investigators are piecing together the moments leading to the crash of the ethiopian airline 737 and comparing it to the lion air crash from less than six months ago. many nations have grounded the planes but not the faa. an explosion rocks a power station in caracas as secretary of state mike pompeo orders all remaining u.s. personnel out of venezuela. is president trump getting a pass from nancy pelosi over impeachment, or is the speaker playing politics at a whole other level? also developing overnight, mma great conor mcgregor arrested and thrown in jail for hours, facing charges of strong-arm robbery and criminal mischief according to police. a massive cocaine bust to the tune of over $77 million.

"early today" starts right now. good tuesday morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm marlie hall. the world is waiting for more answers from boeing after a 737 jet went down in ethiopia, leaving no survivors. the community of redding, california, is mourning the loss of bennett and melvin riffel, brothers who had been vacationing together. and antoine lewis, from the chicago suburbs has also been identified as one of the victims. his mother tells nbc news he was on vacation from his position in the military. as airlines await more details about the cause of the taking n choosing to ground some of their planes. for the latest, we go to nbc's sarah harman, who is at the airport in nairobi, kenya. sarah,d morning. >> reporter: good morning, marlie. the faa and the ntsb are both on the site of the crash assisting with the investigation, and now that the plane's black boxes

have been found after a 30-hour search, the work of unraveling this mystery can begin. what happened in those final moments aboard flight et-302? plane maker boeing is coming in for tremendous scrutiny this morning over the model of aircraft, the 737 max 8. this is the second time in less than six months that this model was involved in a deadly crash. the last time in indonesia, a very similar profile. that jet also crashed just a few minutes after takeoff, and everyone onboard was killed. we're also learning more about the victims this morning, an incredibly diverse list of passengers, people from more than 30 countries. among them, 32 kenyans. here in nairobi, families are receiving counseling at a site near the airport much the red cross is offering support. one of the young men from kenya was a student at georgetown

university in washington, d.c., a third-year law student. the community there is holding a vigil in his honor. a very sad day for so many people here in nairobi. marlie? >> sad indeed, sarah. thank you. it is an issue that has divided the democratic party while some are already calling for congress to launch impeachment proceedings. house speaker nancy pelosi says president trump is, quote, just not worth it. she waded into the controversial debate for the first time in a new interview with "the washington post" saying she's not for impeachment unless there's a compelling case for it. tracie potts join us with more. >> reporter: good morning, frances. not all democrats agree with nancy pelosi, but she has finally weighed in, pumping the brakes on this idea of impeaching president trump. pelosi telling the post that it dividing tes the country and is not worth it. she's also weighing in on the mueller report due any day now, that report on russian collusion, possible collusion,

interference in the election, and how that may have an of thi. >> if that is so conclusive that there's a bipartisanship, there's a message to the president, so be it. nixon was -- president nixon was not impeached. the republicans finally saw the light. i have no idea, nor should i have any idea what the mueller report will say. but what i'm saying is from our standpoint, our day to day work is not about him. it's about the american people. >> reporter: there are several developments happening this week that could have some impact on that report or give us some sense of where the investigation is headed. first of all, a second sentencing for former campaign chair paul manafort, this one in d.c. roger stone, former trump campaign adviser will find out when his trial is happening. and status hearings for former national security adviser michael flynn and manafort's

deputy rick gates. both of them have been cooperating with the government. plus tomorrow, former justice department head matt whisketake the acting attorney general, is back on capitol hill not for a hearing but for a closed door meeting about his previous appearance. that could afterwards give us some sense of where lawmakers are headed with their investigations. >> tracie, thank you. now to breaking news out of venezuela. secretary of state mike pompeo announced the u.s. will withdraw all remaining diplomatic staff from the country's capital of caracas this week. the move comes after growing concerns of safety after the country was crippled by a massive power outage. the outage flaring up what is already a growing humanitarian crisis, and the country's embattled president, nicolas maduro, is blaming it on the u.s. nbc's gabe gutierrez has the latest. >> reporter: throughout parts of venezuela, the lights are out.

