sanders fights for a comeback. unlocking evidence. a struggle over releasing iphone data police say could be critical in dozens of unsolved criminal cases. in a world of high tech security, a return to old fashion horsepower to track down smugglers. step by step. a father finds a way to bond with his autistic son by sharing some common ground. "nightly news" begins now. >> decision 2016, this is "nbc nightly news" with jose diaz bellard. this is another big night in politics with five states holding primaries and coke us s caucuses. in kansas, nbc now projects that ted cruz is the winner. today's contests are a chance for donald trump and hillary clinton to strength their position as

test of whether the others can gain traction. for donald trump it's a test of his ability to weather a blistering assault from his own party as it tries to stop his march to the nomination. we have it all covered for you tonight, starting with gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: marco rubio just wrapped up a rally here. florida crucial to his campaign. with a victory in kansas just now, it's ted cruz who is picking up some much needed momentum to stop trump. today, the revolt against donald trump got more heated. >> we have a divided country, folks. >> reporter:in interrupting this rally. the gop front-runner brushing off criticism. >> we have to bring things together. rr >> reporter: the billionaire looking to continue his march to the nomination on super saturday. ted cruz and marco rubio are hoping to

delegates. >> donald trump is a phony, a fraud. >> reporter: these are the first could be tests since mitt romney's attack. the never trump movement is struggling. trump playing by his own rules, today skipping the conservative political action conference while rubio got a warm welcome. >> being a conservative cannot be about how long you are willing to scream, how angry you are willing to be or how many names you are willing to call people. >> reporter: the florida senator then racing to his must win home state where he trails trump ten days before the primary. more than half a million have voted early or absentee. this woman cast her ballot for jeb bush. >> it's frustrating. my vote doesn't count. >> reporter: cruz upping his ground game to squeeze out rubio. >> the scream you hear, the howl that

d.c., is utter terror at what we the people are doing together. >> reporter: john kasich has his sights set on michigan which votes tuesday and ohio the following week. >> if i were to attack donald trump now and call him a name, it would be just kasich has resorted to the negative. i'm with harry potter. we're not going to the dark side. >> reporter: it's a race stranger than fiction. the results of the straw poll are out tonight. cruz winning with 40% of the vote. rubio in second with 30%. donald trump coming in third with 15% after deciding to skip the event event. >> thank you very much. for more on donald trump as he endures the attack from the republican party establishment, we turn to jacob who is following trump. >> reporter: jose, good evening. the trump campaign is confident he will be the nominee and beat the establishment. tonight may not be his

he has not done well in caucus states. he lost the iowa, minnesota and alaska caucuses, even though polls had him leading in those states. today he skipped what usually is a must attend c-pac conference to rally in kansas which he lost to ted cruz. then moving on to orlando where he rallies against the establishment and marco rubio in particular. we have seen more protesters than usual. today, you had a protester rip up a sign and throw it at him. you had the crowd roughing him up. today for the first time we can remember, you saw donald trump ask all of the people in the florida rally to raise their right hand and pledge or solemnly swear to support the candidate no matter the condition and offering that bad things would happen if they broke the pledge. tonight, he is very focused on florida on his way now to his west palm beach golf course and the dining room has been turned into a press conference area.

happened previously on caucus dates, we know donald trump likes to win. so far tonight, he is not. >> thank you very much. the next couple of weeks are critical for the democrats as hillary clinton tried to solidify her lead over bernie sanders. they will compete tomorrow in maine's democratic caucuses and will hold their next debate tomorrow night in flint, michigan. kristin welker is there tonight and has our report. >> reporter: bernie sanders fighting for a comeback, today strikin astrike striking a note of determination. >> you think too big. your ideas are too grand grandiose. i don't think so. >> reporter: he could pull it off. states with large populations of white working class voters who favor his message. >> in congress could bail out crooks on wall street, maybe wall street now can help the working families of this

>> reporter: his strategy, according to top aides, have a strong showing this weekend to create momentum heading into bigger states like michigan and ohio where he stumped today. and releasing this documentary-style ad in spanish he featuree featuring a farm worker. sanders' climb is steep with clinton surging. tonight, she's poised to take louisiana, where roughly half the voters are african-american, a group that has fuelled her big wins in other southern states. >> go to the polls and vote for our next president of the united states of america. >> reporter: clinton is also looking forward, campaigning in michigan today and releasing two ads touting her economic plan, a message that may resonate with voters in the industrial belt. >> this granddaughter of a factory worker will be the president. >> reporter: her strategy, stay the course. >> we were always looking to march in

