it's thursday, february 18th and coming up on "early today," developing overnight, president obama is about to do something no sitting president has done since 1928. he is going to cuba but not everyone is happy about it. >> to politics where ted cruz leads republicans and a revealing moment for donald trump. >> he's drawing thousands of people at his rallies and bringing a lot of new voters to the political process and he's not beholen to any super packs. who am i describing? >> or special interests or donors. >> actually, i was describing bernie sanners. plus, nike drops boxing

superstar manny pacquiao over anti-gay comments. and an important new study about men and tester recent and look who's back on late night. >> what is going on with the republicans? i watch these debates, trump attacks cruz, cruz gets attacks bush. bush gets into a fight with trump. remember when the republicans were all united against the poor and the minorities, what happened? "early today" starts right now. good morning. a watershed moment for cold war rivals. for the first time in 88 years, a sitting american president will visit cuba. a senior white house official told nbc news that president obama will visit cuba in march as part of a latin-american tour. not since calvin coolage in january of 1928 as a sitting u.s. president been to havana. president obama and president castro met this summer in

panama. in december, president obama -- in september, president obama said he was very much interested in visiting cuba before his presidency ends but only if there was significant improvements in civil liberties. diplomatic relations were frozen since before the cold war. well, national embassies have reopened in washington d.c. and havana. this week u.s. and cuban officials signed an agreement restoring scheduled airline service between the nations. on the campaign trail, republican presidential candidates, ted cruz and marco rubio, both of cuban descent are, vocalized their opposition to the president's trip, vowing never to visit the island. this morning a big shake-up. donald trump has slipped to second place nationally behind ted cruz according to a new poll just out. this coming just two days ahead of the south carolina primary. a giddy cruz talked to nbc's

hally jackson. about the new found lead. >> it's tremendously encouraging to be leading the field nationally. that's how you win. you got to get to first place to win. >> and earlier in the day, cruz took on trump directly over a campaign ad attacking trump as pro-choice. >> would president trump ban partial birth abortions? >> if you want to file a lawsuit claiming it is defamation, file a lawsuit. at an msnbc town hall, the not-backing down trump seemed less forceful about pursuing the case. >> i don't know that we're going to have a lawsuit, but we certainly want to keep somebody honest, and when he makes statements he's not pro life, he

can't say that. >> and marco rubio picked up a key indorsement. south carolina governor nikki haley. >> we say that every day is a great day in south carolina. ladies and gentlemen, if we elect marco rubio, every day will be a great day in america. >> the endorsement was a big blow to jeb bush who earlier in the day told nbc news that not getting her endorsement would mean he would have to work a lot harder. >> she's a very good governor and should i win there's a role for her in the campaign. she's a great person. i'm disappointed she didn't endorse me. >> bush's father and brother, former presidents, both popular in the state, had reached out to hailey on jeb's behalf. and bush trailing rubio. and now to the democrats and the

race getting more exciting by the moment, and the polling showing a dead heap. both scrambling to pull in votes. and hillary clinton is continuing her message as the successor to president obama's legacy, contrasting with vermont senator's bernie sanders previous statements on the president. >> my opponent has been quite critical of the president. he's called him weak. he's called him disappointing. i'm unapologetic. i will build on the progress that president obama has made. i will take it further. >> and she was introduced by geneva, mother of sandra bland, who died in police custody after a traffic stop. >> horrifying loss of those you love to something so senseless. we owe it to them to reform police practices, to make sure that no other young woman like sandra bland is ever pulled out of a car for no good reason and thrown into a jail where she is found dead.