transportation grinding to a h. we're desperate, without electr, this mother says. the blackout is the latest crisis for a country in chaos. the u.s. has stepped up its condemnation of embattled president nicolas maduro after recognizing opposition leader juan guaido as interim president. guaido's supporters allege at least 21 people have died in hospitals since the outages began last week. the government has already fallen, this man says. maduro blames the blackout on cyberattacks by the u.s. government though he's offered no evidence. secretary of state mike pompeo partly blamed cuba and russia for venezuela's problems. this woman is worried no electricity means her crucial insulin will be damaged. an uncertain future in a country where basic services are scarce. gabe gutierrez, nbc news. a u.n. report ratcheting up

tensions with north korea this morning. experts say kim jong-un is evading sanctions using techniques never before seen. the assessment underscores the challenge facing president trump after talks with north korea collapsed at last month's summit in vietnam. nbc's andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: kim jong-un has found new ways to get around u.n. sanctions, raking in millions byin coal and smuggling in oil. >> the techniques being used, some of which i've never seen before, and i've been investigating maritime trafficking and smuggling for more than 15 years. >> reporter: the u.n. says blacklisted north korean ships are masquerading as legitimate by repainting their names and stealing electronic tracking signals from other ships thousands of miles away. >> this ship has assumed the identity of its sister ship. >> reporter: the new u.n. report also says kim's nuclear and missile programs remain intact. only days after new images show kim rebuilding aast year to

dismantle. the administration has been relying on the sanctions to pressure kim to disarm, saying he is desperate for money. but according to the u.n., global oil traders and banks are unwittingly letting north korea evade sanctions. >> they're not monitoring the ships that they are either financing, insuring, or that are carrying their product. >> thanks to andrea mitchell for that report. ufc star conor mcgregor is facing two felony charges. according to police, a fan tried to snap a photo of mcgregor as he left a miami beach hotel. the mixed martial arts fighter is accused of slapping the phone out of the man's hand and stomping on it walking away. he's charged with strong-arm robbery and criminal mischief, posted bond, and left guilty la to disorderly conduct in new york and spent the past week completing court-ordered community service as part of a plea deal in that case. the evacuation of 6

buildings and shut down traffic as crews responded to that messy scene. much of the roadway was left under water, forcing police to send drivers along alternate routes. luckily no injuries were reported, but the damage to homes was pretty extensive. no word yet on what may have led to that water main break. it was a close call for one pedestrian in northeast london. security footage captures the man walking along a sidewalk when just seconds after he walks out of frame, a section of brick wall collapses onto the walk way. fortunately no one was injured. gale force winds are believed to have been a factor. one person tweeted it was the man's lucky day and suggested he buy a lottery ticket asap. >> it is crazy with these winds we're seeing over and over again. let's see what's happening closer to home. >> good morning. we are watching huge not everyone morning i can tell you it's raining in los angeles, phoenix, and san diego at the same mmee its

way thr centralains. later on tonight, the storm will bring in the potential of severe thunderstorms. isolated tornadoes, mostly talking western sections of texas. on top of that, a lot of rain. a good deal of warming. melting snow on frozen ground. potential for flooding up here in areas from kansas, to iowa, o southern start falling in areas of the central plains as this storm matures and gets a little stronger. we'll have a snowstorm also. this storm's going to have it all, blizzard conditions. it's also going to pump warm air up the east coast. not all bad for everyone. >>ability, thank you. in today's quick hits a i close call in new jersey. a bull went berserk and started ramming its owner's suv.

when officers arrived, the bull charged t shocking sight on an texas highway. a driver spotted a pickup truck hauling a horse in the bed. police did pull over the owner, but no word of any charges. the tallest outdoor observation deck in the western hem atmosphere will soon open. 1,100 feet off the ground, slightly taller than the empire state building. we'll be right back. wrinkles just won't. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair's derm-proven retinol works so fast, it takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin. making wrinkles look so last week. rapid wrinkle repair® pair with new retinol oil for 2x the wrinkle fighting power. neutrogena® she's doing it again.

