a tow truck driver is dead tonight, investigators are searching for a woman with a long history of drunk driving. her name is allison huffman. her first dui arrest was 14 years ago. now she's wanted in this morning's deadly hit and run, and mark is live near the bridge, and this is an absolutely tragic case. >> reporter: no other way to describe it, keith, and it all unfolded out there on the howard franklin bridge in the middle of the night where the tow truck driver reached out to help others twice, and died because of it. now the search is on the for the woman police believed killed him and just kept going. while most of us were sleeped, roger was -- sleeping, roger was crossing the bridge and came across a motorist in distress on the howard franklin bridge.

he was just pulling over because he saw somebody stuck on the road. >> reporter: the motorists were tucked away safely inside his truck with an eastbound hit and run driver hit perez, glanced off the truck and kept going. >> he was just a fantastic person. >> reporter: hours later the car was recovered at the crown plaza hotel in tampa at the foot of the bridge. it was towed away as evidence in the deadly crash. traffic homicide investigators believe the driver is 35-year- old allison huffman. a worm with a riverview address and a really bad driving record. we did some digging, and found a history of four drunk driving arrests from 2002 to 2014. troopers tell us after the crash she took a taxi to the hard rock casino. roger perez went to the morgue. none of this seems fair to his

a great worker, he was a stellar human being. >> >. always polite, always courteous, he would come to work two hours early just to see if he could help out. >> reporter: well, as you said absolutely tragic, in the background, the bridge where all of this started, and let me walk you over to where it ended. this is a good two or three miles away from where the crash happened. you can see the crown plaza hotel in the background, she according to troopers, and picked up a taxi and headed to the hard rock casino. perez's older brother says they both came from cuba 20 years ago, and his brother had a 6- year-old daughter, and it must have been hard to tell that little girl her father would keith? >> there are some other disturbing things here in the story i'm reading from your comments with the brother, and tell us what else we know about

>> reporter: well, i spoke to her brother as well, and he describes her as an alcoholic struggling for a very long time with drinking problems. we know that she's been through court ordered substance abuse treatment, been to dui school twice, and of course the very bad driving record. tonight she's somewhere out there, and state troopers would like to find her. it's safe to say she's at the top of the most wanted list in the tampa bay area. >> and it should be just a matter of time. her name and face out there. thank you, mark douglas reporting live in tampa. new information in another early morning crash. a driver critically injured may have been street racing. the 27-year-old driver lost control of his truck and slammed into a pole right there. investigators tell us he was speeding, and they believe he was racing someone. troopers are now looking for information about the other car.

video stop what you're doing and take a look. it's become a very dangerous trend among young drivers. driving into traffic on purpose to do doughnuts. see that? it happened in pinellas park over the gemmed ever weekend, and -- weekend, and this certainly has the attention of police. >> reporter: you can still see the tire marks in pinellas park. detectives say fortunately no one was hurt in the incident, but this driver caused -- cough caused a very serious -- could have caused a very serious accident, and they're seeing more cases like this one. it's the video catching the attention of drivers everywhere. turns like the ones you see in a movie. >> they're looking at the fast and the furious. >> reporter: this man takes this road every day, and he's glad he wasn't on the road when

the middle of traffic and started doing toe nuts. the driver does -- doughnuts. the driver does a full spin, burning rubber, and bringing traffic to a screeching halt. >> i think it's crazy, but the kids don't understand. we were all construction young once, and -- young once and all the same way, we were god and nothing can happen to us. >> reporter: and it's not only happening here. hundreds of video boasted on crew -- posted on youtube show wreckless drivers doing the same thing across the country, all for fame and bragging rights. >> blatant disrespect for the law enforcement in the area like they want to be chased. >> reporter: it's a dangerous change with young drivers that's not only sweeping the nation, but hits right here at home. >> and it just shows a lack of good decision making. especially in an open environment like that where he can lose control of that vehicle. there's children out here. people on bikes, people walking dogs, and he's doing doughnuts in the middle of an

