Fracture, shes back in action. And ready for oscar. Glitz and glamour on full display tonight at the 88th academy awards. Will leo finally take home his first oscar . We have it all, today, february 28th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is today, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today, im erika hill. You guys rooting for leo tonight . I havent thought about it. Its really impressive. The film, everything that went into it, and for what he put into that role, its an impressive performance. Up for best picture, best well see how that goes. Well start with our other top story, the battle for the white house. Hillary clintons huge victory over Bernie Sanders in South Carolina on saturday, winning 74 of the vote. Bernie sanders, just 26 . This morning mrs. Clinton says she is not taking anything for granted as sanders vows he is far from out of this race. Plenty of activity on the republican side as well. We have full coverage and analysis for you. We begin with Nbcs Kristen Welker covering the democrats in South Carolina. Hi, kristen, good morning. Reporter jeff, good morning to you. Secretary clinton and senator sanders will set their sights on super tuesday states today. This race has fundamentally changed after clinton broke expectations with her overwhelming defeat of senator sanders tonight. Today secretary clinton is starting a new phase in her campaign. Thank you so much, South Carolina reporter after the lightsout defeat of Bernie Sanders saturday night. National reporter clinton now on her stronges after beating sanders by more than 50 points in the palmetto state. We are going to compete for every vote in every state. We are not taking anything and we are not taking anyone for granted. Reporter sanders ssanders, who was on a plane to minnesota as the devastating results came in, vow ed to fight on. Tuesday, over 800 delegates are at stake. And we intend to win many, many of them. Reporter perhaps the most worrying sign for sanders as they head into super tuesday, clinton captured nearly 90 of africanamericans here, an even larger percentage than barack obama won in 2008. Clinton seeming to pivot to the general election with this less than subtle swipe at donald trump. We dont need to make America Great again. America has never stopped being great. Clouds that hang over clintons campaign. Underscored on friday when a veteran pressed former president bill clinton about the benghazi attacks in 2012. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Do you do you have the courage to listen to my answer . Dont throw him out. If hell shut up and listen to my ans,weranswer, ill answer it. Reporter aides to president Clinton Point out in a video shows that he allowed that protester to go on for nearly two minutes before he cut him off. Meanwhile, secretary clinton heads to the super tuesday states of tennessee and arkansas today. Senator sanders heads to oklahoma and colorado. Jeff . Busy sunday. Kristen welker, thank you so much. With South Carolina behind us, all eyes are now on super tuesday. And thats when Hillary Clinton and donald trump could both take a major step toward becoming their partys nominees. Here is the breakdown by the numbers. A look at why this is such an important day. Residents of 12 states and American Samoa will vote on tuesday. Among those states, texas, vermont, and virginia. On tuesday, along more than 20 of all available delegates are at stake here. And, of course, it is about the delegates. Texas has the most delegates up for grabs on super tuesday. 222 delegates for the democrats, 155 for the republicans. The big question leading up to super tuesday, can anyone stop donald trump at this point . Marco rubio and ted cruz, theyre on the attack, while the Republican Party is reportedly scrambling to figure out what to do if the billionaire does become the republican nominee. Nbcs Hallie Jackson in Oklahoma City this morning. Good morning. Reporter good morning, jeff. This morning donald trump is sending a warning to the republican establishment, hes tweeting, quote, lightweight senator marco rubio to say anything to hit trump, accusing him of pushing for that. Hes also reminding them of the loyalty pledge he signed not to run as a third party. All of this as rubio picks up yet another establishment tennessee senator lamar alexander. The brawl between the republican rivals now appearing to broaden party wide. After a sudden endorsement, a quick goodbye. Get in the plane and go home. Go. Its over there. You go home. Reporter Chris Christie taking off, but it is the insults flying between donald trump and marco rubio. Hes flying around on Hair Force One and tweeting. Thank god he has really large ears. The biggest ears ive ever seen. Because they were protecting him. A guy with the worst spray tan in america is attacking me for putting on makeup. Reporter rubio matching his on stage hits with online ones, his campaign launching trump slams. Com with super tuesday just 48 hours away. Trump on top looking to all but lock up the nomination. A lot of outsiders are coming in because they like what i say. The states are giving the and reagan and the conservative moment and the United States over to a con artist. Ill stay in this race as long as it takes. Reporter maybe all the way to a contested convention, rubio ready for it, even as Establishment Republicans worry his tough new tone may be too late. The New York Times reporting a frantic scramble to try to slow trump down. The attacks against him escalating. Now, it doesnt hurt that he inherited 200 million from his daddy. Thats a very good way to get rich, pick the right daddy. Reporter ted cruz overnight releasing his tax returns and rubio has too, putting pressure on trump to do the same. This is a man who prides himself on not getting scared of anything, so what is it hes scared about handing over his tax returns . Tax returns dont mean anything about work. Just so you understand. And you never give a tax return when youre being audited. Reporter the frontrunner on defense, but in polls, still dominating. Will, of course, be blanketing super tuesday states today. And watch where they are to get a little bit of a sense of strategy. Ted cruz after oklahoma here where the wind has been sweeping down the plain will head to texas. Hes spending a lot of time there tomorrow and tu lot of time it is his home state. He has to win. You have marco rubio in virginia today, where it looks more favorable for him than some of those deep south states where well find donald trump. Guys . Hallie jackson, thanks so much. Meet the press and joins us from washington. Good morning. Good morning, erica. There is so much to talk about in terms of super tuesday and numbers. One thing that we cant seem to ignore here is what this race has become. These really juvenile insults, like playground talk, have you ever seen anything this is the race for the highest office in the land. Has it been this bad . Race for the highest office in the land and having the lowest moments possible. It is completely devolved. You have to ask yourself there debate when the three of them, cruz, rubio and trump, three frontrunners, and so talking over each other and it lasted for about 30 seconds and i sat there, i couldnt picture any of them taking the oath of office on the steps of the capitol. None of them looked president ial. To see that, i watched all that stuff yesterday between trump and rubio. I mean, literally were making the only thing missing was a your mama joke. And, you know, you say this and want to laugh about it, but it was incredibly uncomfortable. It is a total insultathan. There is a lot of talk and reports that there is infighting win the Republican Party, theyre trying to figure out what to do if trump becomes the nominee. Marco rubio saying hell take this fight for the nomination to the convention floor. Senator Mitch Mcconnell saying, quote, elhell be dropped like a hot rock if hes the nominee. What is the plan in the raine party . Theyre paralyzed. Part of the problem is neither rubio nor cruz have done the republican insiders comfortable, rallying around either one of them. Obviously rubio seems to be the one that has more potential to get all of this establishment support behind him, but there seems to be a hesitance on that front as well. Hes not getting influx of cash. Youre not seeing a flood of endorsements. It is a trickle. It is a total paralysis. And i think that now you have a party that you have leaders that are now worried that the party is going to completely splinter because you do have a number of conservative intellectuals saying they will never support trump. And, of course, if that happens, that ends up guaranteeing Hillary Clinton victory in the white house. So the party is in desperate straits right now. As Hallie Jackson reported, trump is tweeting this morning again, taking to twitter, his favorite platform and he just actually tweeted again, i am the only republican who will get large numbers of dems and independents crossover and states that no other republicans can get. Is there some truth to that, though . Is truth he will make some states more competitive than a traditional republican nominee. He is going to overperform if hes the nominee in a pennsylvania, perhaps even a massachusetts, a connecticut, new jersey. I dont think he can carry any of those states, though. Instead of a republican losing those states by 10, maybe trump loses them by five. But the problem is for every improvement he makes in the north, with, say, working class white voters, he loses hispanics in a place like arizona, georgia, north carolina, thats where the electricaloral vote comes in the democrats favor. We could talk about this all morning. We have to move on. The good news is you have more coming up, chuck. Well catch you in a little bit on meet the press. Chucks guests again, a little more on meet the press, chucks guests will include donald trump, Bernie Sanders and ted cruz and a reminder on super tuesday, nbc is the place to be. Join lester holt, chuck todd and Savannah Guthrie for live coverage and analysis for the it starts at 10 00, 9 00 central. Some tragic news to report overnight, three officers shot, one of them killed while they were pursuing a suspect in virginia. Sheinelle has more on that. Jeff, good morning. It was officer ashley guindons first day on the job after being sworn in on friday. As the Community Mourns her loss, a suspect is in custody this morning. Just after 5 30 p. M. , Prince William county police were called to respond to a domestic shooting in wood bridge, virginia, arginia, a suburb just outside of washington, d. C. Were really assessing the situation inside the residence, our officers were shot. One officer down two. Is. 13051. 13051, Lashmere Court for doe midwestic. We have three confirmed hits. I want to be clear, do we shooting . We have three officers that have been shot. Reporter neighbors in the were shocked. I look down the street, and i saw a whole bunch of officers around someone and the ground. We had a total of three officers that were shot and wounded in this incident. All three have been transported to fairfax hospital. Reporter one of those officers, ashley guindon, was just sworn in on friday. Later, a somber facebook update by the Prince William county police, announcing that guindon had died from her injuries. One of the officers involved in tonights incident has passed. Reporter just one day on the job. She was sworn in yesterday and her shift was this was her first day working. So it the whole thing is just tragic. Reporter the gunman was taken into custody unharmed at the home where the initial shooting took place. His identity has not yet been released. Ashley guindon had previously served