it's monday march 21st. coming up on early today. history. president obama is the first u.s. president to visit cuba in almost 90 years. donald trump plans to beef up security at his campaign rallies as he and other candidates prepare to address the israel/arican affairs committee later today. the captured suspect in the paris terror attacks is squealing to authorities. we have new details ahead. plus, an 11-year-old joy ride aboard a cement mixer. yes, pains at the pump as prices skyrocket and fantastic finishes as march madness heads into the sweet 16. "early today" starts right now. >> good morning. a notion almost unthinkable for nine decades. the president of the united states is waking up in cuba today. president obama is the first

sitting president in 88 years to visit the country, a trip he hopes will be lasting part of his legacy, but there are still simmering tensions. nbc's jay gray is in havana with more. jay, how is the atmosphere over there? >> reporter: a lot of pride and excitement for many here these talks will deliver a message of hope to the island nation. after a visit to old havana late yesterday including a stop at the city's famous cathedral with first lady michelle and daughters sasha and malia. the president will lay a wreath at the memorial to jose marte, the cuban poet honored for his role in the fight for freedom from spain and later there will

be a visit from cuban president fidel castro where the president will be, quote, candid about areas of disagreement including human rights practices but for many here, the topics isn't nearly as important as the fact the two sides are talking again. yes, it's interesting that it's a historic trip, and it's been 50 years without relations with the north american government very third generation cab driver hopes the president will take a close look at the country she is so proud of. >> translator: i like that he gets to know our country, our story, our country, how beautiful it is. it's a tourist attraction so he can share it with everybody else. >> reporter: a beauty and culture hidden from most americans for more than 50 years. travel still restricted for americans. no tourist visa issued by the state department and the embargo remains in place but many believe this is the start to what will be a long journey toward easing restrictions and relations between the two countries. >> jay, thank you.

it looks windy and wet there. i hope there's a day of sunshine ahead. donald trump had harsh words when the cuban president was not at the airport to greet the obama family. >> president obama landed in cuba and the head of cuba who was there for pope and other dignitaries that come in, but he wasn't there for the president of the united states. i mean we are amateur hour, folks. amateur hour. and honestly, obama should have turned the plane around and left. he should have. he should have turned it around. he should have said bye-bye. >> the white house has said today begins the official visit when raul castro will formally greet president obama. meanwhile the trump campaign stops are growing bigger and so is the violence. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: this weekend the anger boiled over. >> are you pushing me?

>> reporter: in tucson, a protester in a white hood escorted out by police and another one behind him repeatedly punched and kicked by men in the crowd. that protester spoke with jacob rascon. >> this political movement has gotten to the point where you may get beaten to death at a rally. i just got my [ bleep ] kicked. >> reporter: it's this video raising even more questions. trump's campaign manager corey lewandowski grabbed a collar. trump defended him. >> police were a little bit lax and they had signs in that area. they were horrendous. i will give him credit. >> reporter: last week a conservative reporter filed a police complaint accusing lewandowski of assault but he's not been charged. the longtime gop operative once took a break from politics to work as a new hampshire state police officer. >> it's very unusual, unprecedented for a campaign

manager to be out in the crowd being involved in security. >> reporter: ted cruz campaigning in arizona. >> there is now only one campaign in a position to beat donald trump and win the republican nomination. >> reporter: polls show he trails trump there and leads in utah, getting some unlikely support from the so-called establishment. john kasich betting on a contested convention. >> listen, nobody's going to the convention with enough delegates. in the end, you know why i can get picked? because i'll get picked in the fall. >> trump is expected to speak today and also john kasich and speaker paul ryan will deliver the keynote address. vice president joe biden addressed apec last night. he backed the iran nuclear deal saying iran is much further from obtaining a nuclear weapon than they were a year ago. hillary clinton is expected to deliver a speech this morning

but democrat rival bernie sanders who is jewish is not taking part due to his campaign schedule and the latest campaign fund-raising numbers are out, for the second month in a row, sanders raised more than clinton. $43.5 million compared to just over 30 million. however, sanders spent about $7 million more than clinton. at the start of march, clinton had 13 million more in her war chest than sanders. officials in belgium say the suspect may have been planning more violence. they hope to learn more from him about what happened in paris and the broader threat from isis in europe. nbc's keir simmons reports from brussels. >> reporter: salah abdeslam may have been planning another attack. >> they were ready to restart something from brussels, and it's maybe the reality because i sad we have fallen on weapons. heavy weapons.

