon, leslie jones and melissa mccarthy. it comes out this july. if the trailer is any indication, we know the movie should do well at the box office. it's already racked up more than 11 million views. >> wow. >> people are ready for it. next up, what do ed sheeran and prince harry have anything in common? if you're margo robbie, apparently, a lot. the actress has been making the rounds promoting her film "whiskey tango foxtrot." and in case you missed it this week, she revealed to jimmy fallonfall fallon that she mistook prince harry for ed sheeran, even posing for a photo. the most embarrassing thing is

himself who corrected her, whispered to her and was kind of offended. >> not harry. >> i think he felt like, kind of a prince. kind of a big deal. >> i don't think they look alike. >> they don't. who plays the guy in the harry potter movies? he and ed sheeran get mistaken for one another. >> what kind of house-warming party where you're just kind of brushing up with prince harry? >> good point. >> never been there. finally, it's not hard to love morgan freeman's deep voice. pretty much everything sounds better when the actor narrates it, documentaries, movies, tv. but you may never have heard him like this. the folks at "vanity fair" had morgan do a dramatic reading of justin bieber's "love yourself." let's just say the biebs' lyrics have never sounded so good. >> times that you rain on my parade and all the clubs you get in using my name. you think you broke my heart? oh, girl, for goodness sake, you think i'm crying on my own. well, i ain't.

>> i love that. they should do a little collabo, as they say. >> so good. >> i was watching an interview of his a couple years ago and he says the most annoying thing he gets is people walk up to him on the streets and hand him their cell phone. they want him to do their voice mail. >> i had to stop myself from doing that one time. he was so nooit nice and i thought he might be up to it, but i had to be like, fan girl, pull back. >> i guess it's good that you didn't, now that we've got the intel from melvin over here. up next, quiz time. uh-oh. >> yay! >> thousands of high schoolers take the s.a.t. today. can we get any of the questions right? my question -- >> the expert over here. >> i like tests. >> you'd take t you can help prevent blindness

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when you make a pb&j with smucker's, that's the difference between ordinary everyday and exquisitely delicious in an everyday sort of way. because with a name like smucker's, it has to be good. right about now students across the country are sitting down to take the redesigned s.a.t. for the first time. the exam now features an optional essay, no penalty for guessing and four multiple-choice options instead of five. >> that's crazy. >> i could have gone to harvard. >> right? i would have done so much better. and in honor of the students taking the test today, we thought we'd do the same. really, it was our thought. we thought of this all on our own. >> yes. >> so, our proctor, sheinelle -- >> you can't even control -- >> ready? >> yes. >> i don't know if one person can have a calculator. >> you told us to bring a calculator. >> okay, that's fine. >> by the way, don't they use calculators on the s.a.t.?

>> i'm professor jonas. i don't know who i am. mrs. jones >> i can't read with them. a partially filled pool contains 600 gallons of water. a hose is turned on and water flows into the pool at a rate of 8 gallons per minute. how many gallons of water will be in the pool after 70 minutes? >> okay. what are our choices? >> you just have to know. >> no, it's multiple choice. >> everything except this one. >> 568. >> okay. >> 568. is that right? >> no. >> you're almost out of time. >> i forget the question. >> right here behind you. >> oh. >> you can play along at home as well. >> 70 minutes. >> get your pencil and paper. >> 1,160? >> yes! wow! >> let me see your math. >> that was fantastic! >> i didn't use a calculator. >> all right, let's move on and then you can explain how you did it. question two is multiple choice. play along at home, if you'd like to, says professor jones. choose the answer that most effectively improves the quality

given these solutions as well as the many health benefits of the food, the advantages of greek yogurt outdo the potential drawbacks of its production. the key word is "outdo." >> "c." >> outperform. >> you're supposed to put it on the board. >> last time we were supposed to yell it out. >> i say "d." >> the answer is "d"! >> yes! >> we're out of time. >> i like outperform. >> this is a fun game. we should play more of that. good luck, kids, with the easier s.a.t. still to come, the best way for you to do your taxes this year. first, this is "today" on nbc. >> actually, erica, you were pretty good. >> simple math problem.

still to come on today to, the alarming, new details providing even more evidence that zika is linked to birth defects. plus, hulk hogan preparing for his day in court in his $100

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good morning. getting closer. donald trump and hillary clinton hoping to maintain their leads as voters in five states head to the polls today.

anything to slow him down? and will hillary clinton stay on scandal? we're live. o.j. frenzy. a knife found on o.j. simpson's property bringing a case that's more than two decades old back into the headlines. could this be new evidence in a still unsolved murder? and fashion intern. >> do you have any experience? >> do you have any design experience at all? >> no. >> you wouldn't probably -- >> probably wouldn't make it, okay. >> erica spending the day with the design team at j. crew. from beading to color swatches to getting ready for the holiday sweater season. we'll see if she's up for the job today, saturday, march 5th, 2016. oh, no >> i'm celebrating my 60th birthday with "today."

