and the rain continues to fall. flash flood watch until 6:00 today for the entire viewing area including in asheville, all the way down to greenwood in the upstate. but, coming up in my full forecast, we will talk about not only how much more rain will fall, but how much snow will fall and the coming days. back over to you. >> holly: we continue our live team coverage of the flooding concerns this morning with a look at the road conditions. >> jay: news 13's lauren brigman joins us live along sweeten creek road near biltmore village. lauren, drivers can expect to encounter water on the roadway there? >> lauren: definitely. we are seeing the rain continue here in asheville. take a look behind me, i will take a step out of the way. we have a car coming through. this is, to give you an idea of what you're going to encounter on the morning commute, you can see the standing water along the roadway there, but it's actually beginning to go across the road there. so, hydroplaning, of course, is a big concern when we have the rain continuing to fall, flash flooding events possible, of course.

dispatcher, in fact, just about 10-15 minutes ago, and we are seeing issues in the weaverville area right now. a tree is down upper flat creek road near calloway road and the salem church road area near the mars hill highway. so issues reported there. so far, no accidents reported in the asheville area here. but, again, you you want to take it slow on your morning commute. standing water is an issue on many of these, especially flood-prone areas. we are seeing the wind picking up here a little bit in asheville, but we are seeing even stronger winds leading to some power outages in cherokee and macon county. duke energy reporting more than 1300 customers in each of the counties are without power right now. so, we are seeing issues across our area as a result of the weather. now, let's check in with jack jaclyn deaugustino for a look at the other issues. >> jaclyn: thanks, lauren, we are getting reports of debris in the roadway all over haywood county. there is not one specific area, this is across the board so use

in haywood county on your morning drive. there are no official reports of any other flooded roads in the area so far, but look out for those usual problem area in henderson county and transylvania county, like wilson road, island ford road, high water is definitely possible on those areas this morning. that's a look at your on-time traffic report brought you by the wired mouse. back over to you. >> holly: this morning, billionaire donald trump is waking up a winner and one step closer to the gop nomination in the race for president. >> jay: trump got a big victory in the nevada caucuses on the same night the contenders hit the stage for a town hall in south carolina. trump says others did not expect him to have a winning streak. >> of course, if you listen to the pundit, we were not expected to win too much and now we're winning, win, winning, the country. >> jay: it's a fight for second against marco rubio and caucus winner ted cruz. ben carson and john kasich were at the bottom of the pack.

hold a press conference on poverty in south carolina. it's scheduled to begin at 9:00 this morning at the doubletree hotel in columbia. the event is by invitation only. he will be joined by south carolina state representatives, joe neal and justin bamberg. later today he has campaign rallies in kansas city and tulsa, oklahoma. >> jay: hillary clinton is scheduled to participate in the alfa kappa alfa ( ) sorority, her husband and former president bill clown ton will be campaigning for her in the get out the vote rally. >> holly: charlotte's controversial new law that allows transgendered people to use the restroom of their choice, north carolina leaders now plan to take up the issue when the legislature reconvenes in april. state house speaker paul stan says he and other state lawmakers will use their constitutional power to reverse it. >> jay: the new law is called

and applies to bathrooms and how businesses treat gay, lesbian and transgender customers. supporters say it recognizes ther poarnts of gender identity but opponents including governor pat mccrory says it flies in the face of tradition and dee sency. >> you have the anatomy of a man, you ought to use a men's facility or locker room. >> hopefully we will see more cities saying what did charlotte do and is this something we should be doing in our city? >> if they were, like, just actually dressed like a man and going into the restroom, i would be a little weird. >> if they present as a woman, but they are a male, what do we care? it's who they are inside that matters. >> jay: news 13 also talked with asheville mayor esther manheim and she said no one has approached her with this issue but if and when it happens it will be given serious crgts. >> holly: scientists will meet at north carolina university in the fight against the zika virus

keep the virus from spreading. scientists ingest mosquito eggs with dna they have genetically modified with antiviral jeans. the hope is the mosquito will produce offspring that will carry the new gmo gene. >> if you are dealing with an insect at a high level it's very hard to outnumber them. but, the alternative strategy is, okay, we won't try to eradicate it, but we will try to change them so they don't transmit the disease. >> holly: the gmo antiviral jeans would help with the dengy virus and others being transmitted by mosquitoes: coming up, the medical director for the health and human services is live in the studio and will talk to us about what we need to know about zika especially if you're pregnant. >> jay: we have an update on the woman accused of cutting an unborn baby from a woman's woman. the jury found her guilty on all counts on the attack on michelle

