breaking news tonight. state of emergency as tornadoes explode across the south. millions under a severe threat. fears the town could be demolished in the dark. trump towers as nevada votes tonight and can he win three in a row? and can anyone stop him. murder mystery, chicago images of the uber murderer in a gun shop hours before prosecutorses say he went on a shooting rampage. a popular sports skast e fights back after being secretly videoed in a room next door. could someone be watching you. and eating natural. millions look for on the label, but what does it really mean? amid calls for a crackdown, an answer

you. "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening. a violent and unseasonable weather outbreak is happening right now in the south. already several tornadoes have touched down in louisiana. the first images showing a trail of damage and destruction, and forecasters say the risk will continue overnight. at this hour tornado watches are posted across parts of three states and several others are under flood watches with heavy downpours predicted. the national weather service calling this a particularly dangerous situation. up to 19 million people are in the potential danger zone with alabama, mississippi and louisiana facing the worst of it right now, and louisiana is where we begin with nbc's jacob rascon. >> reporter: tonight a monster winter storm is wreaking havoc across the south and only getting started. >> there it is, it's crossing the road. >> reporter: already

tornadoes across louisiana, including the most violent, a wedge as wide as it is tall. thomas howard watched the massive twister blow past his home. >> heard a loud noise, whoo and the wind came down and went up. >> reporter: reports of damage pouring in, including near the new orleans airport and at a gym. >> when the weather gets so bad the roof of your gym and the wall just blows off, it's awesome. >> reporter: billboards torn apart, this home taking a direct hit, the roof ripped off, tossed into the backyard. some 19 million people at risk for severe weather through tonight. from snow and golf ball-sized hail in texas to the threat of flash floods and tornado warnings in several states. this kind of storm is not usually seen until spring, but this year's el nino, the strongest ever recorded, is driving an active subtropical jet stream, helping fuel the dangerous

>> slow down in this area. >> reporter: as storm chasers around the country race to the reg orange the most severe threat may be near limb possible to spot. the possibility of tornadoes embedded within a line of thunderstorms forming so quickly radar can't keep up. after dark virtually invisible. much of the south already pummeled by severe weather, now bracing for round two. tonight the governors of alabama and mississippi have already declared states of emergency, and we have confirmed that one person has already died because of this storm. there are also reports of people trapped and other injuries. lester this, storm is just getting started. >> jacob rascon, thanks. al roker is here tracking these storms. al, what has you concerned right now? >> well, it's the overnight danger that we're watching, lester. in fact, we have tornado warnings up now for just north of new orleans, also from mississippi spreading on into alabama, and we've got also 19

orleans all the way to tallahassee. damaging winds and those tornadoes possible, so here's how we track it. overnight tonight, long track and very powerful tornadoes, and, of course, because when it's dark you can't see these tornadoes form or their track, they are most dangerous. then tomorrow morning this moves to the east. 25 million people at risk. much of north carolina, the eastern half of north carolina up for wind gusts and isolated tornadoes. this all pushes to the north. it's going to be a mess traveling from columbus up to boston and all the way down to washington tomorrow, lester. >> all right, al roker, thank you. tonight donald trump is going for three after blowout verdict rigs in south carolina and tonight the race moves to nevada where voters will have their say as the party establishment puts its energy in a way of seeking to stop him. nbc's katy tur has all the late details from las vegas. >> incredible. 68% would not leave under any circumstances. i think that means murder. i think it means anything, okay.

over what polls suggest is unconditional support, donald trump looked past nevada to texas and ted cruz. >> i think he's going to go way, way down in texas, so i think we have a shot in texas. >> reporter: pushing the envelope again, telling a rowdy crowd in las vegas last night he would like to physically assault a protester. >> like to punch him in the face, i'll tell you. >> reporter: the vegas casino owner is expected to make tonight a threepeat with a win in the silver state meaning he would have won in the moderate northeast, the religious south and the far west. >> if trump has a big win here, i think it's going to be very difficult to stop him going into super tuesday, and then what happens? >> reporter: after nevada, 11 states vote next week, places where donald trump has drawn huge crowds. 20,000 in alabama, 8,000 in massachusetts, and 10,000 in tennessee where he'll rally again this saturday. >> hello, everybody. >> reporter: trump has even made strong inroads in senator ted cruz's home state of texas. a campaign source telling nbc news the non-traditional campaign is focusing on a more traditional ground game there