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leading the news, a shocking story of abuse of power by one of florida's best. police sergeant lionel maranash is accused of using police databases as a personal dating service, targeting at least 150 women. the police chief calls it a truly disturbing situation. >> i personally met with most of the women involved in the smaller subset in an effort to help them regain their trust in the bradenton police department

and also simply to tell them i'm sorry. >> he had been with the bradenton department for 12 years. he resigned in october but still remains under criminal investigation by the fbi. a charter bus carrying the university of south carolina baseball team home from a game going up in flames. the burning inferno nearly trapping all 38 people onboard and destroying all of their equipment. fortunately all of the players and trainers for the team made it off the bus in the nick of time. this video, which was shot by one of the team's catchers, has since been viewed tens of thousands of times online. according to the school, the team is now hoping for donations after the horrifying incident. the feds make the biggest cocaine bust in 25 years. authorities seized 3,200 pounds of cocaine found in a shipping container in newark, new jersey. the drugs were said to have an estimated street value of $77 million. but now authorities are concerned this could be a sign

of a growing problem. nbc's pete williams has the details. >> reporter: this cell phone video shows federal agents about to unload a remarkable find. 3,200 pounds of cocaine, 1.6 tons with a street value of $77 million. it was hidden m a shipping container of dried fruit at the port authority of new york in new jersey when scans revealed something suspicious and a closer look turned up white powder in 60 packages. it's the second largest seizure of cocaine at the port and the biggest in 25 years. cocaine use peaked a few decades ago, but federal drug agents say it's making a comeback. >> cocaine was the nemesis in the '90s, but this is traffickers today trying to merge cocaine and fentanyl to create new markets. >> reporter: like other drugs, most cocaine comes into theacss. 90% of it from colombia. now with a dangerous trend of mixing it with fentanyl, drug

agents expect to see more big shipments like this one. pete williams, nbc news, washington. just ahead, how speaker turned shade thrower nancy pelosi gets a hilarious new title. then jesse and the one-uppers. full house star john stamos takes his jonas brothers fan dom to new heights, next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ walgreens... battle beautifully walgreens... ever notice how hard it is to clean impossible kitchen and bathroom messes with wipes and spray cleaners? try mr. clean magic eraser. just add water, squeeze, and erase. mr. clean magic eraser works great on burnt-on food in the kitchen.

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here to tell his side of the scary story, joining us, jaguar

kelly, everybody. that's right. thank you for joining us, jaguar kelly. >> y'all trying to kill me. >> what? >> you're killing me, jimmy. this isn't about selfies. this is about a relationship with other animals with the hippos and the giraffes, and i can't do t. i didn't do anything to nobody. you're all killing me with this [ bleep ]. i gave you 30 years of my career. i gave my likeness to a luxury car. what about that? >> two biggest headlines in the nation combine for one funny skit on jimmy kimmel. a celebrity bromance between john stamos and one of the jonas brothers. last year the 55-year-old joe bro fan stepped out rocking a concert tour t-shirt from 2009, and one of the band members took notice. on saturday, nick jonas shared a photo of himself wearing a hoodie. on it, a photo of stamos wearing the t-shirt. jonas also challenged him saying, it's your move john

stamos. what happened next? the full house star raised the bar, posted another photo of himself cozied up with a pillow featuring the picture of nick jonas wearing the shirt with john stamos. so then it keeps going. the jonas brother looked to be dozing peacefully in the latest one under a blanket of stamos sleeping with the pillowcase. so this is not ending anytime soon. social media is loving it. we're waiting to see what john's next move is going to be. this has potential to just keep going and going and going. >> it's like a picture in a picture in a picture. >> hilarious still. everybody loves it. it was the clap that went viral during the state of the union address. [ applause ] nancy pelosi stole the show with her pointed applause at president trump, and now the speaker of the house is commemorating that event with some merch.