>> from tennessee to the "today" show, whoo! >> wake up, maryland, we're on the "today" show! whoo! >> it's my birthday weekend and i'm celebrating in new york city! a good saturday morning to you. welcome back to "today." a nice crowd outside studio 1a this morning. we are going to get outside in just a bit to freeze with them. [ laughter ] >> only until tuesday, and then it will be 70. >> you looked like you were enjoying yourself there at j. crew. >> i was enjoying it. >> yeah. >> i took it very seriously. >> of course you did. you take everything very seriously. >> this is all j. crew now? >> pretty much everything i wear every day is j. crew, so there's that. but yes, just in honor of our piece, maybe, down to the shoes. >> all right. we have a lot to get to this morning. we want to jump right into the political battles brewing today. one primary, caucuses across five states. gop candidates are of course trying to slow down donald trump.

democrat candidates as well. we begin with nbc's jacob rascon in orlando, who is covering the republicans for us this morning. jacob, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it is decision day yet again. the so-called never trump movement picked up momentum this week, turning into a virtual civil war, but then it hit sort of a brick wall when all of the candidates pledged to support the nominee, even if it was trump. trump, for his part, is loving the everybody against him scenario, bragging about it on the trail. to his voter, this validates his position as the ultimate outsider. on the stage this week, we watched the republican field pummel each other in a contest of insults in taunts and shouting that reminded some of junior high. governor kasich seeming to be the only adult in the room, refusing to bite. he is the one who may have the potential to slow trump's momentum because he is closer with him in the polls in his home state of ohio.

in every state out with a poll, most by double digits, including here in florida. of course, ben carson has already dropped out. trump counting on the fact that he's ahead by double digits in marco rubio's home state, that he can force rubio to drop out as well. erica? >> jacob rascon for us this morning. jacob, thank you. meanwhile, bernie sanders will try to gain momentum today as democrats vote in three states. nbc's kristen welker's in detroit, michigan, this morning with more. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: craig, good morning to you. that's right, senator sanders looking for a comeback today. his aides tell me the states that vote today and in the coming weeks are actually more favorable to him. meanwhile, the clinton campaign downplaying expectations a bit. team sanders says he is looking strong in kansas. they also think nebraska could be a close race. that is an area, both states with a number of white, working-class voters who tend to favor senator sanders. clinton looks strong in louisiana, though. again, that could be part of her southern firewall with a large

meanwhile, clinton getting pressed again on her e-mails after her former staffer, bryan pagliano, struck an immunity deal with the fbi and told investigators her server was never hacked. here's what clinton told our cnbc's john harwood in an exclusive interview. take a listen. >> would you concede that you and the people who worked for you at the state department were sloppy in the way you handled -- >> no. >> -- top-secret information? >> no, because let's be clear about this, there wasn't a single one of those that was marked classified, either sent or received. >> reporter: now, this morning the clinton campaign releasing two new ads here in the state of michigan, touting clinton's economic plan. she rolled out part of it on friday, which calls for scaling back tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs overseas. senator sanders, meanwhile, has been criticizing secretary clinton on trade issues. that is an issue that resonates here in the heartland.

can expect to see tomorrow night when the two face off in a debate in flint, michigan. craig, erica, back to you. >> kristen welker for us this morning. kristen, thank you. there is a lot of talk this morning about whether a knife found on o.j. simpson's california property nearly two decades ago could be connected to the murders of nicole brown simpson and ron goldman. nbc's steve patterson is in los angeles this morning with more. steve, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, erica. look, i think we'd be fooling ourselves if we didn't first talk about the fact that the reason why this story is so big is because he's already back in pop culture. a lot of people are waking up to this, thanks in part to that fx miniseries that is doing so well. so, you have a lot of people first learning about this case, and then it's like right on cue, lapd. i want to tell this story because it is so bizarre. it is several years ago, but after o.j. moves out of his estate, apparently, there's some work being done on his yard there, which, again, after he's

