good morning. coming up on "early today," new details on the cyanide-laced letter addressed to the white house. developing overnight, death threats against caroline kennedy are being taken seriously by authorities. and american military veteran charged with joining isis. and u.s. drone apparently shot down inside syria. plus benjamin netanyahu holds on to power in israel while a rising republican here at home resigns in disgrace. and what just might be the best video on this wednesday, march 18th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm dara brown. right now, the secret service is investigating an envelope that tested positive for deadly cyanide. according to nbc news in washington, on monday the envelope was received at a site that screens incoming white house mail. the secret service released a statement explaining the

envelope originally tested negative for cyanide, but tuesday the letter tested positive. the envelope has been sent to another site for more testing. the news was first reported by the intercept according to the site. the envelope listed a return address for a man who has a record with the secret service dating back to 1995 which includes sending a package covered in urine and feces. developing this morning, police in japan are investigating death threats against u.s. ambassador caroline kennedy. overnight, authorities confirmed that police are looking into calls made to the u.s. embassy in tokyo. investigators say a man who spoke english called the american embassy in tokyo multiple times last month, saying he was going to kill ambassador kennedy. the embassy has not commented on the situation. earlier this month, mark lippert, the u.s. ambassador to south korea, was slashed in the hand and face by an anti-u.s. act visit. breaking news overnight from northern california stockton police are investigating a drive by triple homicide this morning. three people are dead and

another four have been injured after a drive by shooting outside a small grocery store. stockton police have been posting updates on twitter and facebook and confirmed three deaths but say it appears the four other victims will survive their injuries. >> unfortunate that you know we live in a city that has so much to offer and we're trying to you know make it better and these things can happen. so these random acts of violence. >> at this point, the shooting is believed to be gang related. police say it took place in an area known for drug dealing and gang activity. officers have been on the scene all night. so far there is no word of a suspect. this morning, the syrian government is claiming to have shot down an american drone. syrian state television has been broadcasting footage of what they claim is the wreckage site. the pentagon released a statement saying the unarmed predator drone was struck down. other military officials confirm they lost contact with the drone oversyria. and that they're investigating the cause of the apparent crash. the u.s. expanded its aerial

campaign against isis in syria back in september. this morning, a u.s. air force veteran is heading to federal court after being accused of trying to join isis. the mechanic is charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. court documents say he flew from egypt to turkey in an effort to cross the border into syria to join the militant group. he was stopped at the border by turkish officials. on his laptop federal agents found 180 jihadi propaganda videos and isis videos of executions. we have learned that in 2001 the fbi got a tip that he sympathized with osama bin laden. he's expected to plead not guilty to the terrorism charges in court today. the presbyterian church usa was nearly 2 million members now formally recognizes same sex marriage in its constitution. after an official vote the definition of marriage will change from a civil contract between a man and a woman to

saying marriage involves a unique commitment between two people traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for rest of their lives. mac and cheese fans listen up kraft foods is recalling about 6.5 million boxes of it. why? some them might contain small pieces of metal. here is how you know if you're part of the recall. they include the 7.25 ounce original flavor boxes with best when used by dates of september 18th, 2015 through october 11th, 2015. and the code c2 on each box. no injuries have been reported. in north carolina darth vader is a wanted man. he looked pretty real. he has a mask chest plate and gloves. but instead of a lightsaber, he was armed with a rifle. no word on how much he made off with after the heist. but he did take off in a chevy suv. and if you're up this early, you may have time to see a

spectacular show right outside your door. this usa today headline says it all, severe solar storm hitting earth. this is the strongest one in months. the storm is a result of two significant solar eruptions that happened this past weekend. nasa cameras captured this one last week. and overnight, the storm put on an awe-inspiring northern lights show in many parts of the world. including here in iceland. the ararias were reportedly visible as far south as tennessee and new mexico. and check out what it looked like from the international space station. wow. the solar storms often threaten gps and power grids, although no damage or outages have been reported. and with that nbc meteorologist bill karins -- >> so gorgeous. >> absolutely beautiful. >> there are -- >> the colors are spectacular. >> i've never seen a collection of photos like the one on social media if you search for aurora borealis. from finland, alaska canada. incredible pictures. they call them rainbow auroras because they have so much color

in them. let's talk about what happened. we finally cooled off much of the country, including much of southern california. remember, we were in the 70s a day ago. things are back to normal where we should be across the country for this time of year. now as far as what happened yesterday in california we still did see some warm temperatures. i wouldn't say we saw anything on the hot side. the temperatures for the most part continue to be the warmest in areas down around phoenix, palm beach and that's the story. for today's forecast we are going to still watch some rain in texas. we will see some showers developing through areas of the four corner region. still sunny and nice through much of the west coast. notice 50s and 60s up here. 74 there right around l.a. the worst weather in the country, by far, will be found up here in new england where temperatures struggle to 28 degrees. that's pretty chilly stuff. what is one of those interesting days where it is warmer in much of alaska fairbanks and anchorage, than it is in areas of the northeast. they're suffering from a horrible winter where everybody else actually looking at a decent end to your winter

