it's thursday, march 24th. coming up on "early today," more connections between the paris and brussels attacks as a manhunt continues for the hat man in white. president obama speaking out against isis as the presidential candidates attack the commander in chief for not doing enough. then politics te an ugly turn as the spouses of trump and cruz are dragged into the mud slinging. winter's not done yet. plus saying good-bye to a member of our nbc family, incredible news on women's salariesalaries tango with president obama. good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt. the intense manhunt continues to

focus on the man wearing a hat an light colored coat. it was believed to have been laachraoui but he is now on the left. in the middle, ibrahim el bakraoui. intention officials tell brussels is the same work of the cell for paris. what for can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning. investigators here in belgium are increasingly convinced there is a direct link between the paris and brussels attacks. well, first of all the two brothers who have been identified as part of those who carried out the attacks at the airport and metro station here on tuesday morning were directly connected with salah abdeslam.

their fingerprints were found in a warehouse where abdeslam was hiding. now it's emerged at least one of the brothers tried to get in to fight alongside isis. claimed they have arrested ibrahim el bakraoui one of the brothers in june of 2015. and they sent him back to the netherlands. they extradited him to the netherlands and warned authorities in belgium about their suspicion that he could have been a potential foreign fighter. but allegedly the belgian authorities did nothing about it because they were convinced he was only a criminal. but not linked to terrorism. this is not a time for criticism because there is still at least one attacker on the loose. it is one of the three people that were caught on camera on the stills from the airport pushing those trolleys that carried the explosive devices. that man wearing a hat

concealing his face with glasses is still on the loose. and that of course represents a big threat here in brussels and belgium and europe in general. yesterday behind me here at the old stock exchange, they gathered to stage a vigil to those who lost their lives and they were lighting candles and bringing flowers. they wrote messages on the pavement. >> thank you for that. jack rice joins me now from minneapolis. good morning to you, jack. let's get right to what claudio was reporting there. the turkish president says he warned belgium as well as holland about them so how did they slip through the cracks? >> that's really the difficulty. i think of this as a former prosecutor too. we find direct links that we have found through criminality and terrorism. those can be linked together. one is a precursor to the other. the reason is because you're

looking for those people on the fringe, those people being disenfranchised, those people who feel they're not part of a greater society. they will turn to one and then turn to the other. the fact that the belgians ignored that issue talks about their resources, maybe the priorities. but i think we could get into that too. >> you know, jack, at one report there are 31 different intelligence agencies all trying to work throughout europe. this seems reminiscent of the time pre-9/11 when you had all these different groups trying to work on their own. is there a need for better coordination with these european intelligence agencies? >> well, there is. there's always a need for better coordination. because first of all, you're pushing across a lot of different state and country lines here. that's one issue. i think there's a separate issue too. if you look at what the u.s. was doing with the 19 that were involved with 9/11, contemplate we're talking about hundreds if not thousands of foreign

fighters or at least fighters from europe who went into syria and northern iraq and then have come back. we're talking about a much larger number than we have ever seen in the united states. and if we're thinking about this, this isn't just a bunch of people in one group. these are separate cells, separate organizations, some of whom have contact with one other. but other who is are completely isolated. the one thing about isis is they're sophisticated. they're organized. how they use communications, how they actually coordinate themselves so they can run operations with a lot of something called opsec, operational security. and they're good at it. >> let's talk about the bomb-making material that was recovered from something that resembled a bomb-make k factory in belgium. how much do you amass that much material under the radar? >> again, one of the problems that is happening in europe is that they have open borders. i mean, this was one of the goals from the beginning is the ability to move within a country. and let's contemplate.

we talk about sealing borders here and that's been one of the arguments made in the united states right now, but many of these men were belgian. and so the idea this is something they were doing within their own country. a lot of the chemicals are available you can get within the country itself. it's not as if you need to go a long distance to do it. these were simple yet sophisticated -- again back to the sophistication question. >> thank you. we'll talk to you again. the belgium terror attacks have critics saying the president isn't doing enough. but the president defended his actions. >> reporter: the president called isis vicious killers but not a threat to the u.s. >> they can't defeat us. they don't produce anything. they're not an existential threat. >> reporter: after san bernardino, republican voters citing terrorism as their number one concern. now after brussels, donald trump

renewing his call to ban muslims and torture terror suspects. ted cruz calling for surveillance of muslim neighborhoods in the u.s. the president taking that on a day after leaving cuba. >> i just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance which, by the way, the father of senator cruz escape d for america. >> we have seen president obama's weakness and appeasement give rise to radical islamic terrorism. >> reporter: hillary clinton tried to portray herself as the grownup in the room. >> when ted cruz calls for treating american muslims like criminals, it's wrong, it's counterproductive, it's dangerous. >> and that was andrea mitchell reporting. in this political season it seems nothing is off the table as barbs between the two rivals

