Our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it. Are the races all but over . Our Political Team weighs in. Breaking overnight. Word that president obama will nominate a Supreme Court justice ore scalia this morning. Will the nominee have a chance of being confirmed . A College Student gets 15 years of hard labor in north korea overnight. His crime, allegedly trying to steal a banner. The trial lasting just an hour. Does he have any hope of getting out and getting home . A day after free styling with the president. Potus, im free styling Linmanuel Miranda is taking matt lauer, yeah, im jack bauer this you have to hear today, tuesday, march 16th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a wednesday morning. Breaking news all over the place. President obama ready to nominate a replacement for Supreme CourtJustice Antonin Scalia one month after his death. We will bring this announcement to you live when it happens, as if we needed any more reminder of the stakes of this president ial election. Thats where we begin. Big night for donald trump and Hillary Clinton in the president ial race. Theyre inching closer to their partys nominations. Trump notched victories in florida, North Carolina, illinois and missouri. While Ohio Governor john kasich took his home state, only win of the race so far. Down for the republicans. Trump extending his lead, now up to 656. Followed by ted cruz, marco rubio, who dropped out of the race, and governor kasich. In the democratic race, Hillary Clinton bounced back from last weeks loss in michigan. She swept all five states last night. Her delegate lead over sanders, more than 700. Were going to talk to governor kasich live in a couple minutes and break down the nights results with our decision 2016 team. First, lets begin our coverage with nbc National Correspondent peter alexander. Peter, long night. Good morning. Yeah, it was a long night. Matt, good morning to you. The next time donald trump is here in cleveland may be as the republican nominee at the convention this summer. Another huge night for him. Going four of five, racking up a ton of delegates. More than halfway to the magical number he needs to clinch the nomination. The only other candidate celebrating last night, john kasich. Republican in the race. Reporter then there were three. I have to thank the people of the great state of ohio. I love you. Reporter john kasich boasting a big win at home, denying donald trump a clean sweep and drawing a stark contrast. I will not take the low road to the highest office in the land. Reporter earlier, vowing to take his campaign to the convention back here in cleveland. Im going to keep doing what im doing, because i think people really do appreciate the positive message. Reporter trump basking in victory. This was an amazing evening, great evening. Reporter widening his delegate lead by winning the grand prize of florida, knocking out marco rubio, who was touted as the establishments best chance to beat the billionaire. Trump trawling rubio on twitter hours after he exited the race. I believe with all my heart primary next tuesday will be the nominee of the Republican Party. Thanks, marco, trump vote. We agree. It will not leave us a fractured party, theyre going to leave us a fractured nation. Reporter ted cruz telling Hallie Jackson its a twoman race. Head to head is a nightmare for donald trump because 2 3 of republicans recognize hes not the best candidate to go against clinton because he loses against Hillary Clinton. Reporter mocks s s s s s s still. I have to explain to the people, they dont understand basic physics, basic mathematics, basic whatever you want to call it. Reporter surrounded by family and staff, trump gave credit to his campaign manager, who is still under investigation for allegedly grabbing a reporter last week. While tuesdays event was billed thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Reporter trump left the stage without taking a single question. One of the statistics out of last night is the fact that donald trump was able to barrel through antitrump ads. More than 20 million spent against him across the five super tuesday states. Peter alexander, thank you very much. Governor john kasich is with us on the phone. Good morning. Good morning. Congratulations on your win. This was a big one. I know you were hoping to win. It was a mustwin for you. Is any part of your feeling this morning a big sigh of relief . Well, no, not really. I mean, really, its a good accomplishment accomplishment. Its remarkable, isnt it . Lived in ohio, came in here and trashed me, and he lost. Let me tell you, neither cruz nor trump can win the general election. You know, they cant come into ohio with the philosophies they you cant win ohio, you cant be president. What well be doing is were going to now start to get the attention, were starting to rise around the country. When people look at my record of job creation in washington, job creation in ohio, bringing people together, reminding people were americans before were republicans and democrats and having common sense solutions, weve been able to do well. We have a ways to go, to make sure were going to be traveling everywhere. Well have a national campaign, and ill be the nominee. Ill ask you about that. I swore there would be no math, but if you win every delegate from here on out, you still dont meet the magic number of 1,237, which means it would have to be the result of a contested convention. Can you explain to people who support you, how are you going to pull that off . Nobody is going to get enough delegates to win at the convention. Everyone is going to fall short. That was what was so big about basically, for those people that wanted to have some sort of common sense in this election, when they wanted somebody that could raise the bar, you know, i refused to take the low road to the highest