and they find the knife buried in the yard. one of the construction workers sees the knife, knows the story and wants to take it to the authorities, so he does. he takes it to a security guard across the street working on a movie. according to police that security guard is a former lapd officer. so, the officer, according to his attorney, gets the knife and he does the right thing, he calls in to the lapd. according to his attorney, they tell him, look, the case is closed, and so he holds on to the knife for some 15 years, until he decides that he wants a memento. and to do that, he wants to get the case number engraved on the knife. so, he calls his buddies at the lapd. they tell him, you know what, you should probably take the knife in, because it could be evidence. and so, that's where we're at now. they're looking into the knife friendsic ly ic forensically. but just in talking to people close to this case, they say that this knife is very small. it's maybe five inches. it's maybe used for landscaping,

that it is not consistent with the murder weapon used in 1994. yet, investigators continue to look into this. their work has started, but it could take a while before they get any results. back to you. >> steve patterson for us this morning. steve, thanks. some startling news this morning regarding the zika virus. an alarming, new study shows a growing link between the virus and multiple birth defects, worse than was originally thought, providing even more evidence on how zika may be linking to brain defects in unborn babies. dr. anthony fauci is the director of the national institutes of allergy and infectious diseases. dr. fauci, good morning. >> good morning. >> doctor, one of the things we've seen, there were these strong indicators early on that zika could be causing microcephaly. but now this new study, there hadn't been a link before. this new study seems to show a link between zika and several different birth defects, and that the fetus could be affected throughout virtually every stage of pregnancy. to you, what is the real

>> well, the headline is that the definitive way you show that there is a causetive relationship -- we know there's a temporal and geographical relationship between women who are infected with zika and these congenital abnormalityiesabnormalities, particularly but not specifically microcephaly. you do cohort studies where you look at zika-infected women who are pregnant and zika-noninfected women who are pregnant and look at the outcome. the study that came out yesterday in the "new england journal of medicine" shows that there's an alarmingly high percentage of women who are infected with zika who actually have abnormalities in the fetus. the number in that study was 29% of those that were actually grossly identifiable, and there may be even more subtle defects. so, this is the very first strong study. there's been a lot of

strongly links this but doesn't definitively prove it. this is one of a number of studies that now give very strong evidence of this. >> dr. fauci, where are we with regards to a possible vaccination for zika? >> yeah, vaccines usually take a considerable period of time, but we're on a very fast track, and we hope to get into human trials just for safety of vaccine candidate some time at the end of the summer, beginning of fall. it's called a phase one trial. you first have to show it's safe and that it induces the kind of response that you would predict would be protective. if it shows to be safe by the end of 2016, we'll likely go into a larger trial trying to determine if it actually works. whether or not it does and how long it will take to prove is always something that you can't definitively predict, but we're on quite a fast track, at least getting it into humans in an early trial by the end of the summer.

dr. fauci, thanks, as always. >> good to be with you. sheinelle is following another health story where doctors are trying to learn more about a deadly infection. >> yeah, a mysterious outbreak may be the cause of 18 deaths in wisconsin. this morning investigators are searching for answers. the elizabethkingia bacteria has infected at least 44 people in the past four months. it causes a rare blood disease. people over the age of 65 are at greatest risk. officials with the centers for disease control do not know the source of the infections. a new approach is turning conventional wisdom on its head and could be the answer to peanut allergies. children at risk for peanut allergies who are intentionally fed peanuts from the age of 4 months until age 5 often became allergy-free. for years parents have been told to keep high-risk kids away from peanuts. allergic reactions could be severe, even deadly. researchers also find this technique may work on other foods like eggs, yogurt, sesame and white fish. country singer joey feek has died.

rory, blogged friday afternoon, saying "her pain has ceased and all her tears are dry." fans followed his emotional posts throughout her battle with cervical cancer. joey feek was 40 years old and leaves a daughter and two stepdaughters. turning now to an amazing, quadruple overtime high school basketball game. take a look. this is in minnesota. marshall senior high trailing in a state tournament game, knocks down a three-pointer to go to overtime. still tied after two overtimes, waseca hurls the buzzer-beater, but that only tied it again. finally, in the fourth o.t., waseca needed another last-second shot to put the game away after an incredible four overtimes. that is a game they will never forget. finally, when is a wardrobe malfunction a full-blown 911 emergency? here's what happened. a dispatcher in greenville, south carolina, got a desperate call from this 2-year-old. apparently, the little girl