gorgeous day throughout much of the hawaiian chain today. honolulu, warm and 84. there is some pretty quiet weather for the west which isn't what they want. i read about the new water restrictions in the sacramento area and that's going to be a theme as the wet season ends without water. >> well hopefully spring will bring a few more rain showers coming our way. thank you so much, bill. now, listen up u.s. government wants to monitor the time you spend in the shower. plus it is the largest cave on planet earth and you have got to see some never before seen images. you're watching "early today." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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netanyahu will remain prime minister. his party has 30 seats. isaac herzog's union 24. and a short time ago, had herzog conceded. joining me live from tel aviv is freelance journalist jordana swartz. the election has been close throughout tuesday. is this a surprise that netanyahu won? >> it really is a huge surprise. even his own party was surprised by the results of the election. and the latest polls on friday had put him at four seats behind his rival, the zionist union and now he's six parliament seats ahead. so it was a stunning victory. >> what do you think turned it around for netanyahu? >> there was an analyst say that it was his 11th hour tactics, some are calling it scare tactics, that led more right wing voters to his party away

from further right wing jewish home party led by naftali bennett until monday when netanyahu said he would never support a state under his watch and then the jewish home party was the home party that stated it's being against the establishment of a pro palestinian state. so many right wing voters that may have voted for bennett ended up voting for netanyahu and that took away from the jewish home and gave them to likud. >> an interesting day ahead. yadena swartz thank you very much. a blow to the republican party, a much rising gop star is resigning. illinois congressman aaron schock made the decision yesterday amid a scandal over his spend habits grows. he's accused of using taxpayer money to fund lavish trips and give his office a younten abbie makeover and billing for mileage, claiming 170,000 miles when records showed his vehicle had only 80,000 on it.

>> i didn't think he would resign. it was kind of discouraging when more would come out. in california a pullover ends in a high speed chase for more than 100 miles. the suspect's speed over 90 miles per hour road spikes took out the front wheel but it kept going and the police swerved -- the vehicle swerved and flipped. not once but twice. dazed, the driver got out and he was arrested. another fraternity is accused of bad behavior drug sales and hazing. penn state suspended kappa delta ro for one year. the reason alleged secret facebook pages that posted offensive pictures. in it photos of nude women, some in compromising positions. police are now investigating. in louisiana, notorious millionaire robert durst is moving to a mental health facility. he suffers from a medical

condition. the fbi searched his houston home yesterday. agents carried away two bochlz after boxes after spending hours inside. he's accused of killing long time friend in 2000. hotel guests beware. the environmental protection agency may monitor how long you shower. apparently the epa wants hotel guests to waste less water. they're creating a system to quote, modify their behavior. in vietnam, spectacular video this is the world's largest gave a drone captured the images. the cave is more than 5.5 miles long. its walls are so big, it could also hold an entire city block of 40 story buildings. let's get down to business now with cnbc's landon dowdy. good morning. >> good morning to you. facebook is adding a new feature to its messenger app letting users transfer money with their friends. users can tap a dollar icon and a chat window to transfer cash after linking a debit card to their account. the free feature will be rolled out over the next few months.

american express wants a customer loyalty program this spring called plenty. it allows customers to earn points by making purchases at seven companies including macy's at&t rite-aid and exxonmobil. you can use points from paying your at&t bill to make purchases at rite-aid. and the markets are focused on the fed which wraps up a two-day meeting this afternoon. the fed is widely expected to signal it is ready to raise interest rates for first time in nearly a decade possibly as soon as june. stocks closed mostly lower on tuesday ahead of the fed's decision. back over to you. >> thanks landon. just ahead, why the secret service wants $8 million to build a fake white house. plus -- >> hold on. i told you i had jesus on speed dial. hey, jesus. >> a college hoops coach reveals his secret weapon. sports is up next.

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this morning on "today," drunk behind the wheel. why are drivers with a dozen or more duis still on the road? don't miss this rossen report investigation later on "today." now for the latest in sports, we'll turn it over to my friend betty nguyen. good morning, betty. >> good morning dara. two more dance cards filled as the first ncaa games kick off in

dayton. johnson scored 15 points to lead the pirates to a 74-64 victory. cam hampton will face kentucky on thursday. ed joiner asked for heavenly guidance over the phone. >> hey, jesus. they want to know how much of a -- hello, hello? i guess he'll get back to me so i'll get back to you. >> mississippi pulled off a 17-point halftime comeback against byu. moody knocking down a late three-pointer to seal their bracket with a 94-90 win. to jacksonville to play xavier on thursday. there are two games tonight and then the 64 will be set. three football players from morgan state university in baltimore were stabbed on campus tuesday afternoon. officials say the stabbing occurred outside of the campus dining hall after an argument. their injuries are not considered life threatening. leah may be cancer free. she was diagnosed with stage