>> reporter: but it's his knowledge of the paris attack in last november that may be crucial. since salah abdeslam was discovered in this building in brussels, he has been talking, and there are many questions surrounding the attacks in paris that he could answer. the explosives used in the paris attacks, tatp, require an experienced bombmaker. who was he and where is he. according to "the new york times," which said it has seen a police report, french investigators describe salah abdeslam and the logistics guy, so can he detail the original plan. while reports confirmed by nbc news reveal the suspected ring leader hid in bushes for three nights after the attacks. had something gone wrong? ultimately he died during a paris police raid leaving abdeslam as the only known living member of the terror cell. how much does he know.

>> the fighters, they're extremely professional, and i don't see those people sharing all the information. >> reporter: abdeslam relied on a large network of friends to stay hidden, the belgium prosecutor said. the continuing and most urgent questions, how many more isis operatives are on the run in europe. keir simmons, nbc news, brussels. now to a bizarre chase in southern minnesota. police were after an 11-year-old boy who stole a cement truck and took it on a joy ride. cops say the boy swiped the truck from a local contractor and later hit two police vehicles. the chase lasted for about an hour and a half, long enough to draw spectators. eventually the truck stopped and the boy was arrested and taken to a juvenile detention center. fortunately nobody was hurt. >> bill karins is here. >> one storm exiting new england and another moving onshore in

the northwest. for two days we'll watch the storm move through. rains north of the san francisco area. as fares what we're going to deal with, it's this area in northern california that will get heaviest rain. as we go to the north, a batch of rain that's hard heading down i-5. this storm system will be with us today for the morning commute. snow at the highest of elevations. even passes will be questionable. above 7,000 to 8,000 feet will be the worst of it. tomorrow this storm moves into the northern rockies with some snow. here's the timing of everything. stormy pattern returns. heavy rain northwest california. you see the blue on here. even areas near tahoe and reno will pick up snow. as we go into tomorrow, northern idaho and western montana get into the snow and significant snow. good for late season skiers. as far as rainfall totals, two

to three inches along the immediate coast of northern california into oregon and then the enhancement over the high at that rain of the mountains. that's great for snow pack and also great for the reservoirs. once we get south of san francisco, l.a. and san diego and phoenix, you're looking just fine and very >> we do have nice weather in the desert southwest but the northwest hasn't been a nice start to spring. >> not right now but a few days down the road i'm sure it will be better. bill, thank you so much for that. so why is a massive shipment of plutonium headed to the u.s. plus a jury awarded hulk hogan 150 million bucks in his sex tape trial. so why is the hulkster headed back to court today? mascara.

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welcome back. two british ships have arrived in eastern japan to transport a shipment of plutonium to a u.s. government facility in south carolina for storage. the shipment contains enough plutonium to make a dozen atomic bombs. it had been used for research purposes. the ships of fitted with naval guns and other protections to guard against attacks. a pennsylvania toll worker and security guard were shot. troopers arrived as their former fellow trooper was unloading money from a fare collection vehicle in exchange gunfire. the suspect was fatally wounded and died at the scene. today a florida jury reconvenes to consider punitive damages in hulk hogan's sex tape video against gawker media. they awarded him $150 million agreeing the company violated

privacy by posting a tape online. prosecutors say they're already working on an appeal. get ready. l.a.'s newest attraction, the sky slide, arrived this weekend. it was hoisted up by a helicopter. the slide is part of the new sky space renovation to the u.s. bank tower. the tallest building west of the mississippi. riders will slide 45 feet from the 79th floor to the 69 floor in an-inch and a quarter glass tube. the slide is expected to open in june. let's get down to business now with cnbc's landon dowdy. good morning, landon. >> good morning. to you. prices at the pumping moving higher and average price rising nearly 25 cents in the past month to $2.02 a gallon. that reflects higher oil prices due to the weaker dollar. prices could go higher. apple holds it's annual spring product event today and the