office. If you see these guys fighting on the stage, it was absolutely unbelievable, what was going on there. Nobody is going to have enough delegates. When we get there, the delegates will have to figure out, number one, who can run the country, who has the record and, three, who can win. Nobody is going to have the required number of delegates, thats your prediction. One person who, mathematically, can get the required number of delegates, and thats donald trump. Let me ask you this way would you be willing to actively cooperate with ted cruz and his campaign to make sure that donald trump does not get to 1,237 and then take your chances at the convention . Well, look, i dont have any intention of doing anything country and telling people about my message. In terms of whether campaigns will speak or not, i dont know. I dont get in the middle of that. Im not a political operative. Im a candidate. But as the guy on the masthead, you wouldnt be involved in that discussion . Look, i can tell you, all i can tell you about this, matt, is im out there running to the president. Im not out to stop donald trump or stop anybody else. By winning yesterday in ohio, ive dealt him a very, very big blow to being able to have the number of delegates. If you want to talk about mathematics and you want to talk about probability, and really look at it hard and let me tell you the biggest probability, they cant win a general election for either of these guys. Thats the biggest probability we have. Lets end on saying congratulations on your win in ohio. I appreciate you guys. Hampshire and i said wed keep going. I appreciate the people of ohio for allowing me to do this. After the country hears about my record, i think well continue to rise. God bless our country. Governor, thank you very much for being with us. On the democratic side, it was a huge night for Hillary Clinton, as we said. She swept all five contests. A major step toward clinching the nomination. Clinton used her victory speech to take direct aim at the republican front runner, donald trump. Nbcs Kristen Welker is in miami with more on that. Good morning. Good morning to you. Secretary clinton wakes up this morning as the strong Democratic Front runner, after losing michigan last week. She proved last night she can compete in every corner of the country. It was a major blow to senator Bernie Sanders, whose path to the nomination got a whole lot tougher. Hillary reporter this morning, Hillary Clinton celebrating a clean sweep. For our campaign. Reporter clinton defiing ingdefying expectation expectations. The buck yn eye state giving her a significant victory in what was expected to be a tight race. Were closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in november reporter overnight, clinton managed to seal the deal in two more states. The apparent winner in missouri and illinois. Despite a sanders advertising glitch, clinton carried three states by double digits. In phoenix, arizona, sanders showed no signs of letting up. Dont let people tell you that you cant think big. Reporter or giving up. Next week, arizona has a very important election. We will win if the voter turnout is high. Thank you all very much reporter but clinton is also looking to arizona. Today, releasing this new Spanish Language ad. And leaving no doubt shes also setting her sights on donald trump, the man who may be her next competitor. Our commander in chief had to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it. Campaign officials acknowledge the steep odds. In order for sanders to ome back, he has to win big states like new york and pennsylvania, and winning them by huge mar zwrin margins. Still, he can stay in the race as long as he wants to. Kristen, thank you very much. Lets dive further into this with chuck todd. Nbcs political director and moderator of meet the press. Nicolle wallace, political analyst, and mark, the managing give me your headline from last night. I think youll hear a deafening roar in the Republican Party about the prospects of a brokered convention. Itll take place at the same time that trump has done nothing but strengthen himself. There is a disconnect between the conversation the republicans are having and the reality. The republican establishment died last night. The republican establishment is shockingly willing now to let donald trump be the nominee. Theyre resigned to it, and theyll focus on trying to hold the house and the senate. Let me pick up on that. Nicolle, we talk about the stages of grief at the table. The bargaining, the anger. She does it all on a daily basis. Exactly. As our establishment republican, is it acceptance phase . If Establishment Republicans are saying, we accept it, does that mean were accepting were probably going to lose the white house in 2016 . I think it is a healthy acceptance of the will of the voters. Our voters are speaking at the top of their lungs, and theyre the appropriate and civilized place. Ted cruz had a terrible night last night. He had the possibility of having the Republican Party start to coalesce around him, until he lost everything last night. John kasich, hed been hanging around on the sidelines, mark, for a long time. He steps up and wins his home state of ohio. Does he get some kind of slingshot effect from that, that carries him further . I think he has 72 hours to show the establishment and the voters that hes a viable person here. His argument about the general election is powerful, but the delegates is more powerful. He cant win a majority now, and itll be up to cruz and kasich to say, theyre the stop trump movement. Not meetings in washington. Its not campaign ads. Its not web campaigns. Can either of them stop trump . Im spectacle but they have a window to try. On the times this morning, yes, trump and clinton had big resounding triumphs matched an unusual reality, most Americans Still dont like him or her. The most striking numbers in the exit polls were and i look at the battleground states voting ohio, florida and North Carolina. A full third of republican primary voters, when asked if trump and clinton are the nominees, will you be satisfied or consider a third party, over 40 of republicans in ohio said third party. 