>> reporter: what would you say to kids that think this is cool? >> that they're idiots. >> reporter: detectives say it happened right in the middle of the day, so they definitely want to find this driver and take this person off the road before they trial to pull another stunt like this again. back to you. >> are investigators close to identifying the driver, do we know? >> reporter: last check,er spoke with an investigator about an -- i spoke with an investigator about an hour ago, and they're still trying to identify the driver. >> live in pinellas county ton, thank you. and now to breaking news, a garbage truck that veered off interstate 95 in miami, fire rescue crews on the scene right now. this is a live look at what we can see. we're being told the truck fell off the exit ramp, went down about a hundred feet, plunged down on a parking lot below it,

in serious condition. a couple of cars were hit. we don't know about injuries down there other than the truck driver. we'll continue to follow it. in the meantime, a man shot and killed by a temperaturety over the weekend used -- deputy over the weekend used to be an officer. he resigned in 2008. a deputy shot him yesterday. he claimed the man went after him with a knife. the deputy is on leave while the sheriffs office investigates. and a lakeland woman that made national headlines after she live streamed her drunk driving will avoid jail time. she took a plea deal including probation, driver's license suspension, and alcohol treatment. well, a small investment that could pay off in the long run. coming up, why more bay area drivers are putting dashboard cameras in their cars.

from cuba, two deals between the us and cuba that could have a big impact. and the lightning gm trying to slam the door on the trade rumors, what he had to say coming up in sports. mostly cloudy skies persist around the bay area. possibility of overnight thunderstorms, and then a beautiful stretch of weather with temperatures in the 70s. stay tuned for that, it's coming up shortly. >> that and more coming up on

8 on your side wants your vote to count, so here's an important reminder about a deadline. tomorrow is the last day you can register to vote in the presidential primary, so several elections offices were so busy today. you have to register to vote by tomorrow, and if you want to vote for the a republican or democratic presidential primary candidate you need to register with one of the party affiliations. >> in this upcoming election, unless you're a democrat or republican, there will be nothing on the ballot for you to vote on. >> of course that's in hillsborough county. the deadline to register to vote and register to change the party affiliation is tomorrow at 5:00. we have everything you need

primary, and what you need to do tuareg store to vote on -- to register to vote on -- register to vote on wfla.com. and tampa bay drivers are using dash cam recorders more often. they're more affordable and more popular. even law enforcement officer believe if used properly dash cam video can only help in an investigation. >> without the videos it's he said she said type of issues, like who actually did run the red light. he was at the stop sign first, who had the right after way. >> it also watches your driving wow. that means if you're at fault the footage could work against bus riders in tampa will soon be a lot more connected. starting today, hart is installing wi-fi for all

on all buses by april 4th. and a big change coming to a downtown tampa street. east cast treat is now going to be a two-way street between ashley drive and franklin. the new traffic pattern starts next monday, february 22nd. drivers used to that will probably think they're seeing things. >> i get confused on the one ways still. we'll have to pay attention. still ahead, some big changes in cuba, and they will have an impact on the united states. >> 8 on your side, the only tv station covering this important trip to cuba by us lawmakers. the deal that could help more

(phone ringing) you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise) hey candidates,

now 8 on your side's exclusive coverage from cuba. we're the only station following along with a delegation from the us as they visit havana. this is jeff patterson's fifth day in cuba, and change is happening rapidly between the us and cuba. the obama administration approved on agreement today allowing a us factory in cuba for the first time in more than 50 years. >> jeff patterson is in havana and tells us about another agreement allowing even more americans to travel to cuba. >> reporter: the us secretary of transportation will be here in havana tomorrow to sign an agreement to allow us herbal airlines to travel -- commercial airlines to travel here daily for the first time

the question is, is cuba ready for more americans. we met a group of teachers here from new york, and asked what they think. >> reporter: why come now? >> well, we can, that's one reason. >> reporter: she came to cuba with friends, and was last year three years ago. what changes have you noticed since 2013? >> a lot more americans of course, and they were europeans here then, and also construction. i see scaffolding. bill boors for new hotel -- billboards for new hotels coming. >> reporter: what are the observations about the buildings and architecture? >> beautiful, but dilapidated, falling apart. >> reporter: today the us delegation toured old havana. several favor lifting the embargo to move forward with the new us and cuba relationship. >> we too will get the embargo out of the way, and will cuba

these people are very well- restrictions are loosened, they'll respond. >> reporter: the agreement scheduled to be signed tomorrow will allow up to 20 us flights to travel to havana daily, and rapid change happening for a country that many say has been frozen in time since the 1950s. in havana cuba jeff patterson. >> we're the only station bring ugh reports from cuba on this trip. jeff patterson will continue to bring the stories from havana all week, including the us congressional delegation, and the effort to lift the embargo completely. what impact this could have, he'll explain that coming up tonight at 11:00. 71 degrees here at freedom plaza in sun city center, about summing up the day.