we know by working hard and reaching out to every voter, that's how we're going to win this nomination. >> reporter: clinton has amassed more than twice the delegates that sanders has making every state and every vote this weekend essential. >> any win today for bernie sanders is big for his campaign. fundamentally, it doesn't change the math. hillary clinton has a big lead and that lead continues to grow. >> reporter: clinton and sanders will face off in the debate here in flint tomorrow night. it will come as chelsea clinton and the mayor of flint unveil a new initiative to deal with the water crisis here. expect that and trade to be a key focus with michigan set to weigh in on tuesday. >> thank you. for more on the battle for dell leegate and the road to the nominations, i want to bring in chuck todd. good to see you. >> good to see you. look, that's a reminder here, as we decide which states

couple lating statee ing accumulating states. we will see ted cruz having a good night. so far, he has closed the gap a little bit. it will interesting to see if tonight after louisiana is over, it's expected to be a big donald trump win. perhaps if it's a narrow one, ted cruz can claim a big victory tonight. notice what i'm not talking about here. we have cruz winning kansas. likely to win maine. do well in kentucky. second place in louisiana. we're not talking about marco rubio anymore. the one thing we're seeing this weekend and the one thing we have seen in the last few days is that despite what the republican establishment wishes that rubio would be the successful alternative to trump, the best vehicle if you are truly a stop trump republican, best and perhaps only vehicle after this weekend may be ted cruz. >> chuck todd, thanks so much. chuck will have more on the campaign tomorrow morning. his guests will include mitt romney. he will speak with

plays the president in "house of cards request the. ". california is under a threat for flash floods. we get more now. >> good evening. after a dry february across the west coast, we are finally seeing another wound of storms. a series of storms parading in off the pacific. this could be the last hurrah before we get into it the dry season. we are looking forward to this rain. although, too much of a good thing at once could lead to mudslides and debris flows. we're looking at the potential of severe storms possible, especially later tonight and through early morning on sunday before we get a break and then the next round of heavier rain and isolated stronger storms moves in sunday night into monday morning. we're looking at the worst part of this series of storms to make its way through tonight. that means the heaviest of rain,

could end up with five to seven inches of rain, across the higher elevations in eastern california. but also the snow is going to be a big issue through the highest elevations through the sierra. two to four feet of snow is likely. this is the snow pack you want to continue to build up to make it through the drier months. this is certainly going to be a potential last hurrah. certainly a good setup as we go through this weekend. >> thanks so much. in maine, a man is under arrest for a murder that happened almost 36 years ago. police say the 55-year-old man was taken into custody and charged in the death of joyce mcklain. they interested viewed him 22 times during their investigation. most recently last july. they say he initially confessed years ago but changed his story multiple times. she was 16 when she disappeared while jogging near her home. we turn to the battle over keeping what's on an iphone secret.

apple over a locked iphone used by one of the san bernardino terrorists is getting most of the headlines, many please sayolice say iphones may hold critical information in cases they are investigating. pete williams has more. >> reporter: police in louisiana say an iphone may hold the answer to a mystery, who murdered this 29-year-old woman, shot and killed by someone who came to her apartment ten months ago asksing to use her car. it's a double homicide. she was pregnant. doctors could not save the baby. think about her every day? >> every day. >> reporter: her mother says important clues may be on that iphone. >> she told me that the negative things that happened to her, she put on her phone. in a diary. she kept a diary on her phone. >> reporter: it's locked. no one in her family knows the pass code. apple told the police that because the phone had updated software,

it's the same answer apple gave fbi agents who want to unlock an iphone belonging to one of the san bernardino attackers. >> when there's a double homicide, i feel like law enforcement should have precedent. >> reporter: police say the case shows that locked iphones could contain critical evidence in all kinds of unsolved cases. from child abuse to kidnapping, even murders. the district attorney says louisiana investigators have 60 locked phones they cannot open. >> we can get into a bank safe, the baddest safe you want to make, we will get into it. we have a safe cracker. we can get into anything that's out there. >> reporter: not a locked phone? >> not a locked phone. i can beat it to death but i'm not going to get what i want. >> reporter: barbara and her son were in washington this week when apple's top lawyer testified before congress and said creating software to defeat an iphone security would make all iphones vulnerable to hacking. >> we see ourselves as being in an arms race,

criminals, cyber terrorists, hackers. this is about the safety and security of every iphone that is in use today. >> reporter: the family of brittany says that security comes as a high price, blocking them from seeing the last words their daughter wrote that might help find her killer. pete williams, nbc news. when "nightly news" continues on this saturday, low tech but highly effective. the growing use of horses along the border to help track down smugglers. later, two brothers with winning tickets in the powerball lottery. just wait until you hear what each one of them won. i use what's already inside me to reach my goals. so i liked when my doctor told me i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating what's within me. with once-weekly trulicity. trulicity is not insulin. it helps activate my body to do what it's supposed to do release its own insulin.

