Our lab. They are going to study it. Could it be the murder weapon in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman or just another sideshow more than 20 years later . Zika warning. A new study shows the zika virus may be even more dangerous than originally thought. Researchers now saying the virus is linked to a host of birth defects al t all stages of pregnancy. And unmasked . The artist known as banksy has spent his career anonymously spraypainting his work around the world. Now a popular crimefighting tool may have figured out who he is. So, has the artist been revealed . Today, saturday, march 5th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is today live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And welcome to today on this saturday morning. Im erica hill. Glad to have you with us. Im craig melvin alongside chanel jones, dylan dreyer is its nice to have you back in the studio. Youve been on the road a lot. Good to be back. And really talking to voters. Nashville, tennessee to start the week, finished in hamilton county, southern ohio, cincinnati. Let me tell you, wherever you are on the political spectrum, lots of interest in this race. Lots of interest in this race on both sides. Thats good for us, because its our top story this morning. Voters in five states will have their say today. Heres a look at whos voting on this saturday. Kansas residents will caucus on both sides. Republicans will caucus in maine and kentucky, while democrats will caucus in nebraska. And there is also one primary being held today. That one in louisiana, where both republicans and democrats will head to the polls. So much at stake, as both donald trump and Hillary Clinton try to maintain those leads. We have you covered on both sides. We begin this morning with nbcs jacob rascon, whos following the republicans, where the field has now dropped down to four with dr. Ben carson suspending his campaign. Jacob, good morning. Reporter erica, good morning. Despite desperate and to stop trumps momentum, he is the favorite to win in every state out with a poll as some look at his shifting positions and ask and wonder, who is the real donald trump . Donald trump is playing by his own rules again. Skipping the conservative cpac conference for a lastminerally in kansas, where the latest poll shows ted cruz catching up. This after a stunning week in american politics of virtual civil war within the Republican Party. Its former nominee, mitt romney, joining a chorus of establishment leaders condemning the frontrunner and refusing to vote for him. Im going to do everything within the normal political bounds to make sure that we dont nominate donald trump. Reporter the latest complaint, trumps repeated flipflops on immigration, suddenly arguing that highly skilled, Foreign Workers should be able to stay. Im changing. Im changing. We need highly skilled people in reporter then releasing a statement, switching back. And on torture if i say do it, theyre going to do it. Reporter trump now telling the wall street journal he will not order a military officer to disobey the law. Now ten days and 13 states before the billionaire business mogul could be unbeatable or a contested convention could be all but inevitable. Once again, its up to voters still flocking to trump rallies in record numbers, followed closely by scores of protesters. And all republicans are Campaign Campaigning in the decisionday states today. Trump is leading in those states by double digits, except for kansas, and he is moving on past today to florida, a mustwin state for marco rubio, where he and ted cruz are now spending big. Erica . Jacob rascon for us this morning. Jacob, thanks. To the democrats now, where Hillary Clinton is looking to hold her considerable lead over Bernie Sanders in todays races. Detroit, michigan. Kristen, good morning to you. Reporter craig, good morning to you. Senator sanders is hoping to gain some momentum today. His aides tell me the states that vote today and in the coming weeks are actually more favorable to him. Meanwhile, the Clinton Campaign downplaying expectations. Team sanders says they think they have a good shot at winning kansas. They think that nebraska could be a close race. Both states have more of the white, workingclass voters that tend to favor sanders. Clinton is looking strong in louisiana and that could be part of her southern firewall with a large africanamerican population. Meanwhile, clinton pressed again on her emails after her former staffer, bryan pagliano, struck an immunity deal with the fbi and told investigators her server was never hacked. Heres clinton in an exclusive Cnbcs John Harwood. This is the same security review that has been going on since last spring. Information, because i think that will finally end this and appropriate steps were taken. Reporter clinton and sanders will face off in a debate in flint, michigan, tomorrow night. Ides tell me he is going to go on the attack over trade issues. That resonates here in the nations heartland. Secretary clinton previewing her possible line of y she called on sanders and gop frontrunner donald trump to release credible economicrica, back to you. Kristen welker for us this thank you. Harold ford jr. Is a former tennessee congressman and nbc news political analyst. Senior editor at Business Insider as well as an nbc news contributor. Always good to have you both with us this morning. Good morning. Good mornin at whats happening today, we ran through at the top of the show the five states where voters will be making their voices heard today. Trump won 7 of the 11 contests on super tuesday butnally has not done as well when it comes to a caucus versus a primary. A marco rubio, a ted cruz, a john kasich i think so. Kansas is a state that should be demographically favorable for either marco rubio or for ted cruz. And as you note, auc difficult to vote in, donald trump is more reliant on weekly attached voters, its easier to get them out in primary. That rump ahead in kansas. What ill be watching is, is trump able to win in kansas in a way he couldnt win in iowa, oklahoma . And looking at louisiana, the one primary state, the polls