she survived but her baby did not. she will be sentenced february 29th and faces 140 years in prison. >> holly: you can be key in helping deputies catch suspects on the run. in fugitive files we are joining us with haywood county sheriff offense dpiewfs with deputy gene williamson. >> first we have matthew humphrey, 35 years old, blond and blue, wanted for a probation violation. next we would like to find jonathan crow, 25 years old, 6' 4," weighing 230 pounds. he is wanted for failing to pay $16,000 in past due child support. and we are also trying to locate edward smith, he is 22 years old, black hair, and hazel eyes. he is wanted for failing to appear on several charges of felony manufacturing, a schedule 6 controlled substance, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances, as well as possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. >> holly: if you know where any of the suspects may be, you

the number is the crime stoppers number: (828) 452-6666, you can also go to wlos.com to get a complete look at the suspects. we will have you in the next segment. jay back to you. >> jay: one suspect is dead and two bystanders are injured after a high speed chase in california. police say the suspect crashed into an suv, causing the suv to flip over the guardrails. a mother and child inside were not seriously hurt. police shot the armed suspect as he tried to run away. he later died at a hospital. a train crashes into a tractor trailer and it's all caught on camera. this is released on surveillance video out of min sewta, it shows it going forward and toward the train even though it's got lights flashing, it drags it a quarter mile down the track. amazingly the driver was not seriouslily hurt. two window washers in new

being stranded 65 stories up. firefighters had to remove a pane of glass to bring them inside the building. the rescue took over an hour. the workers were not hurt. >> holly: we have another chance for you took.com/news see the harlem globetrotters in our "early bird gets the win" giveaway. we are giving away six family four packs of tickets for their show at the bon secourss wellness center in greenville march 19th ( ). >> jay: go to facebook.com/news 13, we will announce six winners just before 7:00 this morning. >> holly: good luck to you yo. a local band plays for a national radio station. >> jay: when you can hear the local talent on npr's world cafe. >> >> ingrid: here is your "harry's on the hill bus stop forecast." , it is a very damp start so make sure the kids are ready for rain today. get the rain boots out and it will be 50s by drop off time. we have already seen close to 8/tenths of an inch at the ashville airport, a quarter down into greer, and about the rest of the morning and afternoon, how much more rain will fall, and plus, when will that snow begin?

forecast. now, in high definition, this is your news 13 skywatch forecast. >> ingrid: good morning, and welcome back. a very damp start to the day. let's look at where we see the heaviest rainfall right now. in or northwestern county, northwest of robinsville, also north of bryson city, so swain county, graham county, seeing the heavy rainfall right now. also, down into the upstate, north of easily, as well as anderson, but all across the region, seeing moderate-to-light rainfall. what about the next hour? it looks like we will see a bit

asheville/brevard area. our western zones, the heavier showers we show you continue to pull eastward and also covering up northeast georgia. a chance for some severe thunderstorms today. so what does that mean? we are under a marginal risk, so that's greater than what we were yesterday, not as great of a risk as the slight, which is to the east. if you are traveling keep that in mind, a greater chance for strong winds and that can down tree and power lines, the power issues throughout the day to they, plus, we can't ever rule out isolated tornadoes, too. so we will be tracking those today. flash flood watch is out right now. this lasts through 6:00 today for our entire viewing area. so, especially if you live near those areas, that typically flood when we see a lot of rain, just be very caution especially if you have not been out this morning and the sun is still down. at the ashville airport, it's almost 8/10 of an inch of rain. it's very mild outside, 50 in gaffney but cooler rather in morganton at 42 and 38 in newland.