in the u. S. Marine corps and has family members in law enforcement. Jeff . Sheinelle, thank you. A Church Service will be as residents gather to pray for the victims of thursdays shooting rampage. One of those wounded in the gunfire is 21yearold Melissa Torres who spoke exexclusively with nbc news about the terror of that day. We heard about five shots outside, five big bangs. The married mother of two had just begun her shift at excel industries when she came face to face with a gunman. At first i kept thinking this isnt real, this isnt happening, this cant be happening, and i realized i was shot, i seen blood gushing from my hand and i just kept thinking, i have to run, i have two daughters. A bullet fractured melissas hand, a bullet fragment pierced her hip. She says she is grateful to be alive but her peace of mind has been shattered. Three stabbing victims are in stable condition this morning after a Southern California ku klux klan rally turned into a bloody brawl. Protesters had gathered when six kkk members drove up. Stepped out of their car, demonstrators attacked. Fists started flying. And so did knives. One member of the separatist group even used a flagpole as a weapon. In all, five people were injured, four transported to the hospital. There were also 12 arrests. Dylan is here with a check of your sunday forecast. Good morning. Good morning, guys. Nice warm day all across the country. Temperatures will continue to soar, especially back through the plains. Want to point out l. A. Where we have got the oscars later on today and hollywood, temperatures look nice and mild. We should be in the mid70s on the red carpet. Mostly sunny, light winds about as good as you can get out that way. We have got this warm air pouring in from the south. It is going to feel more like spring. Denver should make it up to 63 today. 70 in wichita. 17 degrees above average. Down along the gulf coast, temperatures running in the 70s. Up and down east coast, 60s. Through raleigh, atlanta, 59 degrees today in new york city. So temperatures will remain above average. We do have this front, this will cause a couple of lighter especially through the northern great lakes where it is cooler. Otherwise, it is not and thats your latest forecast. Dylan, thanks so much. As you know, a huge night in hollywood tonight as the stars turn out for the 88th academy awards. Tonight could see some firsts as well as some controversy. Nbcs joel gar julio has more. Good morning, jeff. How are you, guys. The stage is set, red carpet from hollywoods biggest night. The glitz and glam was overshadowed by controversy this year, sure to play into chris rocks hands. Tell me the difference between stupid and illegal. The movies. The moments. This is super cool. The neverending marathon of alisters parading down red carpet. Award season comes to a crescendo tonight as the oscars are finally here. Lets do this. Reporter all eyes now on host chris rock as everyone is waiting to see how he handles the controversy clouding this years show. 20 actor nominees, all white, the second year in a row. The usually outspoken comedian has been silent on the matter. Right now im concentrating on the movies. The subjects that are big in hollywood. Reporter despite the drama off screen, two actors emerged as odds on favorites. For the women, it is brie larson who plays a kidnapped mother in room. I know. Reporter for the men, it is the revenants Leonardo Dicaprio. After a near awards season sweep, momentum is finally on dicaprios side. The 41yearold has been up for best actor four times before, but hes never wov. Critics say this is his year, thanks to his harrowing performance in the revenant. Is there any way we do not hear Leonardo Dicaprios name sunday night . Hes got it sewn up, locked, write his name on the envelope now, it is happening. Reporter his director Alejandro Inarritu is favored to win in his category. If that happens, it will be the first time a director takes home backtoback oscars in 65 years. Playing rocky for a seventh time, Sylvester Stallone is duking it out in one of the closest races of the night. Show me something. I think stallone will win an oscar. Isnt that great . 39 years ago, rocky won best for playing rocky balboa. 39 years later, hes back. Reporter as for the best supporting actress category, everyone is pretty much has a shot. Were more likely to hear Alicia Vikander or kate winslet. Youre going to fix it now. Reporter it is a three way race for best picture, leading up to the academy awards, the Producers Guild picks the big short. I love my job. You hate your job. I love my job. Reporter the screen actors guilt went with spotlight. Get the system. It is time, robbie. Reporter and the revenant reigned supreme with the directors guild. Ever shifting favorites, setting the stage for an unforgettable night. So what does vegas think about tonights oscars . According to online gambling. Lv, it comes to best picture, the revenant leads with 3 to 1 odds. Spotlight number two with 7 to 2 odds and big short is 7 to 1. As for best actor, it is a virtual lock for leo. Hes the overwhelming favorite redmayne could be his competition with 9 to 1 odds and in case youre wond are how matt damon is doing in this, his odds are 29 to 1. He was great in the martian. He was fabulous. It is the year of leo, though. I see that as a potential to make money, bet on damon and make some cash if he wins. Big if. Still to come on today, erin andrews set to take the stand in her 25 Million Hotel peepin here in the city, parking is hard to find. Seems like everyone drives. And those who do should switch to geico because you could save hundreds on car insurance. Ah, perfect. Valet parking. Hello heres the keys. And, uh, go easy on my ride, mate. Hm, wouldnt mind some of that beef wellington. To see how much you could save on car insurance, go to geico. Com. Ah car alarm sounds cri