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. ted cruz leads republicans and a revealing moment for donald trump. >> he's bringing in a lot of new vote thoorzrs to the political process and no super packs. >> or special interests or donors. >> i was describing bernie sapd sanders. >> that's good. >> raising security fears. plus, nike drops boxing superstar many pacquiao over anti-gay comments. and look who is back on late night.

i watch these debates, trump attackscruz, cruz gets attacks bush. remember when the republicans were all united against the poor and the minority said,ies, what happened? a water shed moment for cold war rivals. the sitting american president will visit cuba. 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 p. he said he was interested in visiting cuba before his

there was significant improvements in civil liberties. well, national embassies have reopened in washington d.c. and havana. this week u.s.nd c can officials signed an agreement restoring scheduled airline service between the nations. and ted cruz and marco rubio, both of cuban descent, vocalized their opposition to the president's trip, vowing never to visit the island. this morning a big shake up. donald trump has slipd 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 -- that's how you

you got to get to first place to win but i think this is a result of a couple of things. one -- >> and earlier in the day, cruz took on trump directly over a campaign ad attacking trump as pro-choice. at an msnbc town hall, the not-backing down trump seemed less forceful about pursuing the case. >> we certainly want to keep somebody honest and when he says he's not pro-life, you 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.

big blow to jeb bush who earlier in the day told nbc news that getting her indorsement would mean he would quote have to work a lot harder. >> seizehe's a very good governor and should i win there's a roll for her. she's a great person. i'm disappointed she didn't indorse me. >> bush's father and brother, 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 nevada race getting more excitement 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 statements. >> my opponent has been quite

he's called him weak. i'm unappallunapologetic. 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 at morehouse callage and saying there's a crack in clinton's fire wall. and he's responding to killer

>> he said michael, are you qualified to be psz 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. caucus caucuses. and rachel maddow will have an exclusive interview with vice president joe biden tonight 8:00 p.m. eastern time. many pacquiao received a big blow by nike. they just announced they're cutting ties with pacquiao after he called people in home sexual relationships worse than

saying man is worse than animals because animals know how to distinguish male from female. he's currently running for the country's senate. nike issued a statement that said in part. the former boxing champion tweeted an apology saying he was sorry for hurting people. apple is defending its de decision to not help the fbi hack into the cell phone belonging to one of the san bernardino shooters.

meanwhile, according to u.s.a. today, experts say it was just taken in an afternoon to create the software to break into iphones. and according to a document exclusively acquired by roiders, a chemical went missing and they fear if it falls in the hands of isis, it could be used as a deadly chemical weapon. >> we're aware of the reports that there may be a lost or missing radioiddioradioactive source in iraq. we haven't seen any information that it has been acquired by dash or any of the terrorist groups in the region. sandra o'connor says

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. justice steven bar 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 silent for justice scalia who was a good friend and 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

and the florida winners have finally come forward. they are claiming a 1/3 of the january 13th ewinnings 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. so i had to say i didn't purchase a ticket and i didn't lie. >> and they decided oen a lump sum payment of 327 million$327 million. so, a whole lot of money that they will each be spending in florida. and ice jams, this one formed in augusta, causing the river to rise about 13 feet. ize jams usually occur in early spring. so, nbc meteorologist bill karins is here. normally that starts in early spring.

about spring time in that part of may? >> it just means we've been on a roller coast r is what it means. we h 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. heavy snow to mountains in california and areas like salt lake city. and it's going to be very windy. with record high temperatures, dry conditions, you have an early spring set up where we're going to have to deal with brush fires and we have red flag warnings from mexico to missouri and amarillo, texas could be 85 degrees today. this as we go through friday to sunday, 70s and 80s. minneapolis doesn't get many february stretches of three days

that's happening friday through your weekend. and eventually it will try make to the northeast and midatlantic. now a closer look at your day ahead. so, there's that record high, 86 and 80 in amarillo. denver is unusually warm at 73. and mid-60s all the way through montana. mid-60s in montana in february and that's a little unusual. >> in new york it's going to be close to 50s -- >> this weekend you'll get your happy smile back. there you go. and now good news for men taking testostirone treatments andandseizing opportunity. and i'd like to... cut. so i'm gonna take this opportunity to direct. thank you, we'll call you. evening, film noir, smoke, atmosphere...

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they stole the court in a 65-63 triumph and it is the third straight win over a ranked team. next to 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 go tosing going to win the game. >> and two international super star ronaldo who ends his supposed stump as he scores the winning goal in a champions league match. final score, 2-0. just ahead, the kardashian clan have another number one to

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leading the news on msnbc news.com. cliven bundy, sons, two other occupiers will have to face charges with a confrontation with officers which include conspiracy to commit an offense, obstruction and extortion. bundy is scheduled to appear in court today. elementary school accidently sends "hurt feelings report" home. under reasons for filing the report it has options like i'm a cry baby. it the spokes person called it an embarrassing mistake. some of the other stories we're following. one person died in a crash in los angeles

transformers fell and trapped several vehicles. many cheese producers are misleading customers in their labels. though they may touted 100% cheese labels, many sl sellulose, a tasteless filler from wood pulp. so, you think you're eating parm sean and you're eating a tree. look at this. as winds pick up, the wild tumble weed covers gardens and garages. they suspect it comes from a nearby field. it's swallowing up the house. radio flyer is stepping up its day from little red riding hood to little red in a car. it features forward and reverse control. oh, yeah.

there's working head lights, sound system, of course. and there's nothing like making the other kids feel like you don't have anything. >> look at the rims going backwards. >> exactly. that's the way to do it. and if you think you can't teach a dog new tricks watch this. the former surfing champ has been rescuing animals from shelters and using this sport to help other dog owners to understand their dog. celebrating birthdays today. rapper dr. j turns 51, and john travolta is 62. artist-singer yoko owno turns 33.

watching "early today." coming up today on agday -an update on the ethanol industry

you've got cash...how should you spend it. getting bigger is not the way to lower your cost. cattlemen raise questions about another monument designation. and learning to garden in the classrooms of louisiana. agday-brought to you by the dependable, long lasting chevy silverado. good morning i'm clinton griffiths. ethanol is in the spotlight this week as industry leaders discuss the state of the bio fuels future. the renewable fuels association's 21st annual national ethanol conference is underway this week in new orleans. this year, the focus seems to be on how to market fuel through both domestic and international channels while building demand. national reporter betsy jibben joins us with more on this maturing business. despite gasoline prices at multi year-lows, the renewable fuels industry says