headed out to the fair tonight, a slight possibility of a passing shower, otherwise the rest of the evening looking good. 68 at 9:00 p.m. as for the rain chances, right after mid night, and then tapering off, and then comfortable range of temperatures the rest of the week. 70s, plenty of low 70s at this hour. 71 north port, and 70 in inverness. the winds up with an approaching cold front in the early morning hours directly from the west about 12:30 tuesday, picking up a bit midday, but by the afternoon and evening hours tomorrow winds should be lighter, but strong wind gusts once the line of thunderstorms comes through after midnight to 8:00 a.m., and the northern areas have a better chance of seeing more intense storms. this is where they're located now. tornado watch in place for

handle, even a -- panhandle. even a tornado warning north of pensacola. this activity back to the west, so we'll continue to watch the approach of the showers and potential thunderstorms. mostly light rain you can see sections of hillsborough and manatee county, so can't rule out the possibility of a passing light shower in the evening forecast. a lot of clouds around, and that's going to stay that way the rest of the evening, and the approaching cold front overnight the line of thunderstorms races through the area, notice the timing around 3:15 in the morning, so we can see the possibility of some severe weather overnight favoring the northern spots, including the possibility of strong wind beguns and outside -- gusts and outside chances of tornadoes. tuesday morning, rain passes wickly and the fronted races to the -- front races to the south, and this starts a very nice stretch of weather with temperatures in the 70s, and by the end of the week into the upper 70s, so very nice weather ahead as you'll see on the seven-day forecast. this is for wednesday afternoon, slightly breezy

temperatures for usover ever overall, and again see by thursday, a more easterly flow, and the milder weather expected at the end of the week. the severe weather potential has us in a marginal rim, that's the green -- risk, that's the green area, so especially favoring northern part spots of -- spots, and moderate risk of rain and hail, but it's there, and this is that el nino winter. very fast upper level winds that tends to create a lot of wind sheer in the atmosphere. cooling down a little into wednesday morning, but not to outrageous degrees. just kind of warming by the end of the week. otherwise low 70s, note the rain chance early tomorrow morning. some of this could ling were for the morning -- linger for the morning commute, so know that. could be wet streets in the morning. and by the end of the week and the weekend, temperatures mid

>> that's perfect. >> if that holds, we'll hold you to it. >> yes,. >> looking forward to it. >> no pressure though. >> >. not at all. coming up in sports, the lightning general manager delivers a strong message to other nhl teams. and the driver of this car made history sunday. the youngest pole position winner ever for the daytona

well the lightning general manager never makes a move based on a motion, so he proclaimed stamkos off limits sowned more -- sounded more like a wake up call for the

they've slipped into last in the wild card race in the eastern conference. they could fall out of playoff spot tonight if the penguins win their game. he has to be tired of the calls and requests to discuss the stamkos contract situation, same for stamkos battling to regain his scoring form. this does allow the bolts to focus on making the playoffs this year. those playoff hopes took a hit sunday night in large part to events. the blues up 1-0 when the puck is kicked into net past bishop, replay in toronto, it's immediately waved off, but then the replay, it shows the puck directed into the goal, so the call is reversed to a goal. lightning lose 2-1.

intentional kick, trying to kick it in. calls it no goal, it's tough to overturn, you know, would like to know the explanation. that's a kick. a backwards kick, then calls a no goal and change, it it's tough. but i don't know. >> well, daytona 50a hundred history was -- 500 history was made sunday with 20-year-old chase elliott became the youngest driver to win the pole position in qualifying for the race. all he's doing is driving the 24 car made famous by jeff gordon, his father bill one of the greatest drivers of all time. no pressure on him. i haded a chance to ask chase about his expectations before his run to history. >> reporter: did you have any idea you were going to win the pole position when you woke up today? >> no, definitely not, i think the biggest thing i was

mess up and hit a solid lap. this is the same car they ran at many of the tracks last year, and had a lot of success on qualifying day. i just wanted to do my part and not mess up, and hit my shifts, and not do anything dumb was my main goal. >> that's a pretty good goal. >> >. i try to say that to myself every day [ laughter ] >> thanks. >> finally tonight a pasco county girl gets a special bike thanks to the kindness of strangers. the 7-year-old has cerebral palsy. after conquering swilling and horseback -- swimming and horseback riding, she wanted to conquer bike riding, but the one she needed could say $4,000, but she got it thanks

>> nbc nightly news is coming your way next. >> and steve and jenn will be back at 7:00 o'clock. >> we'll see you at 11:00.

tonight, supreme war. the death of justice scalia prompting a high-stakes showdown. the president vows to nominate a successor. republicans refuse to even consider it. major issues left hanging in the balance. facing trump's fury. the front-runner again threatening to sue ted cruz and taking aim at george w. bush over 9/11. trump's risky attack as the former president hits the trail. hospital bombing. a new horror in syria. medical facilities and schools are hit. children are killed. a massive storm from louisiana to