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this morning on "today," how safe are the bridges you drive across every day. well, a surprising report you may want to think twice about your morning commute. right now, though, it is truly march madness and college basketball. the upset of the day. texas a&m all but dead behind 12 points with 44 seconds. rallies and this happens. >> a big time-out for the panthers. watson throws it into the hands of the player. two seconds. looking for david on the post.

he takes it, ties it at 83-83. >> they never thought this was even possible with 44 seconds to go. >> the aggie season was over with 44 seconds left in regulation and now they're onto the sweet 16 in anaheim. double overtime. incredible aggies comeback. to brooklyn steven a. austin brought a fight to the irish. down by one. >> they'll let them play it out. ten seconds. switch. jackson off the glass. august, no. notre dame would hold on 76-75. to st. louis where he hit not one but two three-pointers. in the final 12 seconds of play. number seven badgers rally over xavier with a buzzer beater, 66-63. the villanova wildcats will face miami on thursday. rounding out the round of 32, maryland defeated hawaii,

73-60. syracuse, 75, middle tennessee, 50. oklahoma, 85. cu, 81. and oregon, 59. st. joseph, 64. to the nhl, washington capitals jason chimera pulls out some soccer skills as he heads the puck into the penguins' goal but pittsburgh took this one with a 6-2 win. and the final round of the arnold palmer invitational, it was jason day who was the wire-to-wire champion. day survived a rough start to the 18th hole but managed to get par to win by one stroke. back to you. just ahead, does a note from bruce springsteen get a kid out of teacher trouble? >> plus, did actor kevin spacey live up to his lucky charm status? you're watching "early today." thank you, we'll call you. evening, film noir, smoke, atmosphere...

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leading the news on nbcnews.com, more u.s. troops being sent. the coalition made an announcement yesterday after consulting with the iraqi government. this comes after a 27-year-old staff sergeant died saturday in an isis rocket attack and several others were injured. cardin is the first u.s. soldier to have been killed in iraq since october. and in "usa today," many cubans arrested. they broke up their weekly march. the group calls for improved human rights and is set to meet with president obama on tuesday. pope francis ushered in holy week yesterday in a solemn

procession, an outdoor mass across st. peter's square. in his homily he abandoned his texts and focused on the indifference. eagle cam watchers everywhere. they rejoiced on sunday when a second eaglet hatched at the d.c. national arboretum. they're the first to nest in the area in nearly 70 years. royal protocol request that the queen of england be addressed at her majesty. prince george prefers to call her gan-gan. duchess kate revealed that the queen leaves gifts when she visit. a wedding in minnesota redefined what it meant to be a

flower girl over the weekend. four women all over 90 years old took up the task for their exercise instructor's big day. the bride says she has a special relationship with these women and could not imagine her wedding day without them. >> technically flower girls do something cute to steal the show. i wonder what they did. >> they all matched. i'm sure they threw flowers. >> and they stole the show. >> absolutely. good for them. now it's time for a look ahead. can you believe we've only been tweeting for a decade. twitter celebrating its tenth birthday. the ceo sent the social network's first tweet. scott eastwood turns 30. rosie o'donnell is 54 as well. thanks for watching "early today." hope you have a great monday.

bucking the idea that bigger is better. apple is set taunveil a new line of products today with all the buzz about a smaller, sleeker iphone. ramping up efforts to fix the problem that b.a.r.t. still hasn't diagnosed. almost a week after a power surge knocked out 50 cars, the entire b.a.r.t. system remains slowed up. a live look now from the south bay as showers could strengthen in just a few hours. "today in the bay" starts right now. good monday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm sam brock. for those of us on the road at 3:30, we sawch