greenwood. where visibility is reduced. not as bad though, as it is in greer. 1 1/2 miles. that's of course due to the rain that's falling also some of the patchy fog likely developing. the wind has picked up. at 14 here in asheville. 13 in greer. and 17 now into greenwood. in fact, a high wind warn, until 1:00 today, for areas above 3500 feet in blue, but look at how many counties are under this winter weather advisory, it's down into the valley, it will be an issue throughout the day. so, not only thunderstorms, but look behind this low. we have cold air. that's the blue, indicating the snow, the pink, the mix. back here at home, it will start off as rain/snow and then transition to snow tonight. so, this is a snapshot at 8 a.m. showing the heavy rain band in western zones pulling back through asheville. things lighten up a bit through lunchtime but we still keep a chance for rain in the forecast. 6:00 we begin to see that transition from rain to snow. then, all snow especially near

higher elevations. we could see some light snow even down into the valleys. not only thursday night, but watch again into friday morning. so, rainfall for a futurecast not showing a ton more. we have already picked up a good bit overnight. anywhere from another half an inch to possibly an inch in some of these isolated zones. the snowfall though, going to be an issue until 7 a.m. on friday. talk about totals. it shows asheville, maybe a tenth of an inch to half an inch at times. mainly in the northern portion of the region, of course, up towards marshal showing a couple inches, and the high mountain peaks could be closer to that 3" mark. 61 degrees with heavy rain, thunderstorms, some may turn severe. windy conditions through tonight with that snow possible in asheville. the next couple of day, we return to some sunshine saturday and sunday especially, returning to the 50s. 56 monday with an isolated shower. here is your upstate seven-day forecast. back over to you.

show sampled our local music scene. >> [singing] >> jay: we told you yesterday morning about npr's world cafe coming to asheville for its sense of play series, the "honeycutters" sold out for a live show. the host, david nigh and the crew checked out places to record, including echo mountain studios. >> we also wanted to come to asheville because asheville's music scene is really growing. a lot of what we play'vo2:&tba oe`5nw-6h8+lhr$ba mt:gpi^ *m-\ [[27h can introduce audience to. >> jay: the world cafe next month.

from 6-8 weeknights on wnc w. >> holly: going to be a lot of people listening to that one. >> jay: don't you know it. >> holly: high school basketball playoffs are underway with local teams in action.

moving >>stan: good morning, everyone. in sports, prep basketball playoffs started tuesday, and 2a the eighth seed horses at home

make as nice move into the paint. hits the jumper, horses head 50-47. later in the game, it's ben craig, watch and he will lead the break and watch this. the behind the back and a finish off the glass. watch it again as craig shows off his handle and makes the great play to increase that owen lead to 52-47. then it's ben craig and franks, watch him beat the defender, baseline jumper is good. owen wins 73-59. >> it is great hearing the fans and playing the game and it was just great playing intense basketball. we had a lot of fun. it's all fun winning especially in front of the home crowd. >>stan: clemson trying to keep nee hoops alive, georgia tech swept the jackets 4/5 years, jarred says let's keep it going. clemson up 1 with 1 minute left,

george's hunt, bang at the buzzer, 3 pointer cuts the lead to 9. he had 25. that battles back to 13 to win it, 75-73. tonight on my 40, with the premier of the rivalry games, and the acc. it's north carolina at north carolina state and 8:00. pack struggling to play the heels in the past, only lost by 12 against chapel hill. that's sports this morning. i'm stan pamfilis. 6:00. everyone. >> holly: take the umbrella with you this wednesday. >> jay: no kidding. >> ingrid: indeed. make sure you have the umbrella as well. transition to snow. right now it's mild. 40s in burnsville, columbus, fairview, highlands, and marshal at 49 degrees. today's mild temperature-wise overall. with showers and the chance for severe. that means gusty winds, downed trees and power lines cannot be ruled out throughout the day.

and heads up for drivers in north asheville, there is a downed tree reported off merriman avenue. >> jaclyn: right. sit blocking, partially blocking the roadway on lake shore drive off merryman. try to avoid the area if you are heading out in north asheville on your commute. also, heads up for those of you in haywood county. we are getting reports of debris that is in the roadway, all across the county. there is not really one specific problem area. so use caution on the roads all across this area this morning. getting a look at one travel time for you, here is how tunnel road is looking for your morning drive. things are starting to get pretty busy on the eastbound side, passing by the parkway. that's a look at your on-time traffic brought bought you by

we will be back. >> holly: 6:24. today is national tortilla chip day. we are looking at salsa recipes to go with all the chips. >>ingrid: yum. we posted this to the web site, wlos.com under "news links."