39 of North Carolina republicans said third party. 30 of florida republicans. Look, there is an antitrump appetite out there. Theres just no messenger to tap into it. Ted cruz was horrendous last night in his attempt to put the party together. Thanks for setting me up. Ill say two words. Give me your first reaction. Super fast. The two words are paul ryan. Last gasp. If the convention blows up, missed his window. Part of whats happening now, acceptance that trump will be the nominee, barring some huge, unforeseen circumstance. Thank you very much. Meanwhile, i want to bring up something that happened on this show on tuesday. Donald trump apparently contradicting himself when he joined both us and our friends over at abc by phone. This is what happened. He talked to abc first, before their show. They asked him about that advertisement that showed women quoting things, quotes of mr. Trump. Heres what he said when asked about that ad. Have you seen that and what did you make of it . I have seen it, and it was romney deal. A couple minutes later, he appeared live on this show. Heres what he had to say. Obviously, i have not seen the ad, so i have would have to see it. Ive heard about the ad, but i have not seen the ad. Does this matter . When a guy contradicts himself within a couple of minutes, do pretrump, that used to be the thing that tripped up a campaign. Took two days to explain it to people like chuck and mark. In the posttrump era, he contradicts himself within a news cycle. Which was within the hour of the morning shows. Hour . Five munn inutes. Yeah. This is politics in the age of trump. The Fact Checkers are irrelevant irrelevant. In trumps power, in his trust he has with the supporters, the Supporters Trust trump more than the media. You asked before about whether republicans were resigning themselves to losing the general election if trump is the nominee. They believe Hillary Clinton is so weak that trump could beat her. Part of what theyre drawing on is the fact that trump flies above stuff like this and maybe he would against Hillary Clinton in the general election. We live in a posttruth political world. Donald trump is the poster child. We have gone past our allotted time here. Exactly. Were eating into the nightly newss time. Well have more in the next half hour. North koreas highest Court Sentenced an american College Student to 15 years of hard labor in prison. He was convicted of subversion and sentenced after a onehour trial. He appeared disoriented and led through the courthouse. The university of virginia student was arrested during a tour group visit in january. North korea says he confessed to trying to steal a political banner from his hotel. Former u. N. Ambassador is reportedly working for his release. Another story this morning, severe weather. Outbreak of tornadoes across the midwest. While the south deals with some devastating flooding. Many neighborhoods underwater, including one texas town coping with the worst flooding in more than half a century. Nbc National CorrespondentMiguel Almaguer is there. Good morning. Good morning. Were at the edge of the flood zone in texas, down the foggy thats been completely destroyed. This isnt the only state thats seeing wild weather. The midwest has also been in the bulls eye. Reporter overnight, nine reports of tornadoes in parts of the midwest. Storm chasers capturing twisters near good hope, illinois. High winds and thunderstorms causing golf ball sized hail to pound parts of the state. Residents there hunker down for more storms forecasted today. This morning in dewy ville, texas, many are waking up to catastrophic damage, after flood waters crested overnight. Hundreds of homes in one town are waterlogged. 1,200 people ordered to evacuate. Jaces family tried to save their home and was lucky to walk away with their cat. Water went right over. Destroyed everything . Yeah. Reporter homes along highway 12 have been swamped with up to churches here for decades will need prayers for their own salvation. The only Grocery Store in town is seeing historic flooding. The cemetery is nearly all underwater. The top of headstones, barely visible. The town appears to have the most damage, but water is everywhere. Its reaching homes even miles away. Reporter authorities know not everyone has evacuated. This water, they say, is dangerous in more ways than one. Definitely. Its got contaminants in it. From the ground and from all the oils and sewage ers and all that. Reporter with many waking up in shelters and others fishing in the street, in the coming days, the water here will slowly recede. As it does, it promises to reveal a town thats lost so much and may never be the same. Residents who live in this area tell us they do not have flood insurance. The local river, which triggered to 8 feet above flood stage. Folks here have never seen anything like this ever before. Our thoughts are with those people. As we come to al, i feel like weve been looking at this region on your map for a few weeks. Theyve been hit hard. And get hit again. Fortunately, not quite as bad as the past but it wont help. Major to moderate flooding, all these diamonds showing that. The sabine river at deweyville crested last evening. In orange, still going to continue to rise beyond the current level of almost 7. 5 feet. While were not along looking at a ton of rain, the gulf can pick up 2 inches b increase speed, full throttle over intercom ann, are you coming in . Negative stay on target. What are you guys doing . Artoo, thrusters theyre closing in ill guard the base. Fo