she's se you can find it on her website ttcongress.org. clap, i've been practicing it. >> she's got the eye roll too during that state of the union. still ahead, the stormier the better for one group of wind surfing daredevils. on the flip side, gusty winds causing dangerous and potentially deadly conditions in germany. you're watching "early today." at the end of a long day, it's the last thing i want to do. well i switched to swiffer wet jet and its awesome. it's an all-in-one so it's ready to go when i am. the cleaning solution actually breaks down dirt and grime. and the pad absorbs it deep inside. so, it prevents streaks and haze better than my old mop. plus, it's safe to use on all my floors, even wood. glad i got that off my chest and the day off my floor. try wet jet with a moneybackgu wit looks like george having are busy day.? ♪ the beat goes on

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daredevils go in search of them. eight of the world's best wind surfers took part in the red bull storm chase in northwest ireland. those riders braved freezing temperatures to perform those jumps, wave rides, and all kinds of tricks in winds reaching nearly 70 miles per hour. >> most people avoid extreme weather. not them, however. does it hurt when they hit the water? >> it's got to. >> maybe they're so numb. >> all right. so one of the big stories we're going to have with this huge storm in the middle of the country is with the high winds. high wind watches from areas from albuquerque to dallas. winds gusting later today and tomorrow up to 60 to 70 miles per hour. we're going to have some damage here too. >> bill, thank you. when we come back, caught on camera. road rage brawl in the middle of the street. >> oh, my god. somebody stop them! a new range of innovative air fresheners

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in today's top stories there are alarming new details about the measles outbreak growing across the country. doctors are pleading with parents to get their children vaccinated. over the past week, the number of measles cases jumped from 206 to 228. now impacting 12 states. the pacific northwest has been hit especially hard. health officials say more than 800 students in clark county, washington, were asked to stay home for three weeks because of the ongoing outbreak. a vicious road rage assault caught on camera. take a look at this. >> no! somebody stop -- oh, my god. somebody stop them! >> stop! get him! >> i can't deal, y'all. >> the incident took place last thursday in brentwood, tennessee. investigators are lidentify a s motorist who witnessed the fight

uploaded this video to twitter. police say the victim of the attack was not seriously injured, and the suspect left before officers arrived. no word on what caused the fight. ibaka appeared to touch it. >> if nobody touched, cavs get it. >> oh, no, ibaka and chriss exchanging blow. >> in tonight's raptors-cavaliers game got heated when a fight broke out in the third quarter between serge ibaka and marquese chriss. ibaka shoved chriss from behind and grabbed near his neck. both men proceeded to throw punches at one another before a referee broke it up. both players were ejected and the cavs beat the raptors 126-101. some people in germany had a really close call after a flyin landed on their car.

[ speaking foreign language ] >> wow. this happened in the western city of cologne. firefighters were able to free the car. both people irnside were not injured. the stormy weather has been wreaking havoc these last couple day. >> even in german, we have to get some bleeps in with some choice words. many of us struggle to solve a rue bic's cube with our hand, a 16-year-old is putting his best feet forward by doing it with his bare feet. this is dan rose levine who broke the guinness record last year for the fastest time to solve the rue bic's cube using only his feet. he says he's been solving rubik's cube since he was 11. he'll try to beat his own record during an event later today. w

wow. can't even do it with my fingers. anks for startinthg to simone, i leave the van gogh. to harrison, the wine collection. to craig, this rock. the redwoods to the redheads. the rainbows to the proud. i leave these things to my heirs, all 39 million of you, on one condition. that you do everything in your power to preserve and protect them. with love, california. new lysol wipes are crazy strong. don't believe us? we got this workout class to compare them to clorox. wow! feel the strength of new lysol wipes. dude! are you looking at this? can i take those? .

lysol. what it takes to protect.® ad lib live picture - full golden gate bridge and good tuesday morning to you. march 12th right now. taking a live look at the golden gate bridge. beautiful start to our tuesday morning. thanks so much for waking up with us here on "today in the bay." i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. let's get a look at the forecast. so many people are saying, look, the sun was out yesterday. >> it was unbelievably gorgeous out yesterday. we have another chilly start with low 40s for many of our microclimates. 50 degrees in san francisco and half moon bay. as you head out in walnut creek, it is looking good. no fog as of now, and our temperatures will be in the mid-40s with more sunshine as we go throughout today. we'll get a look at what else is ahead in the forecast and mike, you're starting out in s