spring break in miami. maskless crowds defy the local curfew as police, including s.w.a.t. teams come out in force to disperse mass gatherings of people looking to blow off some pandemic steam the weekend provided a multitude of demonstrations against anti-asian violence as more americans are speaking out. >> many of us in our community are very scared, and i understand that. and one way to kind of go through and get through our fear is to reach out to our communities. >> we've got the latest on the

atlanta shooting and what's next in the investigation a record number of migrants a the southern border prompts the biden administration to get the word out, the border is closed the incredible scene of a man holding a toddler sneaking into an elephant enclosure at the san diego zoo. just as the giant beast begins to charge, police were called to the scene. and the big dance is providing plen o of bracket-wind gusting momentums for the men and women of the ncaa tournaments. a busy monday ahead. "early today" starts right now good morning i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. we begin with the latest on the spring break mayhem in miami the city declaring a state of emergency on saturday after authorities grappled with large spring break crowds, some of which caused fights and stampedes. on sunday, city officials voted to keep in place an 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew until april, which shutters indoor and outdoor dining the city's mayor says the crowds are not your typical spring breaker, and he is concerned about violence and the spread of

covid. here is nbc's morgan chesky. >> reporter: as more states are easing covid-19 restrictions, new fears in the fight against the virus. 21 states from hawaii to new york now reporting a his in covid cases. experts blaming the trend of new variants of the virus. the highly transmissible uk strain now believe tied to 30% of all u.s. cases. states now in a race against time to get vaccines into arms 14 more will expand vaccine eligibility. in florida, anyone over 50 can get the shot indiana opening up vaccinations to those 40 and over and in a rare move, mississippi is already allowing anyone 16 and older to get the vaccine on the basketball court, the march madness bubbles being tested with their first covid disqualification virginia commonwealth out after vcu reported multiple positive tests. but there are signs of progress. in boston, just weeks after fenway park served as mass

vaccination site, the field being prepared for baseball's opening day. and in texas, firefighters are saving lives in a different way. >> my name is steve. this is david. we're here to give you your covid vaccine. >> reporter: the city of corpus christi partnered with meals on wheels >> to date we have vaccinated over 2,000 senior citizens who are now a model for the state of texas. >> reporter: the program giving those stuck at home a chance to return to normalcy. >> you've got grandkids and great grandkids that you haven't been able the hug in a year? that's rough >> yeah, it is >> reporter: hope now on the horizon for so many. >> do you feel like you're putting out a pandemic here? >> yes, yeah you can almost see the steam rising from the pandemic everyone we go to, everyone we have a fully vaccinated elderly citizen is one less likely to die. and that would be a wonderful day when it's gone >> reporter: and this morning

there is still growing concern over the brazilian strain of the coronavirus. here in new york state, the first case was an elderly brooklyn resident who contracted it and had not been traveling. today officials urging everyone eligible to please get vaccinated phillip? >> morgan, thanks. thousands of people gather across the country to stop asian hate to the rallies stretching from coast-to-coast, san francisco to new york, crowds hit the streets, denouncing a rise in anti-asian sentiment >> in the wake of these tragedies, another vicious attack, this time in new york. a 68-year-old man was punched in the face on the train. in atlanta, vigils were held for the eight shooting victims law enforcement also revealing new details about the rampage. deepa shivaram is calling the latest for us. >> reporter: good morning, phillip. still a lot of unanswered questions as we hear from federal authorities saying they do not have enough evidence at this point the prosecute these crimes here in atlanta, those

three shootings that happened targeting eight people, asian businesses six of the victims asian women federal authorities saying they don't have enough evidence to move this forward as prosecuting it as hate crime and i do want to keep in mind here that state and local authorities are still the ones who are taking the lead as of now. and they have not yet ruled out any kind of motivation here. so a hate crime could still be on the table for those authorities who are taking the lead but from a federal investigation point of view, these guys are sort of helping out in the process. they have not taken control of the situation. and it seems like the department of justice is not going to be moving in that direction based on the evidence that they have so far i will say from folks who we have spoken to in atlanta over the weekend and just the past week, they're reeling from the attacks on tuesday, less than a week ago, still feeling the way the businesses were targeted, this was an act of hate.

they're really feeling that and rallying together at this point as they try to move forward and help the victims' families to heal phillip? >> deepa, thank you. the record number of migrants arriving at the nation's border is growing by the day. yesterday the biden administration sent a strong message to migrants saying we're close. the president himself said he may go to the border soon. nbc's kelly o'donnell has the latest. >> reporter: an alarming human drama on the southern border now more than 15,000 migrant children held in u.s. custody. the president said more can be done to discourage asylum seekers. >> making sure that we reestablish. they can stay in place and make their case from their home country. >> reporter: part of an immigration wave the biden administration says is on pace to be the largest in 20 years. homeland security secretary mayorkas fanned out across television to make this claim. >> the border is closed. >> the border is closed.