chipotle homemade salsa, does that look good? it's actually easy to make. >> ingrid: and healthy, too. >> holly: look at that shrimp pico de gallo, the shrimp is a game changer ( ). water melon salsa, doesn't that look good with cilantro in there? bacon corn salsa. >> ingrid: yeah, that would be popular in my housese i think. >> holly: that looks delicious. salsa verde, i wonder how you get it to be so liquidy? food processor? >> holly: probably. we have a lot of canned chiles, maybe you don't drain them? avocado corn salsa. >> ingrid: i have had that a lot. >> holly: i make a black bean salsa similar to that, just add the beans. pico de gallo, very easy. >> ingrid: simple enough. >> holly: yum, tropical mango pa pie yeah salsa. >> ingrid: we had national margarita day the other day? >> holly: everyone is getting ready for cinco de mayo and it's so far away.

ready for warmer weather and no snow. sorry, we have it coming in the extended erika to. today though it's all about the rain. it's mild, 50 degrees. and some light rain falling at the ashville airport. winds right now have picked up at 14 miles per hour. we will talk about a flooding threat today, a high wind threat for a lot of us, and also how much snow is expected to fall. that's coming up at 6:30. >> holly: an outbreak of canine distemper in henderson county. what you need to look out for and how you can protect your pet. >> >> jay: new details in the investigation into a possible

who the fbi is questioning. steve: today is your lucky day. woman: (surprised) oh, my goodness mark: you've just won - a thousand dollars!

woman: ok, nice job. mark, way better than yesterday. maria, that delivery felt a little forced. and steve, steve: yeah? woman: i am still missing that raw emotion. woman: pretty awesome for a tuesday, but tomorrow is hump day, so let's really bring it! lucky for life. win a thousand dollars a day,

now, in high definition, from the western north carolina's news leader, this is news 13 this morning. >> holly: we have another chance for you to see the harlem globetrotters in this morning's "early bird gets the win" giveaway. >> jay: we are giving away six family four packs of tickets for their show at the bon secours wellness arena in greenville on march 19th. >> holly: to enter go to facebook.com/news 13. right now we will announce the six winners in 30 minutes. >> jay: you know it will be a great show. i love the globetrotters. >> holly: they are fantastic. they always do a great performance and are such nice guys. >> jay: they are. we have had them in here several times and it's amazing. many tof you are waking up to a damp morning. we are under a high wind warning until 1:00 this afternoon. >> holly: our live steam coverage continue, let's go to

center, what is it doing? >> ingrid: we are under a flood watch until 6 p.m. this evening. over the last several hours we continue to see rainfall with heavier rain bands at times. so that is, of course, leading to this flash flood watch. it does encompass our entire viewing area. not only this morning, but through this evening. so, this threat will be lingering over us. the high wind also an issue. i will talk about not just how much rain will fall in the extended forecast but snow as well in a moment. back over to you. >> holly: we are starting to get more reports about weather related issues. lauren brigman continues live team coverage from north asheville near lake shore drive. >> jay: lauren, you went there to check out a report of a downed tree? what are you seeing? >> lauren: we were here as the asheville fire department was ago. they removed the tree from the roadway here, but you can see it right now. now, the crews with the fire department tell me those are cable line, not power lines, but again you can see how the weather is already causing

there have been a couple of reports of issues up in the weaverville area, i told you about those. at 6:00. those have since cleared. we have had a tree down there as well as lines on a couple roads in weaverville. but, this, of course, is an issue they were able to clear up pretty quickly and get it out of the roadway. if you travel lake shore drive or glen falls road, you will want to use a little caution because, of course, debris will also be an issue as this rain continues. it washes the debris into the roadway. not only do you need to watch out for the standing water but debris is another big issue as we get reports of the trees coming down on some roadways here. now, the fire department crew are, of course, busy responding to the calls quickly as possible. so, do reach out if you see an issue there on the roadways. call your local emergency responders. but we are checking in also to find out the latest on accidents, so right now let's check in with. >> jaclyn:with. >>jaclyn: in on accident center. >> jaclyn: we have no

