at 5:00 -- we begin with breaking news. ? three people are dead, another in the hospital after a crash in sarasota. police say it happened about 3:00 this morning near the intersection of old bradenton road and desoto road. we have a picture from the scene. only one car was involved. it's not right now clear how that crash happened but officers do believe speed played a role. as far as the victims no names or ages are available at this time. but we know the victim at the hospital is expected to survive. abc action news is headed to the scene now to talk to investigators as they work this case. we'll bring you an update shortly as we get closer to the accident scene. meanwhile, janelle is monitoring traffic in the area. >> investigators are asking people to avoid this area. here it is on the map. single car crash at university parkway near bradenton road. there is some road block here. we're continuing to get more details but in the meantime you do want to stay away from this intersection right here.

story and as we get more information we will bring it to you. the other big traffic story this morning, high winds on top of the sunshine skyway, use some caution, both hands on the wheel. as you drive over the bridge but the good news, sunshine skyway is open. i noticed when i was walking outside today it was a little windy so you mentioned to me, check out the skyway because it might be -- >> a little windy but maybe it will wake us up a little more. stepping outside on this monday. let check the temperatures and the wind. the combination will make it feel more like january now. going backward now. this is a two-day event. we'll begin to moderate temperatures. it's late march in florida, right so we can't keep the cold air too much longer. 50s out there this morning. it will feel like it's in the 40s with the wind chill. look at the wind gusts in the last hour. anywhere from 25 to 30 mile-per- hour winds. that will certainly be a problem for the skyway. we'll continue with the

is going to get stuck on us basically. low to mid-50s through the midday hour. then we'll manage low to mid- 60s for highs today. another cold night tonight. i'll tell you when we get to 80 once again. right now history in the making as president obama and his family wake up for their second day in havana, cuba. >> today president castro is expected to meet with president obama at the palace of the revolution. >> mr. obama says this trip is an opportunity to engage with the cuban people. he recognized the last u.s. presidential visit in 1928 took president coolidge three days to get to cuba by ship. president obama's trip much shorter on air force one, just three hours. our favorite baseball team is in cuba, the rays playing an historic game. president obama will be in the stands when the rays take to the field 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. coming up at 5:30, abc action news anchor lara harris will give us a few preview of the day's events.

and this morning the community remains largely divided on whether restoring relation was cuba is a good thing or not. we were out for the fifth annual cuban sandwich festival in ybor city this weekend. some people we spoke to say the trip is a critical step in opening new opportunities for business and reconnecting family members that haven't seen each other, maybe some in decades. others worry the u.s. is entering dangerous territory and shouldn't be working with what they see as an oppressive government. >> i believe you should start with the basic human rights. if you have somebody in prison for 20 years because they want to feed their family then i believe you need to start there. you don't need to start with baseball teams and so forth. >> as the debate continues on how the u.s. moves forward both sides hope whatever happens cuba has a better future. the fight to keep part of the hurricane hunter fleet in tampa bay is ramping up. senator nelson will be meeting

air force base officials where some of the planes that keep us safe during hurricane season are based. the planes called the air force base home since 1993 but macdill says they need the space so the hurricane hunters have to go. by july of next year. last month senator nelson helped write a letter to noaa explaining he expects the aircraft to remain in florida. time now is 5:04. in pasco county a car chase leads to two crashes. here's video from yesterday. it starts with two 13-year- olds. authorities say the girls were driving along u.s. highway 19, lost control of the car and this intersection. road. it happened around 4:00 a.m. an ambulance assisted and then an 80-year-old man crashes his car into the ambulance on scene. that man got a ticket for not yielding to emergency crews. both of those girls were rushed to the hospital. this morning we know the passenger is currently in 5:04. hillsborough county we're

get the dash cam video showing a close call for an officer when a wrong way driver nearly hit him. look at the screen, this is the woman police arrested. her name is asia cancella and she's out of jail this morning. they say she was driving the wrong way on i-275 and showed signs of impairment. officers say she was speeding this time yesterday morning in the same lane as the patrol car. the officer was behind the wheel heading home from his shift and swerved out of the way to avoid the crash. other officers later tracked her down at busch boulevard as she exited in the wrong direction. just last weekend in hillsborough county a wrong way driver claimed the life of deputy john kotfila jr., on the selmon expressway near brandon. we brought you full coverage of his funeral this past weekend. fdot is installing a series of signs and lying in hopes of preventing these types -- lights in hopes of preventing these type of crashes again. several families are home