of paid staffers. with strong indications that trump could dominate super tuesday, rubio and cruz are now in a cage match for second. cruz is pushing his conservative credentials to gin up votes in nevada. >> if we keep going this same direction, we risk doing irreparable damage to the greatest country in the history of the world. >> reporter: establish's best hope, marco rubio who despite spent some of his childhood here left nevada to focus on super tuesday. >> every time this race narrows we pick up support and when that happens we'll win. >> reporter: but it could be too little too late. >> he's placed himself in the best position possible to win the nomination, and i just don't see who stops him. >> reporter: like you will a of the states so far, nevada is expecting record turnout. this race just keeps getting tighter, and even more tense. tonight ted cruz saying that he wouldn't gamble his daughter's futures on donald trump. lester. >> katy tur in las vegas, thank you. president obama reignited the battle

u.s. prison at guantanamo bay. he made a 2008 campaign promise to shut it down and followed that up with an executive order in one of his first acts as president. now he has sent his long-awaited plan to congress without answering a critical question, where will the prisoners there now end up? nbc's ron allen tells us more. >> reporter: president obama insists the prisoners at guantanamo bay damages america's reputation, costs too much and helps terrorists recruit. >> it's been clear that the detention facility at guantanamo bay does not advance our national security. it undermines it. >> reporter: right now 91 prisoners remain, including the september 11 mastermind khalid sheikh mohammed. he would send as many as 60 prisoners to u.s. lowprisons and locations to be determined. >> this morning i

talk about gitmo, guantanamo bay which we're keeping open. >> reporter: gitmo has not produced a single verdict, 14 years, 100 detainees and while u.s. courts have convicted hundreds of terrorists and locked them away. >> there's been no incidents. we've managed it just fine. >> reporter: judith reese who lost her son joshua on september 11th agrees with the president on most things except closing guantanamo. >> you will delay justice probably all of my lifetime, and i don't think it's fair. i don't think it's right and i don't think that is the american way of justice. >> reporter: faced with so much congressional opposition, the president may decide to try to use executive authority has commander in chief to close the military prison, a move sure to set off a massive legal battle. lester? >> ron allen, thank you. republicans threw down the gauntlet today in the fight over the future of the supreme court. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said there will be no vote or even any hearings before the election on anyone president obama nominates to replace justice antonin

several key republicans said they wouldn't even meet with an obama nominee. also today a letter from the supreme court's doctor revealed scalia suffered from coronary artery disease, obesity, diabetes and other ailments that likely contributed to his death. we're learning new details about the michigan uber driver accused in a deadly shooting rampage. he's charged with killing six people, apparently at random, though the motive remains a mystery and now the parents of a 14-year-old girl critically wounded in the attack are speaking out. we get more from nbc's ron mott in kalamazoo. >> she is fighting for her life. >> reporter: a parent's anguish in full view. their daughter 14-year-old abigail cough, one of two survivors of this weekend's shooting spree critically wounded and fighting for her life. six others dead, including a woman abigail called grandma barb. >> abigail is strong, and she was a vibrant, beautiful young lady

this, neither did her grandmother. >> reporter: abigail revealed feeling her daughter squeeze her hand after preparing for a possible organ donation. >> it was a miracle if its its own. you don't expect it and all of a sudden it's there. >> reporter: across town tammy george's apartment is pock mocked with bullet holes. >> my first thought was i wanted to get how the of here. >> reporter: shots were fire at her new name tiona carruthers. some are calling tiona a hero after sheing kids at the playground from the shooter. >> her main concern was the kid. i told them to run and get inside. >> reporter: hours before the violence unfolded, surveillance video captured suspect jason dalton at a gun store where they say he bought a black tactical jacket. >> does have an inside pocket, mainly for documents or maps but it would fit a small pistol. >> reporter: police have not said when or where dalton got the .9 millimeter handgun recovered in his vehicle. today the best man at his wedding talked about the jason dalton that he knows. >> the guy i knew, past tense, is someone who would avoid