problem in haywood county, dispatchers there are reporting debris in the roadway all across that area, especially on the secondary roads and back roads. so, be sure to use caution if you are heading out in this area on your morning commute. we don't have any official reports of roads that are flooded right now, but this is, of course, a possibility and those usual problem areas in henderson county and transylvania counties, like i island ford road, wilson road, high water is definitely a possibility this morning on those spots. so just use caution in those areas as well. that's a look at your on-time traffic report brought to you by the wired mouse computer solutions. back over to you. >> jay: jaclyn, thank you. closing arguments will begin in a murder trial in transylvania county. prosecutors say richard o'shields killed toby mathis back in 2011 as an act of revenge. at the time mathis was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of o'shield's son. yesterday, a forensic psychologist says after o'shields suffered a stroke after his son's death and ptsd

chance he planned the murder. >> he walked into the dollar general store and saw him out of your cry and you knew that was toby mathis, the man you intended to kill? >> i didn't intend to kill him. >> while it is possible he did exactly what was stated she said, he planned this act, it's sort of unusual, one, that a person of his structure, psychiatrically, would do that. >> jay: but then an exchange with the prosecutor, dr. corbin acknowledged neither a stroke nor heart problems makes a person want to kill someone. >> holly: we are learning details on the fbi's investigation into a possible hate crime at brevard high school. in november, a 20 year-old and two minors were charged with crimes related to ethnic intimidation. the alleged victim was black, the suspects are white. over the last two weeks, fbi agents have been interviewing those involved with the situation and are considering more charges. the transylvania county naacp

the investigation began after an anonymous tip. >> we feel it should have been classified as a hate crime. because of the -- everything that it involved. and all the circumstances surrounding it. >> holly: school officials say they are cooperating fully with the fbi. there is no timeline for when a decision could be made in the case. >> jay: brevard police are searching for a missing man. 24 year-old matthew jenkins was last seen a week ago. he is known to visit asheville and knoxville. if you have any information, call police in brevard. and the search continues this morning for another missing man, this time in mcdowell county. deputies say renaldo tap yeah was last seen in nebo back in december. they hope showing his photograph again will lead to new information. >> holly: people we featured last week are now in custody. jonathan allen was wanted in transylvania county. deputies say he turned himself in. he was wanted for failure to appear. other suspects are on the run, this time from haywood

the sheriff's office there. deputy gene williamson is with us. thank you so much for coming in this morning. >> thanks for having us. >> holly: we start off with john smith junior? >> he is 35 years old with brown hair and blue eyes. he is wanted for failure to appear on numerous traffic related offenses including several counts of operating a vehicle without insurance, numerous registration violations, as well as no insurance and simple possession of a schedule 4 substance. next we are looking for nicholas patton, 42 years old, blond hair, hazel eye, about 5' 7," wanted for probation violation. finally, we are trying to locate rodney messer, 31 years old, 5' 11," 160-pounds past due child support over $4,000 felony probation violation. >> holly: do you think the suspects are in the haywood county area? >> yes. >> holly: if you know where

call anonymously, phone phone. >> log on to the "fugitive files" section on wlos.com. jay, back to you. >> jay: now to an update on the canine distemper outbreak, the sheriff's office says since the start of the year it euthanized nearly 30 animals like foxes and racoons because of the disease. while harmless to humans it can be deadly to pets especially an infected racoons. animals display drunk and almost friendly behavior. >> it didn't really look at me or anything, he just kind of rolled over and made himself more comfortable. >> jay: call the sheriff's office immediately if you see an animal displaying similar behavior. authorities stress the best way frotect your pets from becoming infected is to have them vaccinated. >> holly: emergency workers are in haywood county this week for the incident management academy that was created by the

all week crews will train at lake junaluska to learn how to handle things like natural disasters. >> give them the opportunity to allow the firefighters and police officers do their job more efficiently within a span of control and more effectively for the citizens. >> holly: >>greg: shuping expects it to be a yearly event and it will row katerotate to different locations throughout the state. >> jay: today multiple first responder and police officer agencies will go to the battle of the badges from 5:00 to 8:00 at first baptist church in asheville. >> holly: the asheville, buncombe county, sheriff's office and highway and ems are all participating. >> jay: we have an update on a story we first brought you last summer. sam gardener of western carolina student born with salball palsy has been approved for social security benefits. last year sam contacted news 13