out this weekend. fire crews headed to killian street in spring hill last night. turns out an underground pipe from one of the homes was leaking propane gas so about eight of the homes were cleared out, they were able to return after crews fixed that leak. st. petersburg police report a spike in overdoses from the drug spice, we're now learning about arrests involving the drug in another pinellas county city. there are two people, these are two people from clearwater that police caught just yesterday. officers say cory lawrence and marie covanas had what appeared to be synthetic marijuana. they were busted at crestlake park where several people have had reactions to the dangerous drug. the police chief says he's concerned about drug dealers targeting homeless people similar to what is happening in st. petersburg. it's been a little over a year since the tragic death of young phoebe jonchuk. but the tribute to her life continues. her father was arrested for

dickimizener bridge in january of last year. that same bridge is where bikers held a remembrance in her honor. they also placed flowers in the water where she died. they say her sad story hits close to home. >> i have two daughters of my own. it's hard to fathom why someone could do something like that to their own child. >> for the second year the money raised will go to a $4,000 scholarship for social work student. the hope is to try and prevent these kinds of cases. phoebe's father remains in a state of mental institution. a much needed financial and mental boost for hillsborough county first responder hurt in a crash. we told but eric valdez when the fire lieutenant was hit by an uninsured driver nearly two months ago. riding his motorcycle home from work. his right arm and hand severely injured and he's in constant pain. family and friends held a fundraiser yesterday in tampa to help cover some medical expenses.

and the chance to get back out into the community. >> i was at home, can't move much. not seeing familiar faces. so it's great to see this. >> valdez face as long road to recovery. he's undergoing physical therapy to repair nerve damage in his arm. some schools are back in, some are now out. despite that, talking about regardless of what you're doing this morning, if you're stepping outside, temperatures in the 50s. wind chills in the 40s. so it's going to be chilly. by the way we don't recover much. only low 60s despite sunshine heading into the afternoon. another cold night tonight. we'll talk about that and when we can see a big warm-up in the forecast. 5:08. dozens killed after a plane crash in russia. we're uncovering now what is making the investigation more difficult. >> there's fire on the plane. >> flames spark in the air. the item brought on a plane that was responsible for this

welcome back. 5:12 on this early monday morning. thank you for joining us on abc. a chilly start to the day. windy as well. 57 in tampa. 06 st. pete. winds gusting to 25 miles per hour. here's a live look at the sunshine skyway bridge. still open. no problems to report there. we'll look at traffic and weather together in a moment. it's getting tougher for investigators to figure out exactly what caused a plane to

dozens of people saturday. the flight data recorders were found from the fly dubai jet but told they are significantly damaged. the plane heading to russia from the united arab emirates was trying to land in gusty winds when it crashed on the runway killing at least 62 -- all 62 people on board. russian airport where this happened is expected to reopen today, now that the search and recovery operations there at that crash site are officially over. it's going to be a messy commute for people who live in the northeast. starting off spring with a snowstorm. >> a little cooler here as well. >> a little? a lot colder. it's the first day of spring. a couple of days and we'll be back to 80 degrees. the issue for the northeast is, well, looking at snow. this is not the worst of it as we take to you times square. further up and along 95, they are getting clobbered now in boston with pretty good snow there. certainly respectable totals as far as accumulation for this time of year.

that is pretty impressive for late march. although i must say it can get much worse here. i was in boston for an april fools blizzard, got 27 inches of snow. can you imagine that is that let's check our forecast. as we fly to the south. here's the front to the south associated with that area of low pressure, well to the south. alligator alley getting showers now but what we're getting is clearing skies and much colder temperatures back behind this system. upper 50s now and the convinced will make it feel the entire day, especially early this morning much colder than the actual air temperatures so certainly keep it in mind. we're talking about wind chills, can you imagine that? wind chills on our first week of spring as we continue with very chilly readings. 25 to 30 mile-per-hour wind gusts. that is going to be a problem certainly if you're going to be driving along our bridges. for that. the big blue h is going to dominate the next few days. its position important because right now the clockwise flow,

colder temperatures but over the next few days watch on futurecast. stays dry. but as the high pushes further east we're going to get into a northeast and eventually a southeast wind with that southerly component. and the wind off the water there, moderating this air mass quickly. so that by tomorrow we're back in the 70s and then on wednesday we'll actually get to 80 degrees which is closer to where we should be for this time of year. so 65, mostly sunny today, windy and cold. we'll have winds again 15 to 20, gusts over 25 miles an hour. temperatures this afternoon only into the low 60s and by the way the winds subside tonight but we are going to be very cold in the morning once 40s. there. rough seas, 8 to 11-foot seas, water temperature at 74. if you're operating a small today. not a good day. subsiding tomorrow. so much better and the temperatures will be as well. low 70s, will push 80 degrees. janelle will like the forecast beginning on thursday. 82, with that southeast wind

later in the week but i think the key there is we'll be back to where we should be for this time of year with temperatures, cold stuff. unfortunately we are following a triple fatal crash that happened in sarasota, about 3:00 this morning. corey dierdorff is heading to the scene now. he's just getting off in the palmetto area from 275 u.s. 19. as soon as he gets there he will bring us the very latest on exactly what is going on out there. expected to get there around 5:00, 5:45. we'll bring you live pictures from the scene when he gets there. this crash in sarasota near the airport. so right now university airport is closed between old bradenton road and desoto road. police are asking drivers to use desoto road because it runs parallel to university before it intersects with that road. so again you're asked to avoid the area, use desoto road 301 as alternates. this is going to be this way for quite some time because again this is a fatal crash.