>> sanders, meanwhile held events in south carolina and at morehouse college in atlanta, saying there's a crack in clinton's fire wall. he's also responding to comments by rap per killer mike. >> he said michael, are you qualified to be president of the united states. you have to be -- you have to have policy that's reflective of social justice. >> a campaign official says senator sanders doesn't believe that gender should be the reason to vote for or against anyone. that's the point mike was making. and this morning, hillary clinton is making a light night stop in las vegas in an effort to put some distance between herself and sanders before the caucuses just 48 hours away.

a quick programming note, and rachel maddow will have an exclusive interview with vice president joe biden tonight 8:00 p.m. eastern time. manny pacquiao received a punishing blow by one of his biggest sponsors. nike announced they are they just announced they're cutting ties with pacquiao after he called people in homosexual relationships worse than animals. saying man is worse than animals because animals know how to distinguish male from female. he's currently a member of the philippine house of representatives and is running for the country's senate. nike issued a statement that said we found his comments an hoernt. nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind. the former boxing champion tweeted an apology saying he was sorry for hurting people. apple is defending its decision to not help the fbi hack into an iphone belonging to one of the san bernardino shooters. saying it would create a back

door, saying it would compromise the privacy of millions. the ceo came out in support in a series of tweets saying, forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise user privacy. while edward snowden tweeted the fbi is creating a world where they take a right and turn it the other way around. iraq is looking for highly dangerous material stolen last year. and according to a document exclusively acquired by reuters, a chemical went missing and they fear if it falls in the hands of isis, it could be used as a deadly chemical weapon. here's u.s. state department

spokesperson mark toner. >> we're aware of the reports that there may be a lost or missing radioactive source in iraq. we haven't seen any information that it has been acquired by daesh or any other terrorist group in the region. >> retired supreme court justice sandra day o'connor says president obama has a responsibility to name the replacement for late justice antonin scalia. first female supreme court justice says, quote, i think we need somebody there to do the job now and let's get on with it. speaking at yale university yesterday, justice stephen breyer wouldn't comment on the battle to replace scalia but instead remembered him as a decent man. >> i'd like to have maybe 15 seconds of silence for justice scalia who was a good friend and really a life force of the court and it's going to be a grayer place without him. >> meanwhile the white house has announced that the president will not attend the funeral and instead, the president will pay

his respects tomorrow when he lies in repose in the court's great hall. vice president joe biden is scheduled to attend scalia's funeral. 36 days after they won part of the historic $1.5 billion powerball jackpot, the florida winners have finally come forward. they are claiming a 1/3 of the january 3rd winning equaling almost $327 million. and until yesterday, they didn't tell anyone they won except for relatives and their financial advisors. >> the first day i arrived late to work they all suspected i won. [ laughter ] >> so i had to say i didn't purchase a ticket and i didn't lie. >> and with that lucky ticket, they decided on a lump sum payment of $327 million. flood warnings have been issued among maine's kenebeck

river, this one in augusta. causing the river to rise about 13 feet. ice jams usually occur in early spring. so, nbc meteorologist bill karins is here. normally that starts in early spring. does that mean it's feeling about spring time in that part of may? >> it just means we've been on a roller coaster ride. we had the warmth and the cold and the warmth and the rain. there's another huge warm up on the way. and everything is on the west coast. no organized rain at this time. heavy snow to mountains in sierras and areas there. here's the set up as we go through today and the next storm behind that as we go through tomorrow. that front continues to push through the intermountain west. scattered showers and snow showers the higher elevations. here comes the next front as we go throughout your friday

afternoon, during your friday evening. that will bring another round of snow and even a little bit of heavy rain. not a ton of rain. maybe 1-2 inches. areas along the california coast. as far as snow comes, the next round the heaviest will be in northern california and back thro higher elevations, that's why we're dealing with a lot of rain in the lower elevations and rain showers throughout your day. the west is where the stormy whether is for now. at least for us we get a break. >> much of the country is going to warm up. >> thank you for that update. >> there's good news for men taking testerone treatment. pope francis just wrapped up

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pope francis wrapped up his six-day tour of mexico last night. the pontiff visited 700 inmates at a prison in juarez. he prayed for migrants at the u.s.-mexico border and he said mass with pilgrims. this walgreen's customer is being hailed a hero after taking down this robber who had a gun and demanded oxycodone. >> when he reached in his pants to get a weapon, that's when i decided to protect my girlfriend. good morning, landon.