go deeper into personal. with each crying foul on the other. hallie jackson has the details on an increasingly nasty rivalry. >> reporter: this racy anti-trump ad meant to turn off utah mormons now turning attention to the tone of the gop race. meet melania trump, it says, your next first lady. or you could support ted cruz on tuesday. >> that ad was inappropriate. we had nothing to do with it. >> reporter: it was created by an outside stop trump group. trump said he'd spill the beans about wife heidi. still not clear what trump's talking about. >> there are a lot of things that donald trump and his campaign say that have no basis in reality. >> reporter: cruz tweeting back classless. he typed the message himself. >> he's better off sticking with me because heidi is way out of his league. >> reporter: trump accusing cruz of lifting lines.

>> you better stick with me. for sydney is out of your league. >> reporter: rising the question is anything off limits anymore? >> it's always nasty but this year it's extraordinarily nasty. >> reporter: liz mair created the dangeral ad. >> i think donald trump has obliterated all conceivable lines in the course of this campaign and i'm comfortable with what we've done. >> reporter: for cruz, there's some lines candidates shouldn't attack. >> we shouldn't attack each others' spouses or children. and that's gutter politics. >> reporter: hoping to set the rules in a race that doesn't seem to have any. hallie jackson, nbc news, new york. >> and then there's this. move over kim kardashian. president obama just broke the internet by dancing the tang goe last night during a state visit to argentina. you can see him twisting and twirling his dance parter. and michelle obama was also dancing with a partner. they were guests of the

argentine president. across the country we're seeing pretty wild weather across colorado. a thousand nights were canceled at denver international airport. you can see why. a blizzard there caused numerous accident along the i-70 and e-470 with many drivered stranded. some areas could see 18 inches of snow. come on. in missouri, severe weather hinting overnight. and texas getting hail plummeting there. look at all of that. what an intro for you, bill cairns. can you explain this? >> a powerful spring storm. now it's on to the midwest. going to get another 3 to 6 inches. the heavy stuff we already showed you. denver saw a foot of snow. we may get close to a foot in northern michigan. severe weather didn't have any

tornadoes yesterday. houston had a nasty line of storms move through, a lot of lightning as it rolled on through. so today's severe weather risk, isolated tornadoes. this area of yellow 10 million people at risk of severe storms. we're going to get likely on the mississippi/alabama border late this afternoon through this evening. so the middle, you can see how that storm is in the middle of the country. we also have a weak storm in the west. it's continuing that moist flow. the mountain area has some snow to deal should see a decent amount of sun. should be widespread. so a classic spring storm within

the tornadoes. we can get some tornado outbreaks this time of year, and we avoided that at least. sfwlp small thanks for that, for sure. just ahead, an elaborate drug tunnel found under a california home. plus things get a bit hairy for passengers flying into oklahoma city. look at that. you're watching "early today." t with your friends & family savings pass! shop friday night owls and saturday early birds... and dress them up with 40 to 60% off dresses kid's dressy apparel... and new shoes for the whole family. for him - save 45 to 55% on a crisp new dress shirt and tie. and pick up a new spring handbag at 50% off. everyone gets kohl's cash too! now that's the good stuff. kohl's. is caringing because covering heals faster. for a bandage that moves with you and stays on all day, cover with a band-aid brand

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contradict an audio recording released last night by the birmingham news. it was reportedly recorded by one of bentley's family members. >> governor bentley's wife of 50 years recently filed for divorce claiming an irretrievable breakdown in the marriage. bumpy moments as a plane touched down in cross winds. finally after some skillful piloting, they stuck that landing. and authorities announced the discovery of a drug tunnel from a restaurant in mexico to a newly built home in california. officials say traffickers purchased the $240,000 plot and

built a three-bedroom home to conceal the 400-yard passageway. feds nabbed the first shipment of marijuana. let's get down to business with landon dowdy. good morning. >> good morning. 70% of americans binge watch tv. the report says on average they watch five episodes per sitting. this is great news for streaming companies. nearly half of respondents sub vibe to at least one service but millennials subscribe to three. taxing income from the massive $25 billion endowment. the proposed bill will only target endowments larger than $10 billion. and amazon says it pays female employees 99.9% what it pays men. this is a major improvement from national statistics that say

women are paid 17% less than men. back over to you. >> okay. just ahead the golden state warriors continue to dominate at home and another yankee says he'll call ate career. sports is up next. with me, what you see is what you get. and i expect the same from my mascara. now, revlon introduces a new llection of mascaras that makes getting the lash look you want easy. so whether you choose ultra volume, super length, volume and length magnified, dramatic definition, or the ultimate all-in-one... the choice is yours. choose love a revolution in mascara. revlon. love is on. wfrom your cold & flu. you give them a case of the giggles. tylenol® cold helps relieve your worst cold & flu symptoms... you can give them everything you've got. tylenol®