and was struggling to pay for his education. he appealed a third time and won a federal court hearing earlier this month. he got the call this weekend his disability payments were finally approved. he now plans to return to school in the fall. >> holly: tonight in a special report, a closer look at a new law in north carolina. it adds an extra step to buying a handgun. investigators are now required to get a mental health records check in every north carolina county an applicant has lived. the extra step has delayed requests up to or past the 14 day deadline in some counties. the gun control advocates say it's worth the extra time. gun enthusiasts say it infringings on their rights. >> i'm getting input from people who have been unable to get a pistol purchase permit and therefore unable to buy the firearm. >> holly: coming up tonight at 11:00, how he this new check is affecting the process and why it's still leaving holes in the system. >> jay: this morning we are

say you need to watch out now, in high definition, this is your news 13 skywatch forecast. >> ingrid: reports of pounce in macon county this morning and scattered elsewhere due to the wind and of course the heavy rain. let' look at the radar right now. seeing heavier rain bands inhe northwestern corner there of swain county, pulling out of

also, down into the upstate, every where from taylor down to greenville. the southern portion of the county and anderson as well. clemson recently has seen some heavier rain. now, starting to pull away from that location. and over the next hour,e will continue to see the batch from the upstate pull into the foothills. that include marion, spindale, rutherfordton, and our western zones getting hit in our southern mountains with some heavier rain as well, so we get a break in asheville and brevard. that's just over the next hour. a chance this afternoon especially for some severe thunderstorms. wewehave a marginal risk, marginal means a few of these storms may turn severe. gusty wind, hail, and also an isolated tornado, a greater chance for storms to turn severe east of our area, where that slight risk is right now. and we continue to see the rainfall at the ashville airport, clong in on that inch, just since midnight. so, you can get an indication of how much rain has been falling, in fact, you probably having

it woke me up this evening no. 49 degrees in asheville right now. same thing in greer. but, 60 from anderson down into greenwood. our western zones very mild, too. reduced visibility because of that rain, give yourself an extra 5-10 minutes before you head out the door. you are going to want a drive a little slower this morning. in the foothills, we have got the rain and down into greer right now, where i showed you the heavy rain, visibility down to a half a mile. 15 miles per hour winds in asheville right now. that's causing some of these power issues and downed trees. look at andrews right now, 30 miles per hour winds. 8 in greer and 21 in greenwood. so the wind is picking up. we also have this high wind warning just for areas west of buncombe county, above 3500 feet. but, we also have an advisory out for the remainder of the region, and this is below 3500. so it does include us here in the asheville area. thunderstorms will be a threat behind this low, continued moisture and colder conditions. that's when we see the chance for snow.

bands this morning, not as much after lunchtime today. but still that threat exists until 6 p.m. for flooding. through dinnertime, and overnight, especially near the tennessee line, continuing to see the snow fall across the region, and then another chance, thursday night into friday morning. first the rain, it does indicate we could pick up anywhere from a half inch to another inch here over the next several hours. and then, we will show you the snowfall. this winter weather advisory is out from midnight tonight until 7 a.m. friday, so it's kind of lengthy, the two nights a chance for snow. so, overall, this is what we are expecting to see accumulate. just a little bit down into the valley, the higher elevations as usual, the 1-3" rain near the tennessee line. heavy rain, thunderstorms possibility of some to turn severe today, once again, rain-to-snow tonight, and then a transition to all snow with very windy conditions expected. early on thursday and friday, we see the light snow, but then it's sunshine and milder conditions. by sunday and monday, back to

severe storms possible today in the upstate. the rainy conditions, they're causing problems for the morning commute, jaclyn. >> jaclyn: yeah, ingrid. the debris is a problem in haywood county, especially this morning. dispatchers are reporting debris in the roadway across the county especially on the back roads and secondary roads. so, be careful if you are heading out in this area on you morning commute. there are no weather-related accidents or official reports of flooded roads in our area, but high water is definitely possible on those usual problem spots in henderson county and transylvania county. so, take it slow in these areas as well. checking back on tunnel road, the congest we talked about earlier on the eastbound side is nuclear. now it's the westbound side that is getting a little bit busy. so, keep in mind if you are heading out towards tunnel road. that's a look at your on-time traffic report brought to you by the wired mouse. holly and jay? >> holly: we have been talking about the zika virus in our series on the modern pregnancy.

