jennifer bjorkland is live and >> they really did.them in. all out in the parking lot and they were in the store and taking selfies with the clerk and high fiving each other and almost as if everyone in this whole city won, you know. everyone was having such a good time. and i've never really seen anything like it. we didn't expect that kind of response after the announcement that the ticket had been sold here at this 7-eleven. really interesting, though, first because california's announcement came first we thought maybe we had the only ticket and maybe there was a billionaire in town. everyone was really thrilled at that prospect and the idea of it, the $1.5 billion is split three ways between someone or some ticket holders in tennessee and florida doesn't take the shine off of it because this has been like a huge block party all night long. dozens of people showing up and the store clerk here is feeling pretty good that he's the one that sold the ticket because he works 12-hour shifts almost every day and the store owner has been here all

nbc 10 national correspondent jennifer bjorkland tell us more about the three big winning tickets. >>r: they didn't win, but it didn't seem to matter. they were so close and so happy for the holder of that winning ticket that came out of this machine. >> i'm very happy, i'm excited and very proud. >> reporter: dozens of people clamored towards a 7-eleven. it was a party inside the store. the owner showed up and got caught in the glee. >> it was so enjoyable, i'm so thankful to my customers that they come here. >> reporter: he gets a million dollars commission, half of which goes to 7-eleven corporate. the rest he says he'll share with his employees. winning tickets were sold in melbourne, florida, and mumford, tennessee. the jackpot nearly $1.6 billion. that's roughly $530 million each if they take the lump sum option for taxes. in ch in chino hills, california, jennifer bjorkland. >>> if you're feeling glum you didn't win, it may be a blessing in disguise. lottery winners are twice as likely to declare bankruptcy as non-winners. william post won $16 million in a pennsylvania lottery

nbc reporter jennifer bjorkland joining us live from the 7- eleven in chinao hills, california where the -- chino hills, california where the winning jackpot ticket was sold. even split three ways, still a huge jackpot. it was almost to $1.6 billion by the time the ticket sales closed down. then just right after the drawing they announced that one of the tickets, the winning jackpot ticket was sold here, people just started to show up. it was crazy. it was almost like a sporting event happening outside. like their team had won, they were chanting "chino hills." the clerks behind the counter were in a very celebratory mood. the one guy working all day today said that he works 12 hours a day and probably sold the winning ticket. i asked him if he thought maybe the store owner was going to share some of the store's winnings because they get $1 million, he said that would be nice but the store owner said they actually split that million dollars they get with the 7-eleven corporate people after taxes, still plenty left. he said he'll spread it around to some of the employees. the real win

jennifer bjorkland, nbc news. here's another look at the powerball numbers...... 4 ---8---19---27---34--- and powerball 10... no jackpot winner in iowa -- but one ticket won two million dollars and three won 100- thousand... lottery players in iowa alone bought more than 12-million dollars in tickets for last night's drawing... the countdown to caucus is down to 18 days. tonight... the republican presidential candidates face off in the first debate of 20-16.... and this debate will feature a less- crowded stage... the seven candidates that will be in the main debate are rubio....carson.... christie... bush and kasich. right now...donald trump is aggressivly targeting rival ted cruz... they're polling very close...both nationally and here in iowa and they're trying to set themselves apart. cruz is firing back at trump...saying he has "new york values".. an undercard debate will feature three more candidates -- and there will be no rand paul at being bumped from the main stage... this debate will be held in south ca

but we begin with "today in the bay" jennifer bjorkland at that chino hills 7-eleven. they're still chanting out there this morning, jen? >> they're not chanting any more. but my head is just still kind of ringing from all the excitement over night and here's the big headline jackpot and you can see that store clerk right over here is the hero. he was the hero of the evening. really, really a lot of excitement here in this store. you can feel it in the air. you still can when you walk in and this morning everybody is so, so happy for this still mystery winner who initially was believed could be the soul winner of this $1.56 billion jackpot. we found out a few more hours went by last night that there were two other winners. one in florida, one in tennessee winning tickets, that is. could be groups of people. who knows, split more than three ways. for now we have three big winners and 12 other winners who probably will get somewhere between $500,000 to $1.2 million for getting five of the ixsix numbers right. that is exciting news. if you didn't win and you're sad, here'