>> the border is secure. >> the border is closed. >> reporter: republicans say that does not match reality. >> the border wight now is wide open because the biden administration dismantled the very effective policies of the trump administration. >> reporter: silas martinez says he made a difficult 15-day trek from el salvador with his young family he told us the current president said he wasn't going to separate families, and here we are. the white house struggles over how to describe what's happening. when the press secretary used the word "crisis" this week, she quickly pulled back. >> challenges on the border. >> reporter: president biden deployed fema to the border and has used his authority to roll back some trump policies and disputes the policy that he is a magnet for migration. >> i can say quite clearly don't come over. >> reporter: of the more than 2,000 families crossing the border, fewer than 200 were

expelled the others can stay while awaiting court dates. >> and we've made a decision we will not expel young vulnerable children >> and our thanks to kelly o'donnell for that report. jury selection is expected to wrap up by week's end in derek chauvin's trial. the former minneapolis police officer is facing murder charges for the death of george floyd. last week the judge rejected requests from the defense to delay or move the trial. he also ruled to allow some evidence from the 2019 arrest related to his medical condition as well as a portion of the body camera footage opening statements are scheduled for a week from today. it looks like buckingham palace might be getting a lesson in diversity and inclusion according to "the daily mail" and bbc, the royals will be speaking to a range of businesses on how the monarchy can improve representation this includes the queen, prince philip, prince charles, camilla, prince william and kate. the palace source says they're also considering bringing in a diversity chief. the men's and women's ncaa

tournaments now in full swing. one name is busting brackets and making history after upsetting number two, ohio state oral roberts came out swinging against florida the gators were up by 5 at the half but the golden eagles will storm back hey would get a three from deschaine weaver florida would have a last chance effort to tie up the game, but it would be no good here oral roberts shocks the world. they win 8-178 they're the 15th seed ever to reach the sweet 16 sister jean predicted her team would make it but to do that they would have to get by number one illini they didn't have an answer for loyola's defensive scheme. the ramblers ran away with the upset. they head back to the sweet 16 they get the win, 71-58. oregon state is up next. number two houston tried to avoid an upset from rutgers. the cougars started the game off

hard but rutgers that. >> held the lead for most of the game still, marks put back near the end of regulation would put houston up survive and advance they did the cougars win it, barely, 63-60. over to the women's tournament where all four number one seeds began their pursuits the huskies brought the hammer down on high point with coach auriemma still away from the team the huskies advance 102-59 nc state had a bit of trouble early shaking off number 16 north carolina a&t. they're only up by 1 at the end of the first quarter, the wolf paul coverdell would rally they had a strong second half. they downed the aggies 79-58 and women's teams are working out in an all new facility after several players posted to social media gym space that they said was smaller and had less equipment than the men's. the ncaa apologized for that disparity. all right. spring in the east, but heavy snow in the west

nbc meteorologist bill karins joins us now what more we can expect now it is officially spring let's see if it feels like it. hi, bill >> hi, frances you loved this past weekend. it was about as nice as it gets in areas of the east coast, especially in areas of the northeast. but not everyone is dealing with great weather. you're shoveling snow again in colorado so let's get into it that storm system is in northern portions of new england. it's going to snow through the morning rush hour in the denver area we're expecting a total around 3 to 5 additional forecast about 1 to 2 inches and the snow will then push out into the plaps. with the storm system, since it's a typical spring storm, we will have severe weather to deal with 8 million people watch out from dallas to wichita falls to oklahoma city later on this afternoon/evening there is that golden beautiful weather in the northeast en, we're

going see additional snow at the high elevations. and there is some of the warm air ahead in the ohio valley the week ahead forecast has more great weather for you, frances that's coming up. >> bring it on can't wait to hear more about that, bill thank you. >> awesome crispykrispy kreme really w you get the coronavirus vaccine. they're offering a free donut to anyone who gets the vaccination. they're offering employees up to four hours of paid time off so they can go get vaccinated still to come, how former president trump could soon take on twitter. and a shock at the san diego zoo. the fath uerirernd fe for sneaking his toddler into the elephant exhibit ued his nose. with up to 50% more lotion puffs bring soothing softness and relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed.