director of health and human services is here with us again. give us an overview of zika and the symptoms? >> zika is a middle school coy toe borne illness commonly, currently there is an outbreak in the central and south america locations and the caribbean. and most people don't have ssptoms. 1/5 do and they tend to be fever, rash, red eye and joint pain. >> holly: is that the fear, people don't know they have this? >> i think that might contribute to some of the fear. exotic tropical diseases tend to stoke fear in people. >> jay: absolutely. and on facebook, edward sutton asked, what is the chance of zika becoming a major epidemic in the u.s.? >> so it's not -- although we have similar mosquitoes in the continental united states, it's not thought that we would have a wide spread outbreak of zika. there could be cases where someone traveled to a place where there is an outbreak, gets infected, brings the illness here or comes back sick, gets

might be some local transmission, but it's thought we have just better mosquito control. we have screens on our windows and doors. we would be better able to keep this from becoming bad. >> jay::ecause transmission happened in texas, right? >> that has happened and there are cases of den gay fever is a tropical illness, we see cases in florida every year, but it's very sporadic and localized and doesn't become widespread. >> holly: should pregnant women just absolutely avoid these areas and what is the threat? recommendation that says that women who are pregnant should avoid going to areas where there is a zika virus outbreak. and women who are actually thinking of becoming pregnant, there is discussion that you should talk to your provider about what is the risk and anybody who is going to these areas, where there is zika virus transmission, should be doing common things to prevent getting bitten by mosquitoes. >> holly: so get some yourself.

here in western north carolina. we have lacrosse enself-litis that is a serious illness spread by our mosquitoes, so repel lent, wearing long sleeves and pant, make sure your screens are intact and most importantly when it's mosquito season, tipping and tossing standing water anywhere around your house. >> jay: so important. >> holly: thank you for coming

>> holly: 6:49. welcome back. donald trump can add nevada to his list of gop wins. >> jay: with trump highly favored before the results came in, the real fight was between ted cruz and marco rubio for second place. rubio touted his establishment establishment candidate identity as critical for a general election win. >> i'm a conservative that can unite this party. >> we are one step closer to

obama/clinton disaster. >> jay: rubio's team spent $920,000 in the state and cruz's team spent $790,000. >> holly: democratic candidate bernie sanders will hold a press conference on poverty in south carolina. it's scheduled to begin at 9:00 this morning at the doubletree hotel in columbia. the event is by invitation only. he will be joined by south carolina state representatives, joe neal and justin bamberg. later today, he has campaign rallies planned in kansas city and tulsa, oklahoma. >> jay: hillary clinton is scheduled to participate in the alpha kappa alpha luncheon today in columbia and tonight she will be in charleston. her husband and former husband bill clinton will campaign for her during the "get out the vote" valleys in virginia. >> holly: the obama administration has a plan to close guantanamo day 7 years after they delivered to shut it down. >> jay: it identifies 13 possible transfer sites

kansas and the federal max prison in colorado. >> we will continue to securely and responsiblebly the 35 detainees out of 91 that have already been approved for transfer. we will accelerate the periodic reviews of detainees to determine whether their continued detention is necessary. >> jay: bernie sanders offered support for the idea but ted cruz said don't shut down gitmo, but expand it. >> holly: community members at and students at a university in michigan are remembering the victims of the deadly shootings in kalamamoo. >> jay: hundreds of people attended a vigil, most of the victims from saturday's night chuting have memorial events planned later this week. accused gunman jason dalton is charged with murder. >> holly: a small plane crashes over night in nepal, killing all 23 people on board. witnesses reported seeing flames in a heavily wooded area. the plane was headed to a town

gateway for one of the most popular trekking routes in the himalayas. the flight was only supposed to last 19 minutes. contact was lost 8 minutes after take off. severe storms in florida spawned tornadoes that left several people hurt in pensacola. one ripped apart an apartment complex. elsewhere in the city, utility poles were brought down and cars flipped over. >> jay: a military home is back home from deployment. >> holly: the happy reunion between her and her son. >> jay: first let's look at tody's mind teaser. who has hosted the most oscar award ceremonies?

