Overnight, china expands the mass roundup of anyone suspected of being sick with the coronavirus. And back at home, we go to the cdcs war room in atlanta as another american turns up sick. Those stories, plus, swing and a miss. Im really sorry about the choices that were made. Houston astros players finally address the teams cheating scandal, but is sorry enough . Today exclusive. Craig with four nba legends on the loss of kobe bryant. I started crying when i got the news. Their fascinating conversation, just ahead. And love is in the air. We go big on valentines day. A surprise proposal live on the rock center rink. How romantic. Today, friday, february 14th, 2020. Announcer from nbc news, this is today, with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hi, everybody. Welcome to today. And it is so nice to have you with us on a friday morning, valentines day. We love you. I love you. I love you. And by the way, this proposal on the rink is going to be epic. We got ice skaters practicing. We know she, whoever she is, is not watching in this moment. Its going to be an epic surprise for her. What a wonderful backdrop for that. Were going to start with the news. And President Trump not feeling the love from his attorney general who is one of his closest allies. In his first interview since the roger stone sentencing scandal, attorney general william barr says he was never asked to intervene in that case. And the president s tweets congratulating him for intervening in that case are making the attorney generals job, quote, impossible. Nbc White House CorrespondentPeter Alexander has the latest now. Good morning. Reporter good morning. The president attacked the prosecutors, the judge, even the lead juror in the case that ended with his friend, roger stones, conviction. Leading the attorney general to tell the president to knock it off. This morning, President Trump appears unphased, on twitter, insisting though he hasnt done so so far, he has the legal right to push william barr however he likes in criminal cases. Attorney general william barr delivering a rare rebuke of his boss, President Trump. Statements and tweets made about the department, about cases pending in the department, and about judges for whom we have cases, make it impossible for me to do my job. Reporter barr, in an interview with abc news, blasting the president s twitter attacks on the justice departments prosecution of roger stone, a longtime friend of the president s, convicted of witness tampering and lying to congress. I think its time to stop the tweeting about department of justice criminal cases. Reporter the senates Top Republican backing up barr. The attorney general says it is getting in the way of doing his job. Maybe the president should listen to the attorney general. Reporter the white house saying in a statement, the president was not bothered by the comments at all, saying that the president has full faith and confidence in attorney general barr to do his job and uphold the law. Democrats unimpressed. Speaker nancy pelosi is blasting the administration. The president is trying to manipulate federal Law Enforcement to serve his political interest. He thinks hes above the law. A. G. Barr has damaged the rule of law by withdrawing the dojs sentencing recommendation. This must be investigated. Reporter stone was facing a stiff prison sentence. Career prosecutors recommending seven to nine years, until barr overruled them to push for a lighter sentence. The attorney general insists he never discussed stones sentencing with the president. I will make those decisions based on what i think is the right thing to do. And im not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody. Reporter and says he made his decision before the president s tweet, attacking the original sentencing recommendation, as horrible and very unfair. I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me. Reporter still, barr has not explained why he intervened in the case involving the president s personal friend in the first place. Peter, the white house response, when they say the president wasnt bothered by these comments at all, i mean, that is not the normal reaction to criticism from the white house or the president. Did you get a sense that this was coordinated, or barr had given a headsup to the white house that hes going to go out there and say these things . Reporter yeah, savannah, youre right. Remember when his former chief of staff, john kelly, attacked the president . He attacked back right away in 24 hours ago. Different story this time. Aides say they knew that barr was doing this interview. They insist the president did not know it would come with a reprimand. Democrats are unconvinced. They say, dont look at what barr says but what he does and has done, they say. Repeatedly protecting the president. One of the democratic impeachment prosecutors saying, she would not be surprised if the president and the attorney general were in cahoots on barrs public statement. And remember here, perhaps most importantly, the president already got what he wanted with the justice department. The attorney general pushing for a lesser sentence for stone. Yeah. And, peter, while ive got you, the white house has another headline. New staff changes and a familiar face coming back. Someone very close to the president. Reporter youre right. The president is bringing back one of miss favorites, one of his most trusted former aides, hope hicks, who was by his side throughout the last campaign. This time, were told that hicks will be a senior adviser, expected to work alongside Jared Kushner as the white house gears up for the 2020 election this fall. Peter alexander, busy day there, as always. Thank you very much. The other major story of the morning, the plunging temperatures. Taking aim at nearly 200 million americans. Al is here with a first look at the forecast. Hey, al, good morning. 190 million of us will be below freezing. But even colder, 28 million folks are going to be below zero. In fact, right now, the dangerous cold is centered up into the plains. 