have trump ahead anywhere from 12 to 20 points. If he puts margin like that, it will continue the margins he had on super tuesday and if he continues them across the map, nomination with the majority of delegates. If its narrow, it will be a sign of trouble for trump. Im wondering if the otherake advantage of a tough week for trump, the optics around him. I thought that romney gave a speech that a democratic it was scathing and well see that in ads in november, make no mistake about it. And counter from trump was not nearly as tough as its beenn people come after him. I think josh is right, the caucuses favor him, he should do well in louisiana, but for the first time in this race, this hat there was a wound with trump. Whether it manifests itself today is unclear, but clearly, as we get to florida and ohio, if rubio and kasich can winive states, their home states, i think this idea that trump could find some trouble may be gaining some steam. But the datas got to be shown to i spent a lot of time talking to trump voters in your home state, tennessee, this week, and ohio as well. And i pick up the times this mon louisiana that seemed to echo the sentiment that i heard. Ill read a snippet of it. This is from a woman down in louisiana. She said theres of trump shooting my daughter in the street and my grandchildren there is nothing and nobody thats going this is a woman named Louise Butler here. Have you ever seen a candidate with this kind of hold over his supporters . No. This is the weirdest think not just of my lifetime but going back a ways before i was born. You know, this was the 11th debate. Ive given up on saying donald himself in this debate, donald trump went too far this time. I think weve learned that lesson. Obviously, there is something donald trump can do that would shake his voters away from him, but im not convinced that any of the things that happened this week i mean, sort of peoplelined to listen to mitt romney when he says you have to be grown up and not vote for this guy, they were already not going to vote for trump. And this woman who voted forime around said she found his speech she was disgusted and found it disgraceful, the way he was coming out. The key not if you look at the vote outside of what trump has gotten, the 60, 70 , wherever it might have been, whatever the state will that vote . Didnt feel right for him this week. And youre right, ive felt he performed poorly debate after debate, but hes come back numbers have gone up, but today well get more data and well see. But i have to say, mrs. Clinton has to be feeling that some of the stuff said about trump in thatey can be used with some independents and independent republicans, if you know the difference between the two and what im saying. Nice to have you with us. Harold ford jr. And josh barro,r insight this morning. Meantime, police in los angeles are scouring a new piece of potential evidence today possibly connected to o. J. On friday, l. A. Police revealed that a knife had been found buried on simpsons former property and was not turned over until recently. Possibly be the murder weapon . Nbcs Steve Patterson is outside o. J. s former home with more on what police are saying about that knife. Steve, good morning. Y, craig, good morning to you. So, the officer who originally received that knife decided to leading a lot of people to ask, why . Well, i spoke to his attorney, who said his client tried toing. O. J. Simpson is inside the car. Reporter its back, all the drama from the o. J. Simpson if it doesnt fit, you must acquit. Reporter the case already back in pop culture. The new tenpart fx miniseriestting big ratings. We need to bring in Johnnie Cochran and we need to do it now. No. Reporter now once again, the story in reallife headlines. The latest chapter, the a knife found years ago on the land where simpson once lived. So, it has been submitted to our lab. O study it. Reporter Law Enforcement sources tell nbc news it is described as a small utilitystyle knife, commonly used in landscaping. The knife, they say, is not consistent with the weapon used in the 1994 murders of nicole brown and ron goldman, looking into it. That is still open and ongoing. Reporter Los Angeles Police say one of their officers got the knife from a construction worker on simpsons former property while working offduty at a movie shoot across the street. Attorney, trent copeland, says his client did the right thing. He did what i think every person would have done under the circumstances, is that you call them make the call, and they made the call. And the call was, look, this doesnt have any value to us, its not ter retired detective tom lang, who worked on the original murder case, doesnt by it. Why would someone sit on a knife, especially a cop who should know reporter Carter Douglas was part of simpsons defense team. Thats pure fantasy. Id rather be talking about the easter bunny instead. Reporter and in at from the family of ron goldman goldman, saying in part, the validity of the knife as it relates to ron and nicoles murder is purely so, several experts have chimed a link proven between this knife and the 1994 murders, still say that it would be impossible, nearly impossible, for o. J. To be retried because of the countrys double jeopardys under the fifth amendment. Yet, its work that is still being done, investigators looking into this. Its work that could take some time, though. Craig . Steve patterson for ugeles this morning. Steve, thank you. Ari melber is msnbcs chief Legal Correspondent and joins us this morning with more. As steve just pointed out, double jeopardy, o. J. Simpson could not be charged again with murder. Are there any other charges, though, that could stem from this discovery, potentially . This is a fascinating and weird development in the o. J. Simpson case. It is unlikely that anything would happen to him, as you say. That if this knife was used in the underlying double homicide in any way, that it could lead to charges for someone else or some sort of case, beyond what george maycot, this is the officer who says that he called the lapd that knight, the watch commander. Watch commander essentially