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the san diego zoo while carrying his toddler. >> oh! [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> wow it sounds terrifying too that heart stopping video shows the elephant charging at the pair before the father races through a barrier to safety. he was arrested and is being held on $1,000 bail. former president trump is plotting his return to social media after he was kicked off twitter, facebook and other sites following the deadly insurrection at the capitol. a senior adviser says the former president is planning to launch his own platform in the coming months jason miller told fox news it would, quote, completely redefine the game, but he did not elaborate any further. now to china where for the last two years two canadian men named michael have been detained on spying charges. one of the men went on trial friday and the case for the other started today.

the cases are largely seen as retaliation for the arrest of a senior chinese telecom executive. >> reporter: good morning. diplomats from over two dozen countries led by canadian and the u.s. were denied entry to the trial for michael cofrid today in beijing they're told it was a matter of national security. he is a former diplomat arrested in december of 2018 after canada arrested a huawei executive, meng wanzhou at the request of u.s. officials who wanted to see her extradited to the u.s. to face fraud charges there was another canadian michael spavor who was also detained. he had a trial on friday that lasted two hours mao the timing of these trials is no coincidence, happening as the first high level meetings between the u.s. and china took place in alaska. they did not go well topic near the top of the agenda was the fate of the two michaels

as they're known because they're widely seen as pawns in a wider geopolitical fight between washington and beijing china says that ms. meng is being held as a hostage, that the u.s. is targeting huawei but outside the court today, diplomats were saying that it shows there is a lack of transparency in china's system, that china has violated international protocols. there is no word yet on a verdict, but this is a system that carries a conviction rate of 99% phillip, frances, back to you. >> janice, thank you. how ditching your devices for a day could win you $2400. they were following her because she had beef jerky in her pocket. (laughing) (trumpet playing) someone behind me, come on. pick that up, pick that up, right there, right there. as long as you keep making the internet an amazing place to be,

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growing upand being a part of those powerful elements in our society, being asian, being a person of color, being trans, being a woman, being a black woman, i mean, we are constantly under attack and we are constantly just trying to have a voice to speak up and to be seen so i think it's powerful for me to have this moment for as a community when people are being murdered and being killed. and when you have something like this, a historical moment that brings it all together as one and say hey, i'm here too. i need to be -- >> that's transgender "sports illustrated" model layna bloom

she is the first trans woman of color in the swimsuit issue. yumi nu has become the first asian curve model to grace the pages. named the 2021 swimsuit rookie of the year. would you, could you sacrifice all your smartphones for an entire 24 hours in order to take home some cash well, the 24-hour digital detox challenge has become a reality and $2400 are on the line. the company reviews.org released this application on their website, and they will pay a chosen candidate to cleanse themselves of their smartphone, tvs, computer, gaming consuls and any smart home devices for 24 hours you can reply on reviews.org up until march 26th the big winner will be announced three days later. >> always good to get that cleanse every now and then, even

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we're back with a remarkable gift of gratitude and how one community is giving back to a woman on a mission to feed those struggling during the pandemic here is nbc's jose diaz-balart >> reporter: hard at work. he is preparing dish after dish. each week, the part-time custodian spends hours cooking inside notre dame catholic church in miami. since the pandemic, you have been cooking a thousand meals? >> yes yes. >> reporter: guided by her faith, she has been preparing a

thousand or more meals a week during the pandemic's darkest days father reginald jean maurice says she has gone above and beyond to help those hit hardest by the covid lockdowns you really kind of came up with this idea of feeding others. >> we said you know what we're going to establish a feeding program that we can go to the senior centers, question go to the neighborhoods and she said she was willing to cook. >> reporter: with a budget from church donations and boundless energy, she mobilizes, cooking almost around the clock two days a week to make sure no one in her community goes hungry. >> i start thursday shopping friday at 10:00 i finish i relax for an hour. and then i start seasoning my meat. >> you do all of the cooking by yourself >> yes. >> reporter: on the men you're, recipes inspired by her childhood in haiti, rice,

chicken, and fried plantains and when the dishes are ready, church volunteers deliver them to those in need service has been a life-long mission. >> i don't like to see people suffering. you have to share. >> reporter: that compassion now rewarded by the community's gift to her, a new car so she wouldn't have to walk or take the bus anymore. a big honor for a woman who considers herself god's humble servant. >> for me always i ask, if i have, i help all those who don't have >> thanks for that she says sheet keep cooking as long as the donations keep coming this has everything. it's the selflessness, community, gratitude and good karma. >> that is a living saint right there. it seems to me the blessings are going to keep coming she is pretty close to the big guy up there. >> about as close as you can do it. >> yeah. >> thank you so much for starting your week with us i'm phillip mena.

>> and i'm frances rivera. finally, a new volcano erupted near iceland's capital reykjavik. officials worried they were getting a little too close for comfort there. it was the volcano's first eruption in 900 years. have a great monday. see you back here tomorrow

the border is closed the border is closed the border is secure the border is closed >> the border right now is wide open because the biden administration dismantled the very effective policies of the trump administration >> a record number of migrants mass at our southern borders the president may be headed there shortly, but the challenges faced by the administration are growing by the day. you see something, will you help me? >> yes >> if you see one of us look to the brotherhood in me, will you help us? >>