26 Million People under windchill advisory. Wind chill warning. Look at the wind chills right now. 24 below in minneapolis. Feels like 12 bhe lelow in indianapolis. As we drill down, the windchills in fargo, minneapolis and green bay, you could see frostbite on exposed skin in less than 30 minutes. Thats very cold and very dangerous. Tomorrow morning, that cold air moves into the northeast, with wind chills in binghamton, zero. 9 in new york city. Minus 9 in bangor. But shortlived. Sunday, philadelphia, is 48. Charleston, 50. Up to 62 on tuesday. And nashville, youre 55 on sunday, and warming up to 66 by tuesday. Hoda . Al, thank you. Craig joins the table now. New concerns about the coronavirus. Good morning. Boom good morning to you, as well. With cases still mounting in china, officials are expanding the roundup of people who might be sick. Meanwhile, another american evacuee has been diagnosed. Dr. John torres will take us inside the cdcs war room. First, Janis Mackey Frayer has the very latest on the outbreak. Janis, good morning to you. Reporter craig, good morning. Authorities here in japan are scrambling to contain the outbreak, as the Company Country confirms its first death from the virus. The main quarantine area is here. People were allowed to come off the diamond princess. They will finish their quarantine on shore. For everyone else on that cruise ship, they are slogging through isolation and feeling the pressure. This morning, passengers are still trapped on the diamond princess. Im taking my temperature as the captain ordered. Reporter paul and Cheryl Molesky posting videos to youtube about what it is like for them on board. Sharing their predictable routine of waiting for meals. Doing chores. I love a man who scrubs the toilet. Reporter and days spent wondering about one of them getting sick. We get separated. We get separated. Which may be good, would be a good thing. Reporter more than 200 passengers and crew have tested positive for the virus so far. For hundreds more, its a matter of managing boredom. Social media providing a glimpse of what passengers eat. How they stay entertained. Today, they were given special phones to order medicine. Matthew smith from california says hes come to terms with the imposed isolation. Its not malicious. Theyre not doing this to hurt us. I cant do anything about it. I need to make the best of it. Reporter the ship is the largest cluster of infections outside of china. 1,500 miles from the epicenter in hubei province, where there is a widening dragnet to find more people infected. Some areas of hubei enacting wartime measures, while in beau ha wuhan, a degree to round up anyone suspected of being sick. An update on the other cruise ship, the one that was rejected by five countries over fears of the coronavirus, the westerdam. Its finally docked in cambodia. It stayed out at sea for a full two weeks. Today, more than 1,500 passengers were allowed to disembark. And they appeared happy to see land again. Back to you. Ill bet they were. Janis mackey frayer, thank you. Yokohama, japan. Dr. John torres is here. He just got back from atlanta you visited the cdcs war room. What is it looking like there. Theyre rounding up in china and cracking down. What are u. S. Officials doing and worried about . The biggest concern is to make sure its contained on the u. S. Mainland. Right now, were at 15 cases. Theyre doing a great job of keeping it contained, but they know it can slip through the net easily. Thats why they set up the war room. It is similar to what i did when we were in the military. That allows the people in charge to communicate quickly, across desks or aisles, instead of emails or going to different offices. Get these things contained. If i find out something is happening, if you look in the war room, theres maps across the war room walls, big maps, and shows them exactly whats happening across the country. If they find something going on, they can jump on it quickly. Symptoms include a sore throat. Im sure a lot of people have that. And we saw the couple in the piece wearing the masks. Theres conflicting info if the masks are worth it. Some people wonder if they should be protecting themselves. The masks are a little helpful is probably the best word behind this. They protect you. If somebody coughs and sneezes and they dont cover up, it mask does the job for them. The original idea behind the masks was for a surgeon. If the surgeon coughs, it doesnt get on the patient. That was the original idea behind the mask. If youre around somebody doing that, it can help a little bit, but the virus can still get through the mask. Hand washing is still the biggest thing you can do. The director of the cdc said, the coronavirus may spread asymptomatically. Meaning you can spread it and exhibit no symptoms. How surprising was that . How concerning is that to you . Thats not surprising at all. If you look at the flu, similar virus, it can spread a day before symptoms start. Thats common with these viruses. The concern is, now that we think it can spread asymptomatically before people get symptoms, more people can catch it before they quarantine somebody. Once they start symptoms, thats what they do. It makes it a little more and harder to contain. Do we know how serious it is . How virulent it is . We dont. Is it a sore throat or is it deadly . Were learning so much about this. Thats one of the reasons they set up the eoc. Dr. John, thanks. You bet. We want to turn back to politics. Hours before the president was called out by the attorney general for his tweets, we showed you that, he was locked in a twitter feud. And his target, Michael Bloomberg, the former new york city mayor who is quickly rising in the polls in the democratic president ial race and is ready to spend billions. Nbcs senior washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell has that part of the story. Andrea, good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. Mike bloombergs rising poll numbers and his unlimited spending