avoid trouble at any cost. >> reporter: more details about the suspect and the shootings, but why is still a mystery. ron mott, nbc news, can a ma zoo. turning now to a clash of tech world titans as bill gates is now weighing in on apple's battle with the government over unlocking the san bernardino's killer's iphone and gates, billionaire founder of microsoft is siding with the feds, but as our justice correspondent reports, apple customers today around the world made a show of backing the company. >> reporter: apple supporters staged rallies today protesting what the fbi wants, holding up phones reading no entry. >> what do we want? >> privacy. >> reporter: even taking that message to fbi headquarters in washington. the fbi got a big boost today from bill gates, one of the co-founders of microsoft. he says apple should help the fbi open an iphone used by one of the san bernardino attackers. >> surely the government has gone to

banks and lots of companies to gather information. >> reporter: major silicon valley figures had been united in supporting apple, including facebook's mark zuckerberg speaking at a tech conference in spain. >> i don't think requiring back doors into encryption is either going to be an effective way to increase security or is really the right thing to do for just the direction the world is going in. >> reporter: in newly unsealed court document, apple says it's fighting similar demands from the police and fbi to open phones in about a dozen cases in four other states. a national police chief group says most of them support the fbi because more locked smartphones now hold critical evidence and not just in terrorism cases. >> we have crimes all the crimes where the data from the cell phone is very helpful to us, and i have one particular homicide right now that we can't get access to a phonophone. >> reporter: apple says it's still willing to help law enforcement but not if that means break its promise to protect customer privacy.

news, washington. opening statements were heard today in the 7or $75 million lawsuit brought by sportscaster erin andrews suing a man who stalked her and secretly filming her at a hotel that andrews said allowed her to have a room right next to her. morgan radford has the details. >> reporter: sports reporter erin andrews heading into had a nashville court root eight years after a stalker secretly recorded her naked in her room of this marriott hotel and then posted it online, a video viewed more than 300 million times. >> she is so afraid now. she is so afraid. >> reporter: andrews' attorney says her stalk, michael barrett, asked for a room next to hers and got it. he served 30 months and is now free. in the civil case andrews wants $75 million from the marriott hotel in nashville, its management company and michael barrett. the hotel denies it's responsible.

was terrible, but counsel is trying to tie my clients, who are simply trying to provide a hotel room, to the guest to a criminal stalk sneer andrews was stoic in court but previously shared her embarrassment. >> i won't get this down in 30 months had. i won't get it down in 30 years. my kids, my future husband will have to deal well this. >> reporter: andrews alleges her stalker was able to find out where she was staying from marriott, a former central reservation agent testified by videotape. >> during your training you were told that it was perfectly acceptable for you to provide the information that somebody was staying at a particular hotel, correct? >> yes. >> reporter: michael barrett will also be testifying by videotape in a trial expected to take two weeks, and andrews is expected to take the stand. morgan radford, nbc news. still ahead tonight, so-called all natural foods with ingredients that are anything but. why the natural labels may not mean what you think they do and the effort to ban them all

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with millions of americans making a concerted effort these days to eat healthier, there is growing scrutiny on food labels and what they actually mean. and in the crosshairs right now the natural label found on everything from tomatoes to processed ham to root beer. it turns out there's no agreement or standard for what natural means, and that's got consumer

calling for change. here's nbc's tom costello with a consumer alert. >> reporter: dinnertime in san diego. >> all right. what else do we need, owen? >> reporter: a passion for jane maynard who writes a blog about preparing healthy meals. her big gripe, the natural label found on so many products in the grocery aisle. >> that word pulls you in and makes you feel like for some reason that's a better food. >> reporter: 62% of shoppers look for the natural label believing it means no artificial ingredients, chemicals, pesticides or gmos, but, in fact, there is no universal definition or regulation for the word natural. among the questionable examples cited by "consumer reports" delmonte fruit natural also contains artificial preservatives derived from industrial chemicals and 100% natural wesson vegetable oil which contains genetically modified ingredients. >> that's why we think the natural label is so incredibly misleading because it leads people to think that that food may

