see you next time, folks. lirts it's tuesday, march 29th 29th. coming up on "early today," a hijacked airplane lands in cyprus. we'll have the latest. and fbi drops its lawsuit with a stunning announcement. and the latest information on monday, including the en an alleged shooter. "early today" starts right now. good morning everyone. i'm dara brown. breaking news.

hijacked and landed in cyprus. carrying more than 80 people was traveling from alexandria to cire ci cairo before being forced to land in cyprus. joining us in a second but right now there were 81 on board and at the moment there are still four nationals being held on the airplane, along with seven crew members. the hijackers have released the other passengers. there's no word on their condition or the condition of their release. police are keeping everything pretty tight. the flight was coming from alexandria, about a two hour flight from alexandria to cairo. and it was forced to land in larn cu.

chose in cyprus to land or if it was the pilot's choice. it's a very large, spacious airport and enough pace to keep the plane away from the airport. nbc's allister jameson. >> reporter: this was, as you say, a routine domestic flight to cairo. around a short flight, no more than an hour. mostly egyptian passengers on board. one of the passengers told the flight deck that he had a suicide belt with exploes vs. that information was relaid to the flight deck and the pilots in the cockpit and then it diverted to larnaca in cyprus around 10 to 9:00 local time. 10 to 2:00 eastern time. and negotiations immediately

on board and later the airline and the aviationed a min ed a min ad min strae and four foreigners remain on the plane. it was around half empty, 81 passengers on board and what we don't have is any information about what has motivated this incident, what the hijacker has asked for or in terms of demands and we don't have information about whether indeed they're armed at all. he's told the flight crew that he has explosives on board. we don't have any information as to whether that's been verified, whether he demanded to go to cyprus or fw that's s if that's where the plane's crew decided to divert to. there will be the hijacking of

ended in 60 deaths and authorities will be relieved that show far they've avoided any repeat of that blood path. but no word on the status of the four foreigners still on the jet. >> live for us in london. thanks so much for that update. we're turning now to the high-stakes legal battle between the fbi and apple it's over. they have extracted the data on the cell phone. they asked a federal judge to vacate an order forcing apple to break into the phone. it provided no details about how the fbi unlocked it. apple has vigorously opposed writing software to hack into the iphone.

well, scary moments ye osterday on capital hill. a man pulled a gun that visitor security check in, sparking an all out lock down. here with the details. >> reporter: terrifying moments at the capital. inside the visitor's center, panic. and tourists flee. >> get out of here. >> they said run. they told everybody to run. >> reporter: at the white house entrances closed as a precaution in the middle of the annual easter east er egg roll. it happened here on the east front of the u.s. capital when a man approached a screening check point. >> he drew what appeared to be a weapon and pointed it at officers.

>> reporter: they identify the man as larry dawson, 66 from antioch, tennessee, well known to authorities. he was under a court ordered to stay away from the capital. he was arrested last october after this outburst in the gallery over looking the floor of the house of representatives p. and seen here advocating for a raise in the minimum wage. >> we believe this is the act of a single person who has frequented the capital grounds before and there is no reason to believe this is anything more than a criminal act. >> reporter: a woman was also injured, the suspect was rushed to the hospital for surgery. the visitor's center was built in part because of another shooting in 1998 where a mentally ill man shot and killed two police officers. >> dawson is currently listed in

and charged. and the race for the white house. wisconsin governor scott walker will make an indorsement ahead of his state's primary next tuesday. he has previously hinted it will be to senator, ted cruz. trump tweeted this last night. after the way i beat governor scott walker in the presidential primaries, no way he would ever indorse me. this as the personal feud between trump and cruz continues chee be front and center on the trail. >> reporter: new week, same rivalry, now playing out on the radio. >> joining me on the line. >> reporter: ted cruz versus donald trump. >> he started it. >> reporter: trump, upset about that racy ad featuring a photo of his wife. >> he knew about it, somebody

bought the copy wrights from gq. >> reporter: the super pack calls trump's kaumpt comments a weird conspiracy theory. and ignoring the back and forth, cruz now refusing to engage. >>t who cares. who cares what donald is tweeting late at night. we need real solutions for the real problems in this country. >> reporter: he's taking on trump, not personally but on policy. >> he has no idea how to keep america safe from radical islam islamic terrorists. so instead he threatens lawsuits and attacks their wives and their families p . >> reporter: cruz is talking national security and so is

>> reporter: for these rivals, the battle ground now, wisconsin, the pivotal primary, a week away. well, last night president obama speaking in somewhat somber tones when discussing the republican race. >> i know i'm not the only one who may be more than a lissal dismayed about what's happening on the campaign trail right now. the often vulgar rhetoric that's aimed at everybody, but often folkished on the vulnerable or minorities. the sense that facts don't matter, the sense that this is a game, that makes it all but impossible for us to make good decisions on future generations. the number one question is what is happening in america?