on advertising has gotten President Trumps attention, to the delight of the bloomberg campaign, which seems to revel in getting under the president s skin. On air and online, Michael Bloomberg and President Trump, trading barbs in the battle of the billionaires. The former new york mayor saying he wont be bullied, brushing off the president s tweets referring to him as mini mike. I come from new york, just like him. Im not afraid of donald trump, and he knows it. Where i come from, you measure your height from the neckup. Reporter bloomberg giving the president a label, in a tweet, calling him a carnival barking clown that squandered a fortune with stupid deals. He was given a ninepoint advantage in a hypothetical matchup with the president. I beat trump by a bigger margin than anyone else. And ive only been in the race for 11 weeks. Just imagine what the polls will look like in 11 months from now. Reporter the president , hoping to seize on recent criticism of bloombergs past policies, going after bloombergs use of stop and frisk, a practice mr. Trump himself previously praised. What bloomberg did to the black community is a disgrace. Reporter overnight, bloomberg rallying in another super tuesday state, deep red but delegaterich texas. With backtoback rallies in houston. Im going to take the fight to donald trump all over america, including right here in texas. Reporter meanwhile, joe biden is looking to regain ground, after disappointing finishes in iowa and new hampshire. The former v. P. Chuckling when asked about bloomberg, saying he looks forward to debating him. Bloomberg likely to be on the debate stage for the first time as soon as next week, if he qualifies, as is expected, for the nbc debate in las vegas. I dont think you can buy an election. Ive been the only guy through this process so far that has been totally vetted. Reporter biden banking on victory in South Carolina, where he hopes a more diverse electorate will give his campaign a boost. But now biden has unlikely competition for the africanamerican vote in South Carolina, from billionaire tom steyer, who has been courting minority voters there. Now, the states most powerful democrat, james clyburn, tells me if biden does not win South Carolina, his candidacy will be, quote, in a very precarious position. Tom steyer poured tens of millions into the airwaves there in South Carolina. Andrea, thank you very much. We have a lot more to get to this morning, including Major League Baseballs cheating scandal. The owner of the Houston Astros has issued a new apology. And for the first time, were hearing from some of the players who were involved. Nbcs Kerry Sanders is at the teams Training Camp in west palm. Kerry, good morning. Reporter good morning. The Houston Astros won the world series in 2017. But they cheated. They got caught cheating. And now, here in the locker room at spring training, theyre apologizing on camera. Its up to fans to determine whether they believe what they hear is sincere or if the players are simply going through the motions. This morning, spring training is under way in florida. But before the scandaltarnished Houston Astros pitchers and catchers began their workout what is the message to the kids . Apologies from some of the star players who cheated. Were human beings. I know a lot of kids look up to us. Were here today to say we feel we feel really bad. Reporter in your heart, are you embarrassed . Yes. Reporter and how do you say to the fans and to the other teams that your embarrassment is enough . I think ive learned from this. I hope to regain their trust. And this team is going to work extremely hard this year to do that. Reporter the remorse the Houston Astros are world champions. Reporter in sharp contrast to the 2017 celebration after the astros won the world series. A Major League Baseball investigation found in 201718, the astros used an elaborate signstealing scheme, giving them a competitive advantage. It used cameras and a crude trash can morse code to let the batters know if a fast ball, slider, or curve ball was about to be thrown. Team owner, jim crane. Is this cheating . We broke the rules. You can phrase that any way you want. Reporter the scandal cost the teams manager and gm their jobs. Its up to new manager, dusty baker, to ensure the astros play by the rules. Is baseball stained . Baseball has been stained a couple of times. But baseball has always risen to the top. And i think baseball will rise above this, too. Reporter as fans gathered for autographs thursday, sometimes it takes a kid to remind adults life has rules. Just think that baseball is a really good sport. And i think that, like, they shouldnt be cheating. Reporter the players here say they are embarrassed. They havent faced real consequences. They continue to play. One lawsuit filed says they should at least give up their world series bonuses, which collectively would be tens of millions of dollars. Hoda . Guys . Thank you, kerry. You wonder how thats received by fans. Any indication . You listen to sports radio or watch the sports channels, not well. Thats why they continue to apologize. Its hard to get your head around the fact that theres so many people involved in a cheating scandal. And when you win the world series. Yeah. Right. Give the bonuses to charity. Thats a good idea. Theyre like you know who dont like me now. The astros players. Sorry. Al, check of the weather. Get me out of this. Too late. I love houston. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Oh. You know what . Too much coffee on the table. Dont you worry, babe. Happy valentines day. Hey, now. Audio. Theyre so ready with that sound. I like it. Lets look at our maps. Sorry about that. You spilled a whole mug. Wow. I thought there was a cap on it. Were looking at quiet weather patterns throughout much of the weekend. Thats good, once the cold air gets out of here. Mountain snows in the western plains. Sunshine through the western third of the country. Thats whats going on around the country, heres whats happening your local fore