saying that speed was likely a factor. elsewhere in the bay area, we are in great shape, all the interstates in the green now. in pinellas county, 64 the average speed there. back to you. a retired pennsylvania state trooper is dead after authorities say he held up a toll plaza over the weekend. officials say clarence briggs confronted two turnpike toll collectors with a handgun yesterday morning at a toll plaza an hour west of harrisburg. they say briggs killed the toll collector and a security guard, car. he was killed in an exchange of gunfire with state troopers. deputies say briggs retired in january of 2012 after 26 years with an honorable discharge. flags in indiana will fly at half-staff today to honor a duty. deputy carl kuntz was shot

in a mobile home. another officer sergeant jordan buck was also shot, he's still in the hospital. the state governor says flags will be flown at half-staff until the day of kuntz's funeral. nissan upping the number of cars that could put you in danger this morning. we're taking action to make sure you can cross check your car with the affected models. >> it's going off my phone. >> trouble in paradise? before one girl even gets there the frightening moments that unfolded on a plane ride to hawaii. >> as the season switches to spring gas prices are steadily increasing. here's candace and lauren with our business headlines from new york. >> reporter: good morning. topping "america's money," ready for $2 gas again? >> we're driving up demand we're told. the average is $1.98, 27 cents

shewin williams, the largest paint retailer is million. it was more utopia for "zootopia" this weekend. straight week. >> "zootopia" picked up another $38 million. "divergent allegiant" opened in second with $29 million. and "miracle from heaven," with $15 million.

5. 23. nissan says more cars than it first thought have a serious problem that needs fixing. it's expanding a recall of rogue models to fix a fuel pump problem. this can keep the car's engines from starting or even cause them to shut off while driving. nearly 47,000 cars are under recall from the 2014 model year. we have the exact manufacturing dates of the recalled cars posted on our web site and our facebook page. it's an unexpected scare in the air. an i-phone burst into flames mid-air on a flight to hawaii. this is anna kree, her cell phone, an i-phone 6 caught fire on board an alaska airflight and she says she remembers

from her phone. luckily the plane's crew put the fire out quickly after it started. apple and the faa are both now here. one aviation expert says while most airlines banned hoverboards because of fires that could be caused because of their lithium ion batteries there's very little concern of what is happening with cell 5:24. coming up -- interrogators learning frightening new details from the latest arrest made in the paris attacks. >> abc action news is in cuba, the first trip of its kind in nearly 90 years. anchor laura harris shows us what the president and the tampa bay rays are up to there. >> good morning, this is a live picture of 275 at ashley through downtown tampa. no crashes or breakdowns on 275 through hillsborough or pinellas. we're following a triple fatal

we'll have more coming up in a

wrestling superstar hulk

$115 million in his sex tape lawsuit against gawker. now the jury set to reconvene this morning to consider punitive damages. coming up in a live report the affect all of this could have on that web site's possible future. it's been nearly 90 years since a u.s. president stepped foot in cuba. it is wonderful to be here. >> abc action news is taking you along for the historic trip to cuba. we'll show you how tampa bay is playing a special role as the president continues his stay there. first a look at breaking news on abc action news at 5:30. three people are dead, another in the hospital after a car crash in sarasota. police telling us it happened at 3:00 this morning near the intersection of old bradenton road and desoto road. officers think speed played a role in the single-car crash. the victim at the hospital is expected to survive. here's a live look as we check in on our abc action news crew headed to the scene now.

told us he's about 10 minutes away from the scene. he'll join us for a live report as soon as he gets a chance to catch up with investigators. meanwhile janelle martinez is monitoring the road closures. >> let's look at where this crash happened on the map. at the southern end of the airport. that is right where this happened. so university parkway is closed now between old bradenton road and desoto road. university kind of dips in here at old bradenton road. that is where the crash happened. so desoto road is still open, it run parallel to university before they intersect. that is an option if you're trying to get around this crash. or if you're coming from the west you may want to take talavast road so you stay clear of the accident where there's a lot of activity. you can expect that part of university to be closed for several hours. again, corey dierdorff almost there, as soon as he gets there we will have more on this story