and needed assistance. a police officer raced to the rescue, helping the toddler with her pants and shoes. i can tell you the two are fast friends now and the officer isn't even that mad about the not-so-urgent 911 call. i'm sure they had to tell her, from now on, 911 is for something that is a bigger deal, but it was cute. all is well. >> sheinelle, thank you. dylan is out on the plaza. she's got a check of your weather. hey, dylan. >> hey, good morning, guys. we've got a lot of birthdays on the plaza. how old are you turning today? >> 10. >> 10 years old. you're sure? well, we have someone on the plaza who's not sure how old he's turning. originally 43, but changed it. it's now your 44th birthday. >> i am, yes, today. >> all right, so next year 45? >> i hope. >> you got that? >> yes. >> happy birthday all around. let's take a look at the weather on the west coast, where we are watching a parade of storms making their way on shore. we are going to see heavy rain today from seattle to san francisco. very gusty winds as well. we have wind advisories and high wind warnings that could gust up hour.

warnings in the sierra mountain range because of this storm system that's going to move in through the day today. heavy rain and also about 2 to 4 feet of snow possible in the sierra. now, we are going to get a break sunday morning, then another storm system makes its way in sunday night. as for rain, about 5 to 7 inches, could create some mudslides >> and that's your latest forecast. guys? >> all right, dylan, thank you.

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so, again, just over a month away. this is not one size fits all. >> no. >> but you've got some good advice here. how do we decide whether we should hire a tax professional? >> first of all, craig and erica, there is no shame in not doing it yourself. >> good. >> the tax code is hideously complex. it takes the average american 13 hours. >> wow. >> to do their taxes. so, no shame, no judgments, if you want to use an accountant. that said, a couple circumstances in which you should definitely consider hiring a pro. if you've had a big life change. what's that? well, have you had a baby? did you adopt? did you get married? did you get divorced? did you inherit? did you lose a spouse? did you finally let your mother-in-law move in? all of these things are big life changes and mean you could qualify for a different deduction. >> if you do hire an accountant, what's the average cost? how much should that run you? >> it's going to cost a couple hundred bucks. $273 is the official average. if you don't want to spring for that, there are plenty of cheaper software options -- so tax turbo, h&r block, tax deluxe. those will run you anywhere from $15 to $100.

shell out the cash for an accountant, but you also don't want to run the risk of going to prison, so you want to do it yourself? >> you're a really brave soul. another reason to consider hiring a pro -- if you're self- self-employed, own your own business. if you freelance and get 1099 income, have you bought or sold a house? do you have any investment properties? all of these things are pretty good reasons to consult a tax professional because they can help you figure out some strategies to actually save you some money. >> when should i consider using some software? >> you should consider using some software if you don't want to splurge for the accountant or if you think you can sort of handle it for yourself. do you or your spouse only have one job together or both have w-2s? do you have no dependents? do you not plan on itemizing your deductions? all of those things make your taxes a whole lot easier and you're a candidate. >> how can you protect yourself from fraud, whether it's, you know, one of the software packages, whether it's doing yourself? what are some things you can do

>> first and foremost, the earlier you file your taxes, the safer you're going to be. that is the number one thing you can do. next up, please use strong passwords. you would be shocked how many people still use "pizza" -- >> or 1234. >> or abc123. and this is the point i really want to stress, scams are really spiking. the irs, craig, is never going to call you on the phone and ask you for your credit card. that just doesn't happen. if you get a phone call from the irs, you should be extremely wary. if the irs wants to contact you, if there is a problem, they're going to do it by snail mail first. so, please, don't send them any money. and never, ever give out your social security number over the phone. >> tax time almost upon us. that was useful information. thank you very much, olivia sterns. still ahead here, the $100 million lawsuit over a sex tape that's putting hulk hogan against the website gawker.

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out here with a lovely crowd. it is chillier than i thought. >> it is brisk. >> it is cold! >> the wind picked up. >> it is brisk. >> i am thinking about 70 on tuesday. >> do you know what i'm doing in chicago, speaking of brisk? the polar plunge. >> that's crazy! >> 28-degree windchills. imagine this being in -- no, water. >> it's for a good cause, though. >> dis. special olympics. and al roker's doing it, so how can i say no to that? >> it is for a good cause, and there is hot chocolate in your future. >> i hope so. still to come on "today," is erica up for the job? we'll see what happened when she interned for the day at j. crew. clearly, it did not go well because you came back. >> well, that's one way to look at it, craig. >> she came back dressed to the nines in j. crew. then, whether it's a weekend trip or a week away with the family, we have great spring break options that won't drain your bank account. and later, be the star at your next party with this beautiful cake that is surprisingly easy to make. >> and we're all ready for it because it's also, in our world, it's also called breakfast.