Nightly Rundown: 14 American evacuees infected with coronavirus; ‘Historic’ flood emergency; Bloomberg under fire; Deadly avalanche, ski lift tragedies

The Nightly News - with Lester Holt - Nightly News: 2.17.20

To ensure delivery to your inbox add email@mail.nbcnews.com to your contacts | View in browser By Dan Donahue, NBC Nightly News Good Monday afternoon. Lester Holt anchors tonight from Las Vegas ahead of the NBC News and MSNBC Democratic debate this Wednesday. Here's what's in our Nightly Rundown tonight. Americans evacuated from cruise ship infected with coronavirus 14 Americans who are among more than 300 U.S. citizens and their immediate family members evacuated from a cruise ship under quarantine near Tokyo have now tested positive for the coronavirus. Miguel Almaguer is on the story for us tonight. “Fit to fly”: All the Americans were deemed asymptomatic and fit to fly before they were removed from the ship, but just as they were being transported to the airport, the results from tests conducted 2-3 days earlier showed that those 14 people were positive for coronavirus, according to a statement from the State Department. The infected passengers were allowed to fly and kept isolated from the other passengers for the duration of the flights, the statement said. Back in the U.S.: The two chartered planes carrying the evacuees arrived early this morning at Travis Air Force Base in California and the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The passengers had been under quarantine along with thousands of other people aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship since Feb. 3. All of the evacuees are now under an additional, mandatory 14-day quarantine. Surging toll: In the epicenter of the outbreak in China, more than 70,000 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed, according to the World Health Organization. The death toll there now stands at 1,772. Outside China, WHO has received reports of nearly 700 cases and three deaths. Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers arrive in San Antonio, Texas, on evacuation flight "Historic" flood emergency grows in South Blayne Alexander is in Mississippi, where more rain is expected as the state deals with an unprecedented flooding emergency after weeks of storms. In Jackson, the Pearl River crested today at nearly 37 feet, the third-highest level ever recorded, but several more days of flooding are expected in the area. More than 1,000 homes are under mandatory evacuation and officials say it could be weeks before homeowners are allowed to return. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves called the flooding "historic" on Sunday and said "we do not anticipate this situation to end anytime soon. It will be days before we are out of the woods and the waters recede." Democrats step up attacks on Bloomberg ahead of Nevada caucuses Lester Holt is in Las Vegas, where in just two days, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates will clash in our debate ahead of Saturday's high-stakes Nevada caucuses — and much of the attention is on a candidate who isn't even competing in the state. Michael Bloomberg isn't on the ballot in Nevada, but he has a shot at making our debate stage, where he would face off against his rivals for the first time. The billionaire has until 11:59 p.m. ET Tuesday to meet the polling requirements to qualify. Bloomberg, who is also not competing in South Carolina's Feb. 29 primary, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on advertisements in a big bet on Super Tuesday, when 14 states will hold their primaries on March 3. The former New York City mayor has also found himself the target of increased attacks from his opponents. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who holds the lead in recent Nevada polls, accused Bloomberg over the weekend of trying to “buy the presidency.” Bloomberg is also facing new scrutiny for his past support for policies like "stop and frisk," and his alleged treatment of women at his company. Over the weekend, Bloomberg once again apologized for "stop and frisk." "I've gotten a lot of grief for it lately, but I defended it for too long," Bloomberg said to a crowd in Virginia. "And because I didn't fully understand the unintentional pain it caused young black and brown kids and their families, I should have acted sooner and I should have stopped it, and I didn't, and I apologize for that." Bloomberg also said that he will "always be a champion for women in the workplace," after the Washington Post reported that he had a history of making "profane, sexist comments" about women at his company. Snowmobilers, skier dead in separate tragedies in Colorado Steve Patterson is reporting tonight on two deadly accidents near the popular skiing town of Vail, Colorado. On Saturday, two snowmobilers were killed in an avalanche that authorities say they may have accidentally triggered in Muddy Pass near Vail. Their bodies were recovered on Sunday. A third snowmobiler who was buried managed to dig himself out. In a separate incident, a New Jersey man was killed on a ski lift when his coat got caught around his head and neck and he fell through a gap in the chairlift seat at Vail Mountain’s Blue Sky Basin area, authorities said. Vail Mountain said in a statement that it is conducting a full investigation, and that "the lift has been thoroughly inspected and is operating normally." Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. 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