four cancer in june. the bengals player posted this adorable picture to instagram to share the news. he says doctors didn't see any active disease in her body and they are very optimistic. san francisco qb colin kaepernick showed some hoops skills with this spinning dunk he posted on instagram. but adams raised the bar with that one. someone get that man in a dunk contest. and v. stiviano posted this instagram. she said in part, i will forever be your angel. don't let the evil witch of the west suck the living life out of you. i'm here for you. and floyd mayweather is preparing for his may 2nd bout against manny pacquiao by making sure he has the right diet. he hired a private chef to prepare his meals in the weeks leading up to the fight. it comes with a hefty salary. a thousand dollars per plate.

♪ 87-year-old dodgers legend tommy lasorda posted this video saying the famous phrase "turn down for what." the moves were an added bonus. "early today" is brought to you by just for men. just you and the look you want. dara back to you. >> thanks betty. just ahead, 20,000 pounds of fireworks detonated. plus, why fashion police won't be on e anytime soon. you're watching "early today." i started playing rugby when i was about 12... and pretty much haven't stopped since. i don't really think about my hair too much... but, i started going gray kind of early... and it's just not me. only just for men easily targets gray with a comb-in applicator. so you get a natural gray-free look. guaranteed. just you and the look you want.

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now for some entertainment news. dwayne, the rock, johnson gives us a peek at his lip-synch skills on instagram. ♪ my ex-man brought his new girlfriend ♪ ♪ like oh my god i'm just gonna shake shake, shake ♪ >> the video is from the new tv show "lip-synch battle" which premieres april 2nd. and "fashion police" is on hiatus until september. giuliana rancic and brad gorski will be returning. this come on the heels of kelly osborne and kathy griffin's departures from the show. japan crowned their first ever multiracial contestant as miss universe japan. she will represent japan in this year's miss universe pageant.

♪ all right now baby it's all right now ♪ ♪ remember that '70s hit by the band free. andy fraser who co-wrote the song has died. they haven't determined the cause of death. he was 62. and hit tv show empire extended its reign into billboard's album chart. the soundtrack grabbed the top spot beating madonna's latest album "rebel heart". >> the "empire thing" is taking off. >> a great show. >> are you part of it? >> i'm on the bandwagon, yes. >> soundtrack. now i know what to get you, birthday present. >> i'm dara brown this is "early today." we hope it is just your first stop of the day on nbc. minnesota winters are brutal it's tough being cooped up it gets a little stale. when dad opens up the window what's the first thing he does? the tobin stance

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leading the news in the huffington post, serbia asks people to please stop throwing their grenades in the garbage. lawmakers passed a law last month imposing tighter controls over privately held weapons. the government fears people will dump them instead of handing them in. police estimate as many as 900,000 explosive ordinances are kept illegally. in the uk's telegraph, why do penguins waddle? a team of scientists has been studying the birds at london zoo. researchers say their ancestors didn't always waddle but today's penguins developed their unusual walk as they became better adapted to swimming. some other stories we're following today, new secret service director joseph clancy's leadership came under fire during a house appropriations subcommittee hearing yesterday.

clancy said an anonymous e-mail informed him of an alleged incident involving intoxicated secret service agents crashing a car into a white house barricade this month. this as clancy asked the subcommittee for $8 million to build a white house replica to help agents train more effectively. britain's prince charles and wife camilla touched down in maryland last night. the royals will start their three-day visit taking in famous d.c. sites before meeting with the president later this week. then they're off to louisville kentucky. the fourth of july comes early for this texas town. here you can see 20,000 pounds of illegal fireworks blow up in smoke. the court ordered destruction of the contraband took a bomb squad three and a half days to complete. can you imagine? and now a sign language superstar sweeping scandinavian air ways. take a look. ♪

this racked up over 5 million hits on youtube after his wild gestures on swedish public television ibm a viralbecame a viral hit. it took weeks to ss of practice for this delightful presentation. >> if i could learn the sign language -- >> now you have to learn sign language -- >> and the moves. >> he's got the moves going and the -- it's good. now time for a look ahead. first lady michelle obama begins a visit to japan. mrs. obama is in tokyo to kick off a new effort called let girls learn to help girls around the world get access to education. she heads to cambodia later this week. happy birthday to adam levine of maroon 5 and the voice. 36. queen latifah, 45. vanessa williams 52. keep it here for more news weather and sports. i'm dara brown. thank you for watching "early today." hope you have a good one.

right now, san francisco police shoot and kill a suspect who they say tried to run them down in a stolen car. plus five unusual guests in five days. detectives in a normally quiet bay area community trying to figure out how a man's body. and rabid bats and a dog is in quarantine. >> a live look outside this morning on your wednesday at the bay bridge. it is march 18th. and you are watching today today. this is today today. >> i'm sam brock. >> and i'm lawyer