>> can't afford a tesla model s, how about a miniature version. the company is coming out with a tesla model s for kids that can ride at a whopping 6 miles per hour and features forward and reverse controls. meanwhile, a new study finds testeroren can help older men. the research published in the new england journal of medicine could provide a lift to the industry. and a company in india has launched what it calls the world's cheapest smart phone. just ahead in sports, a soccer superstar comes through in the clutch. and we have more from the college basketball hardwood. go,

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this morning on "today," back to future fans rejoice. the delowerian is making a come back. find out how you can get your hands on one. let's get you caught up on sports with my friend frances rivera. >> good morning. and college basketball's mighty fall again. texas tech with an upset against

number three oklahoma. as the red raiders faithful storm the court in the 65-63 triumph and it is the third straight win over a ranked team. next to happy valley, penn state managed to knock off the fourth ranked iowa. 79-75. and to the most storied coaches in college hoops. number 20 versus number five. >> personally blocked. and duke is going to win the game! and international soccer superstar ronaldo who ends his supposed stump as he scores the winning goal for his team real ma trid in a champion's league match. final score, 2-0. just ahead, the kardashian clan have another number one to brag about. >> plus, how would you react if you won a $120,000 aston martin?

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>> the price was right. a contestant won a $120,000 aston martin on "the price is right." watch her reaction. and steven colbert and kate hudson got interesting responses in a game. >> "orange is the new black" and google asks did you mean rejected trump campaign slogan. "american horror story" and google says did you mean the 2016 presidential election? ♪

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leading the news on msnbc news.com. cliven bundy, sons, two other occupiers indicted in 2014 nevada stand-off. the group will have to respond to charges with a confrontation with officers which include conspiracy to commit an offense, obstruction and extortion. bundy is scheduled to appear in court today. from nbc philadelphia. elementary school accidently sends "hurt feelings report" to parents. the sar character -- the sarcastic form refers to those it calls whiners. under reasons for filing the report it has options like i'm a cry baby. the spokesperson called it an embarrassing mistake. some of the other stories

we're following. one person died in a crash in los angeles county after large transformers fell and trapped several vehicles. over 200 people went without power while fire crews tended to the scene. an l.a. jury has acquitted a man accused of stalking gwennyth paltrow. in court, he testified that his recent letters to paltrow were to ask for forgiveness for his previous actions. and an investigation has revealed that many producers misleading customers in their labels. though they may touted 100% cheese labels, many have cellulose, a tasteless filler derived from wood pulp. look at this. as winds pick up, the wild tumble weed covers gardens and garages.

residents suspect the tumble we'd is actually coming from a nearby field that a farmer has failed to maintain. if you think you can't teach an old dog new tricks, take a look at this. an australian trainer is proving you can teach a dog to ride waves. he's using the sport to teach other dog owners how to understand their dogs. >> not only is the dog surfing but it jumped up on his shoulders while surfing. >> i tried surfing, it look a lot easier. >> did you do a couple of face plants? >> i couldn't even get up. celebrating birthdays today. rapper dr. j turns 51, and john travolta is 62. artist-singer yoko ono turns 83. >> thanks for watching "early today."

have a terrific thursday, everyone. a deadly fire breaks out in

vallejo overnight. as crews corral t fles at the apartment a deadly fire breaks out in vallejo overnight. plus, the battle between apple and fbi playing out in more than just the legal system in the court of public opinion, dozens of people show up at apple's san francisco store to support tim cook. the high-speed rail boom that reportedly has its first roots in the south bay. the city that will serve as a grand hub for the bullet train. "today in the bay" starts right now. it is thursday morning now. good morning, thank you for joining us. i'm sam brok. >> you made it it to thursday. the rain has been pretty steady out there, kari. >> yes, we've seen