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mmmmm, these are good! nice work, phillips! the tasty side of fiber, from phillips'. patrol was formed in the 1920s. agents were expected to supply their own horses and weapons. now, more than 90 years later, the patrol is relying on horses once again to help protect the border. these aren't just any horses. as mark potter explains. >> reporter: sun down in the texas rio grande valley. the horse unit for the u.s. border patrol begins the night shift. the agents ride powerful mounts that once ran wild in the american west. >> once i started

horses, i realized they have a lot of heart. >> reporter: these horses are stronger and more alert and are perfectly suited to guard the rough terrain along the u.s. mexican border where vehicles cannot go. five years ago under operation noble mustang, the border patrol in south texas began adopting wild horses from the bureau of land management which periodically captures them to control the herds on public lands. >> i like that. he is moving into a trot. >> reporter: many are corralled at selected u.s. prisons where inmates are taught training techniques and tame the horses over a three to four-month period. >> it's life changing. you bond with the animal that's dependent on you. you bond with an animal that starts responding. >> reporter: horses selected by the border patrol face specialized training. as agents learn how to ride them before they both head out on patrol.

horse patrol unit works at night when the drug and immigrant smugglers are most active and when the horses have a great advantage because they are so quiet. we saw these two men arrested on farmland after swimming the rio grande from mexico being surprised by the horse unit. >> they had no clue we were here. they didn't see us until we were on top of them. >> reporter: these horses that grew up fearing predators are particularly atune to their environment. >> scanning with night vision. you see the horse's ears perk up. that tells you, there's something over there. >> they protect the agent. it's their partner. it really is out there. >> reporter: on the night we went along, the horse patrol unit joined a search and helped chase down nine migrants from central america who were eventually captured near the border. in a world of high tech frontier security, a return to the old way of guarding the border sometimes works best

mark potter, nbc news, texas. when we come back, from the deep, the discovery of a species possibly never seen before. 13,000 feet below. i've been on my feel all day. i'm bushed! yea me too. excuse me...coming through! ride the gel wave of comfort with dr. scholls massaging gel insoles. they're proven to give you comfort. which helps you feel more energized ...all day long.

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florida after successfully launching a communication satellite into orbit. the first stage booster separated, turned around and headed around. instead of landing on the platform, it came down too hard and crashed. it's not every day that two brothers hit the lottery with two different tickets. more than $290 million was won by james and his two friends. he bought the ticket at a convenience store while they were on a fishing trip. what about his brother bob? he bought his own ticket. he got lucky, too. walking away with his own winning check of $7. scientists say they have found a gold-like octopus. they believe it's a

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important factor in their children's future success, that's according to the nbc news state of parenting poll sponsored by pierson. with that in mind, we have the story of one father's dedication to helping his son communicate by finding some common ground. >> reporter: when he first started running three decades ago, 53-year-old joe did so for stress relief. >> come on. >> reporter: today it's about something closer to his heart, his 13-year-old autistic son. how was that have your son join you? >> i was thrilled, having been able do that together was great. >> reporter: like many fathers and sons, they bonded over sports. even if initially there were challenges. >> when we first started running, i would have to run beside him, put i had hand in the small of his back and literally push him. he had a walking stick that he had earned for hiking 25 miles as a

he has always been fascinated by trains. i said, we are going to be a train. i will be the engine. >> reporter: he bought that? >> he bought that. >> reporter: they joined a running club through his school in texas learning the benefits went beyond physical. >> i thinks he understands the concept of teaming, he is part of a group. he has support from other people other than his family. all the teachers and his therapists commented about how much more he communicated once we got into the program. >> reporter: diagnosed when he was 3, he struggles to speak and connecting with his peers has been difficult. >> this program came along just in time. >> reporter: now he has something in common with his classmates, and they rallied around him. as a mom, what's it like to see him have these successes? >> it feels really good because he is a lot of work sometimes. it's really good when things work.

a-plus day. >> coming across the finish line. >> reporter: the a-plus days are just getting started. >> he said, dad, need more medals. i said, well, you have to run more races. you want to run more races? yes. >> reporter: nbc news, austin. that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'm jose diaz be a-balart.

good night. >> announcer: the following program is sponsored by operation smile. every three minutes, a child is born with cleft lip or cleft palate. in many countries, they can't get the surgery they need. >> interpreter: i feel bad when

they say, "look how ugly she is." i feel very happy. i don't know how to explain it. she looks brand-new. >> interpreter: he gets upset when he drinks because it falls out of his mouth. before, he looked so different, but now he looks good, and that makes me happy. he's very handsome now. >> interpreter: people say he was born like a monster. we have prayed for this moment to happen. he's gorgeous, precious - very precious. no one is going to recognize him at home. >> imagine if your child were born with a cleft lip or cleft palate and you were too poor to afford the surgery to repair it. you'd feel helpless, left to