says, theres nothing we can do, we cant prosecute him again, and sends him on his merry way. Is this officer in any sort legal trouble . Well, this officer definitely made a mistake at minimum, because you dont want any around. So, thats why this is another example where this case had so much in it, its captivated people, but it also has openedstions about how policing works and how the mistakes are made, and if this is what happens in a case with high scrutiny, whats happening the rest of the time . Yes, if there was any malice or malfeasance, a deliberate idea of obstructing justice, that could potentially come down the line, but i doubt it. Ill also say, look, in any murder investigation, the things you want to look at are physical evidence at the scene of the crime and a murder weapon. It was always an issue that no murder weapon was found in this case. Based on what we know, its hat this is the actual ari melber, we enjoy having you around so much, well bring you back next hour and talk about that highprofile casek hogan thats heading to court over a sex tape. Thank you, craig. Bestselling Author Pat Conroy has died. Conroy turned his troublednto emotional novels like the prince of tides, the great san teenie and the lords of discipline. All three of those were turned into major e story, like his books, centered around surviving a brutal father who beat him, his mother and six siblings. When the 70yearoldad pancreatic cancer just three weeks ago, he wrote ive spent my whole writing life trying to find out who i am, and i dont believee close. In tennessee, it is now up to a jury to decide if popular sportscaster erin andrews should get videotaped her naked in her hotel room and then posted it on the internet. Nbcs morgan the areaford has ing. Were standing outside of the courthouse here in nashville. And after yesterdays closing arguments, the case is now with the verdict as early as monday. After two weeks of trial and emotional closing arguments shes living a reporter for sportscaster erin andrews, it all comes down to this. We wont begin deliberations until monday morning atter shes suing for 75 million, and now the jury must consider seven days of testimony, 22 witnesses and 49 pieces of evidence, all to manager and former owner of the Vanderbilt Marriott nashville should pay andrews for her emotional distress. This will always bell always be a reminder every single day. Reporter after she was secretly filmed eight years ago by convicted stalkerbarrett. They embrace barrett the same way they enabled barrett. Counsels trying to tie my to the criminal, but they had nothing to do with that guy. Issue, whether the hotel did enough to stop him. This could have been reporter andrews lawyers say the reservations confirmed andrews was staying there, even accommodating barretts he typed in yes, request to room next to erin andrews. Reporter the hotel says they did notm number and was manipulated to give him the room next door. Criminals find ways to get around systems and exploit systems, and thats what reporter now its up to the jury of seven women and five men to decide if andrews should be paid. Its a difficult process for a juror to determine these of damages because theres no formula for it. Reporter for emotional damages. For emotional damages. Its just its difficult, but that reporter a job to come up with a verdict that should be quite significant. Reporter and possibly a number. G, when this verdict to say, one, if erin andrews should be paid, and two, if so, how much, and three, by u. Morgan radford for us this morning in tennessee. Morgan, thank you. There is scary news this morning about the zika virus. A new study in the new englandof medicine reports the disease may actually be worse than scientists imagined. According to that study, zika may cause more birth defects microcephaly and it is believed it causes defects morn the beginning as first believed. Well go through this with the director of allergy and Infectious Diseases next hour. Dylan dreyers here. Re dealing with some wet stuff. Yeah, they had a bit of a dry spell, but were going to get more wet weather moving in,orms. You can see them developing over the pacific. You can see the swirls, the areas of low pressure. These will be the reasons why well see heavy rain, especially state through oregon and into northern and central california. Of rain moving east of seattle and stretching down into where we could see a couple of inches of rain, but its not just rain, its heavy mountain snow with 2 to 4 feet possible in the sierra. And look at all this brownyour wind advisories and high Wind Warnings. We could see gusts up near 50 to 60 miles per hour. So, as we go through the day today, well see thisrain move l in later on today through sunday morning and then well get a break before the Second System sunday night and monday morn one looks weaker, so the majority of the problems well see will be with the first round of rain, but we could end up with 5 to 7 inches of rainfall. That could lead to some get, in the thats your latest forecast. All right, dylan, thank you. The mogul and the model tied the knot just moments ago in london. Billionaire media magnetrdoch married jeri hall, the famous ex of mick jagger. Family and celebrities began ing. The couple officially married friday at spencer house, home of princess dianas family. Murdoch is 84. H marriage. Hall is 59. Her marriage to jagger was declared invalid in 1959. If you are familiar with the banksy, you know he anonymously travels the world spraypainting his sometimes controversial art evees. Hes never publicly shown his face. Now, though, banksy may have to a little help from science. Nbcs kelly c from london to explain. Kelly, good morning. Reporter good morning, erica. Yeah, this is the science used to find criminals, instead used to catch an artist, behind this, banksy. And Scientists Say theyre 90 sure they have their man. From london to new to gaza, its been stolen, auctioned, covered up for being too controversial. Last summer, banksys artme alive. Welcome to dismalland. Reporter at dismalland, his dreary take on the socalled happiest place on earth, making fun of fun. But