>> ingri >> holly: a recap of the local headline, happening to day, closing arguments will begin in the transylvania county murder trial. >> jay: prosecutors say

mathis in 2011 as an act of revenge. at the time he was charged with involuntary manslaughter charges for the death ofo shield's son. >> holly: we have a possible hate cram in brevard high school. in november, a 20 year-old and two minors were charged with crimes related to ethnic intimidation. the victim was black and suspects are white. over the past two weeks the fbi has been investigating and are considering more charges. >> jay: the canine distemper outbreak in henderson county is growing. the sheriff's office says since the start of the year it euthanized nearly 30 animals like foxings an racoons, because of the disease. it's harmless to humans, but it can be deadly to pets and racoons infected animals display drunk and almost friendly behavior. call the sheriff's office immediately if you see an animal displaying similar behavior. >> holly: here is the answer took.com/news day's mind teaser. who hosted the most oscar award ceremonies? >> holly: i got it the second try. >> holly: billy crystal was a good guess.

with 18. >> holly: that is a lot of times. >> jay: it is. >> holly: a heartwarming reunion in new jersey. >> jay: army specialist amanda rodriguez is home after her nearly year-long deployment. the single mom wanted to surprise her 3 year-old son so she showed up at his day care. >> holly: she said she was nervous about his reaction at first, but as soon as he saw his mom he ran straight into her arms. >> jay: of course he did. >> holly: look at that. we have winners in the morning's "early bird gets the win" giveaway. >> jay: we do, indeed. congratulations to cheryl parker, tim tate, debbie olman, chris boyar, andrea warren, and carol butler. >> jaclyn: you each won a family four pack of tickets to see the harlem groab trotters in greenville. >> ingrid: and we will e-mail you how to claim your prize. it's good prize, too. the weather, not so good. we have reports of power outages and so on and so forth because of the rain and wind. a lot of rain has fallen in many locations this morning.

storm heading north/northeastward over the next couple minutes you can see where it's headed for rutherford county and also moving through greenville, heading north towards polk county as well. so, heads up if you head out the door in those zones. and we have a chance for some severe storms today. it will be mild, anywhere from upper 50s to low 60s. then, we see the transition from rain to snow tonight, especially near the tennessee line and again thursday night. the return to the 40s, late week. and then 50s late weekend with sunshine expected. some isolated showers by monday. and in the upstate, also a chance for severe storms today. >> holly: the rain and wind causing problems for us on the road. >> jaclyn: downed trees and debris are the big problems this morning. we have also reports of a car that ran into a downed tree on 197 at stockton road in weaverville. n there's reports of a second downed tree in that area. if you are heading out in weaverville, just be careful on the roads this morning. >> jay: absolutely. thanks for joining u gma is next. >>

wednesda good morning, america. breaking overnight, donald trump's huge win in nevada. >> now we're winning, winning, winning the country. >> record turnout. trump relishes his victory. >> we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. >> marco rubio second and less than a week from the super tuesday showdown, donald trump and marco rubio are here this morning. oh, my goodness. holy cow. deadly storms tear through the south. 27 reported tornadoes across the gulf states ripping roofs off buildings, destroying hundreds of homes, flipping over trucks. now new warnings are out this moing as severe storms move east. erin andrews' emotional day in court, the reporter and "dancing with the stars" favorite takes on a hotel and a stalker with a 7$75 million lawsuit over invasion of privacy.

for her stalker to spy on her? >> celine dion's triumphant return, the superstar singer proving her heart will go on taking the coliseum stage in las vegas for the first time since her beloved husband passed away. her powerful tribute this morning. oh, that was wonderful to see celine back on the stage last night. good morning, america. two big stories to get to, the big win for donald trump and those severe storms, sam, overnight. >> at least three dead, 27 tornadoes in 5 gulf coast states and we'll show you where they're going today. first the race for the white house. it's "your voice, your vote" and the biggest win yet for donald trump. more than 20-point victory in nevada last night. trump has won in the east, the south and now the west and join us live in a moment. runner-up marco rubio here too but first the latest from nevada