when in fact it does not. >> reporter: "consumer reports" has petitioned the fda to define or ban the natural label so shoppers aren't misled, and the fda is now asking for shoppers' input. manufacturers of america calls that a welcome and necessary step towards having a common national standard that consumers can rely on regardless of where they live or shop. >> does anybody want any gawk moly. >> back in san diego skeptic. >> everything says all natural so it doesn't really -- that doesn't really tell you anything. >> reporter: bure beware. with no standard definition, natural means whatever the seller wants it to mean. tom costello, nbc news, new york. we're back in a moment with a race to rescue a pair of window washers trapped every day you read headlines about businesses being hacked and intellectual property being stolen. that is cyber-crime and it affects each and every one of us. microsoft created the digital crimes unit to fight cyber-crime.

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suspected cases acquired in the u.s., several involving pregnant women. zika has been linked to birth defects. in all the new cases, officials believe the virus was transmitted by a man who recently traveled to affected zones outside the u.s. the main way zika spreads is through mosquitos. "consumer reports" is out with its annual list of best most reliable auto brands and the top ten is dominated by european and asian car manchlgts the top five are audi, subaru, lexus, porsche and bmw. the o'neale american brand in the overall top ten is buick at number seven. a scary scene here in new york today. a pair of windows washers were trapped when their rig got stuck outside the 65th floor of a high rise hotel. firefighters had to cut out a window to pull the workers to safety after hanging up there more than an hour. neither was injured. when we come back, palace revolt. why some of william and kate's subjects

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finally tonight, all is not well in the kingdom for britain's william and kate. the couple is facing a bit of a revolt, a palace revolt, if you will, from certain staffers who warn that something is threatening to make their jobs a royal pain, and they won't stand for it. we get more from nbc's keir simmons. >> reporter: getting close to royalty, even if you're never as rich as them is still, folks say, a great job. >> it's fantastic place to work. >> reporter: at least it used to be. now some working at william and kate's home, kensington palace, the staff members who deal with tourists and sell those souvenirs, are threatening to strike over a proposed $5,000 pay cut. stop the presses, as kate might have said last week. >> how long does it take to change over? >> reporter: guest editing "the huffington post." why does someone work for the royals? >> well, there is this privilege, this idea that i'm working next

from my experience, that wears off pretty damn quick. >> reporter: what about witnessing history? staff are there for the celebrations. it was a member of the household who first told the world about prince george, and for the tough moments, too. >> good evening, ma'am. i'm sorry to disturb, but i've just had a call from -- >> reporter: in the movie "the queen" a member of staff woke britain's monarch to tell her diana was dead. tonight, talks continue to prevent the palace walkout. but perhaps the british say royal duties aren't everyone's cup of tea. keir simmons, nbc news, london. that will do it for us on a tuesday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for

night.dollar project... hear what he says could be its downfall... earplugs a good thing, suppressors not so much. the is some loud opposition to a bill allowing a device to make guns quieter. hear some of the arguments for and against suppressors... and if the bill is moving forward. iowa is moving forward with its

find out why, and under which conditions.. it promised hundreds of jobs and much cheaper fertilizer for iowa farmers. but one iowan claims the massive project is in trouble and taxpayers need to pay attention. good evening and thanks for joining us. i'm erin kiernan... and i'm dan winters. orascom's a company owned by an egyptian billionaire. county, state and federal tax credits helped finance the company's efforts to build a nearly 2 billion dollar fertilizer plant in lee county. critics have questioned the plan from the beginning...now a candidate running for the u-s senate has joined them. political director dave price joins us... bob krause is a former legislator who now wants to be a u-s senator. he maintains this week's federal lawsuit claiming the company isn't pay some contractors millions of dollars should push