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this morning on "today," the hacking of america. does erasing your hard drive really delete your info? find out later on today.

in sports, an exciting one in oakland. the clippers battled but were no match as golden state completed their four-game season sweep of l.a. the warriors won their 51st consecutive home game 115-98. to houston where rodney hood was on the foul line. the rockets mascot had some help from a hairy green guy there. hood nailed that free throw and the jazz won 89-87. next to cleveland, check this out. >> to lebron james! >> king james nails two of his 26 points on the night. cavs took this one. and baseball's alex rodriguez says he'll call it a career after the 2017 season. just 75 shy of barry bonds' career record. so we value see. just ahead, the hoff shows new baywatchers how it's done.

plus saying good-bye to a legend and member of our nbc family. you're watching "early today." ms opportunity to go off script. so if i wanna go to jersey and check out shotsy tuccerelli's portfolio, what's it to you? or i'm a scottish mason whose assets are made of stone like me heart. papa! you're no son of mine! or perhaps it's time to seize the day. don't just see opportunity, seize it! (applause)

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tylenol®. and cannonballsch and clean and real and looking good and sandwich and soup and a new personal best. and a little help and soup and sandwich and study group. good, clean food pairs well with anything. try the clean pairings menu. at panera. food as it should be. now to entertainment news. hollywood is mourning the loss of ken howard. the former president of sag-aftra. he was more recently hank cooper on "30 rock." he earned two emmys and a tony award. bridget jones back for a

third round. the trailer was released yesterday 12 years after the last movie hit theaters. "bridget jones' baby" hits theaters in september. >> i don't remember the second one. first one was good. david hasselhoff returned to the "baywatch" set. >> i want to look that good at 63. >> he stars with dwayne the rock johnson and zac efron. and last night on the jimmy fallon show he seemed intrigued by sarah palin's new project. >> she just signed to act as a judge on a new reality court tv show. sarah said she just wants to get a little legal experience before trump nominates her to the supreme court. i'm alex witt and this is "early today." make delicious recipes that are lighter in calories and added sugar when you use splenda no calorie sweetener.

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leading the news on nbc.com. flight attendant who flew without gucci shoes charged with trafficking dawgs. it began friday night when she was randomly selected for screening. 70 pounds of cocaine was found in her bag. she now faces a federal narcotics trafficking charge that carries a minimum sentence of ten years in prison if convicted. feds arrest 8,000 violent fugitives in a sweep. it nabbed over 500 fugitives wanted for murder and 850 sex offenders.

the martial service carried out the operation across 12 cities. in addition to catching fugitives, authorities recovered at least 17 missing children. we have some sad news about a long-time member of the nbc family. joe garagiola has died at the age of 95. ron mott takes a look back at his storied life and career. >> reporter: joe garagiola and baseball were as connected a pair as baseball and apple pie. >> what number press conference is this for you? >> reporter: after a nine-year run as a catcher in the '40s and '50s, he made a turn towards broadcasting and found lasting success. >> could have beaten them if they were playing in an airport -- >> reporter: his folksy midwestern ways a hit with the audience. bob costas said joe garagiola led a truly extraordinary american life. becoming one of the most

prominent baseball broadcasters and popular television personalities of his time. >> you'll have to watch that infield and outfield. >> reporter: he called games for nbc for a quarter century, filled in for johnny carson, served stints as host on the "today" show. in more recent years he worked as a broadcaster for the arizona diamondbacks where he lived many years. bryant gumbel recently wished his pal a happy birthday on his hbo show "real sports request ts. >> he fought against statuing tobacco, wrote two more books, and worked tirelessly to try to help nay tiff american kids. by any measure, that's a full life. >> joe garagiola was 90 years old. ron mott, nbc news, los angeles. >> now keep it here for more news, weather, and sports. tha we'll see you back here tomorrow.

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give it a pop. a growing memorial in brusal as the investigation continues. new details on the suspect involved in the bombings. a list of suspects that is growing. the man suspected in the terrorist attacks gets his day in court following his very public arrest in brussels. honoring a hero. keep an officer's memory alive after he was killed in the line of duty. "today in the bay" starts right now. a good thursday morning. thank you for joining us. i'm sam brocka. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's get to that forecast right now. >> clear skies again this morning. if you like yesterday, you'll love today. more of that same kind of weather. a cool start,