>> the presidential candidates will be on msnbc for a night of exclusive town halls. john kasich at 7:00 p.m., followed by trump and at 9:00, hillary clinton and bernie sanders will both be one on one on a special edition of the rachel maddow show. and the easter bombing in pakistan deaths stands at 72. al meanwhile, in pakistan, the hunt continues for those responsible. a taliban splinter group now operates independently of isis, said they wanted to target christian male but the bombing killing many women and children. families were waiting in line for ride tickets. the pakistani government has promised swift action to bring the group to justice.

is here with your forecast. >> the storm still causing problems. the jet stream dipped way down to the south and now it's cut off from the general flow. it's going to cause problems. today, snow, blizzard conditioness possible. right now, the worst of the snow is happening in areas of wyoming, northern utah and a section of northeast portions of nevada. and later today, we'll start to push a lot of this into eastern wyoming and maybe a portion of south dakota. so, that's the radar. here's our watches and warnings. we have blizzard watches east of casper and rapid city, you're under a winter storm watch. and then also, i mentioned not today but for tomorrow, this is when we're going to deal with severe storms down to louisiana. that's your national weather,

ahead. so, today we still have our snow storm in the central rockies and ahead of it, it's warm and windy, temperatures in the 60s from southern minnesota and we have a high fire danger in southern new mexico and west texas today too. so, big storm in the mountains continued. >> looks like march is still packing a punch. well, straight ahead, it is a dare chger style gun that looks like a sen phone. and a submarine carrying over 200 million in cocaine. if your family outing is magical for all the wrong reasons. you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec is different than claritin . because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. try zyrtec .

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. 100% real milk. no discomfort. sfloets the only suspect held in a brussels attack has been set free. he was believed to be the man in white but prosecutors say there's not enough evidence. they have posted a fresh appeal

the coast guard nabbed a submrsable carrying 12,000 pounds of cocaine. they're worth an estimated $203 million. and a man invented a small gun that folds up into a small cell phone. he got the idea after an incident at a restaurant. >> a boy about seven saw me and said mommy, he has a gun and i thought there has to be something better to do than this. >> he says he's willing to give the fbi extras of the gun. and a fight over controversial new law in north carolina. and later, a deputy pulls over a driver in the hov lane and gets the surprise of a lifetime. me. soup and sandwich and cannonballs and clean and real and looking good

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this morning on "today," hijeff rossen investigates the value of an all inclusive vacation. learn how to get the most value out of your vacation coming up on "today." now to the growing back lash over what some call religious freedom laws. the governor has backed down saying he'll veto a bill that has caused a back lash.

has already signed a similar bill there and he says he's not budging. sfwlrks the >> reporter: the stakes were high, governor announced he'd veto a controversial religious rights bill. >> i do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in georgia. >> reporter: they argued the bill went too far. major companies like coke, apple and hilton criticized the bill and hollywood heavyweights which generate $6 billion in georgia threatened a boycott. and comcast and universal also urged a veto. and disney saying we applaud governor deal and look forward to continuing our film production in georgia. but some law makers have threatened to challenge the

>> the true will of the people is in support of this legislation. >> reporter: a similar battle belaey playing out in north carolina. a federal lawsuit carried over the new law limiting protections for transgender and gay people. >> i don't agree. >> reporter: now it's north carolina's governor on the hot seat. he says he's not backing down. >> in the commonsense is not to have a government regulation telling business who they allow in what restroom. >> reporter: the battle over gay rights and religious freedom being fought one state at a time. raleigh, north carolina. >> and just ahead, a tribute to the late comic genius, garry shandling. but there's a difference between the omega-3s in fish oil

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and jimmy fallon had to address the birdie sanders internet sensation on the tonight show. bernie sanders held another big rally in oregon. crowd went wild when a bird decided to land on stage. check it out. >> this little bird doesn't know it. >> actually, something similar happened at a trump speech. >> that's what will happen when trump is president. >> you know he had to go there. >> a california condor. >> they left the donald's hair alone. he could have gone there too. absolutely. i'm dara brown and this is "early today." stay tuned we'll have more on the latest hijacking from egypt and see you in just two minutes

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welcome back. if you're just waking up, we want to give you an update on our breaking news this morning. an egyptian plane has been hijacked. carrying more than 80 people and was traveling from the egyptian city of alexandria to cairo before being forced to land in cyprus. all passengers except four

members have been evacuated. wein don't know the nationality of the people on the plane. they say it's related to a personal matter involving a woman and there are reports the hijacker is of egyptian descent. we'll keep you updated on the latest out of cyprus. well, changing gears. when an orange county deputy pulled over his wife for not having a passenger in the car. you'll never guess what happened. >> i am not in violation of any california vehicle code. you have got to be kidding me. >> ma'am, we will argue about this later. documentation. >> yes, yes we will. >> turns out, a baby is on the way. this september. well, the former president of cuba had harsh words about

change relationships with cuba. he wrote utah governor signed first of its kind legislation that requires doctors to administer anesthesia to women undergoing abortions at 20 weeks. it's to alleviate organic pain to unborn child. and they gathered at the white house for the annual easter egg roll, joining the easter bunny and storm troopers were idina manziel to beyonce to the great nbc shaquille o'neale. in always forget how tall he is until he's standing next to somebody.

>> did you do easter egg hunts? >> yes. >> kid you ever do an easter egg roll? >> no. egg crashing too. and i'm dara brown. thanks for watching show hoe "early today" today". we'll see you back here tomorrow

jet hijacked by a man claiming to have a belt with explosives. also breaking right now, in queens, flames tear through a home. we are now hearing from the owner. plus, trees across our area knocked down during a wild and windy night. storm team 4 will tell us how loy ng we'll see these powerful gusts. "today in new york" starts now. good morning, everybody. tuesday morning, it is march 29th. i'm darlene rodriguez and i'm kerry barrett in for michael today. >> storm team 4's chris cimino is in for us. >> we're talking about wind subsiding by midday. we still have the advisory. temperatures low 40s in the northwest section of new jersey to mid-40s along the coast. it's a little brink out there with a gusty wind out there. cloud are breaking up, there's no organized areas of rain or snow for that matter but we