lirts it's tuesday, march 29 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 identity of a ean alleged shoot. "early today" starts right now. good morning everyone. i'm dara brown. breaking news. an egyptian airplane has been hijacked and landed in cyprus. carrying more than 80 people was traveling from alexandria to 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. we donot know if the hijacker 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 began about the safety of those on board and later the airline and the aviationed a m ed a miae

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 if that's whe plane's crew decided to divert to. there will be the hijacking of egypt airplane in 1995 which ended in 60 deaths and authorities will be relieved that show far they've avoided any repeat of that blood path. but

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. apple said in part, from the beginning ing well, scary moments yesterday on c

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 easteast 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. an officer fired and struck the suspect. >> 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

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 stable but critical condition and charged. and the race for the white house. wisconsin governor scott walker will make an indorsement ahead of his state's primary next

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 to be front and center on the trail. >> repter: 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 even said he's the one that bought the copy wrights from gq. >> reporter: the super pack calls trump's kaumcomments a we conspiracy

and ignoring the back and forth, cruz now refusing to engage. >> 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 isl islamic terrorists. so instead he threatens lawsuits and attacks their wives and their families. >> reporter: cruz is talking national security and so is trump. >> reporter: for these rivals, the battle ground now, wisconsin, the pivotal primary, a week away. well, last night president am

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? about our politics. >> the presidential candidates will be on msnbc for a night of exclusive town halls. john kasich at 7:00 p.m., followed by

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. meteorologist, bill karins 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 g t

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, now a closer look at your day 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 h

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®. muddle no more®. choose the one new revlon ultimate-all-in-one. our revolutionary mascara delivers 5 lash-transforming benefits.

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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 for more information. the coast guard nabbed a submrsable carrying 12,000 pounds of cocaine. they're worth an estimated $203 io

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. soup and sandwich and cannonballs and clean and real and looking good and sandwich and soup and a new personal best. and a little help and soup and sandwich and study group.

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kathleen: i'm kathleen matthews and i approve this message. ♪ this morning on "today," jeff 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. and in north carolina a governor has already signed a similar bill there and he says he's not budging. sfwlrks t >> reporter: the stakes were

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 decision. >> the true will of the people is in support of this legislation. >> reporter: a similar battle bela playing out in north carolina. a

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breaking news at 4:26, a plane hijacked overnight. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. let's get to the live desk. >> hostage negotiators on the ground trying to get a hijacker to let four passengers and seven crew members off an egypt airplane in cypress. p this video was taken a short time ago. 56 passengers were released, but 11 still in that plane, all foreigners and crew according to aviation officials. the airliner saying

man ordered the plane to land in cypress. the man appears to be egyptian. we'll break in with updates throughout the morning. 4:27 now. let's get your weather headlines. which you can be chuck bell is in the "weather center." good morning, everybody. tuesday off to a blustery start just like yesterday. more wind and fewer petals out there on those flowering cherry trees. chilly on the shady side of the road, but if you're in the sunshine, it won't be too bad. more rain chances coming our way thursday, but between now and then, nothing to worry about as far as umbrella concerns. current temperatures noticeably cool out there this morning. so as you head out, prepare for a head wind, runners, especially if you're running northbound. montgomery county fire on the scene, could be

>> yeah, so right now we have a closure here in bethesda, mccarthur boulevard, big fire response. and the intersection is blocked. also beltway at river road, some lanes blocked both inner loop and outer loop of the beltway. something i saw as i was driving in. outbound river road at willard avenue, road work there. blocking the right lane. big look at the beltway, all the main routes in and out of town no major issues. a live look at 270 coming up. we're learning new details about the charges a tennessee pastor will face for allegededly bringing a pellet gun into the capitol visitor's center. larry dawson is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer. he's in critical this morning after being shot by a capitol police

he will appear in superior court once released from the hospital. today the visitor's center is expected to open on town. yesterday afternoon capitol police say dawson brought a pellet gun into the building and it set off the metal detectors at a security check point. dawson pointed the pellet gun at an officer, the officer shot him. a woman was also hurt in the incident but is expected to be okay. this is not the first time larry dawson has had a run-in with capitol plaolice. he had been placed under a court order to stay away from the capitol. police did locate his car or truck i should say on capitol grounds and they are going through it for evidence. the suspect was taken to medstar washington hospital center, but we're learning some alarming developments about an issue still affecting med star hospital right now. there was a virus in the computer system that forced hospitals to shut down all of their

the virus prevented certain users from logging in. med star officials say they are working with the fbi, but there is no sign anyone's personal information has been stolen. they also said facilities are functioning, however, the staff is using backup paper systems. the problem is affecting ten hospitals and more than 200 clinics. a d.c. firefighter is doing okay this morning after an extensive two-alarm fire. wtop reporting that the firefighter was evaluated on the scene of a house fire on gates road northwest. fire crews found flames at a home under renovation last night. no one was there at the time. the firefighter was not taken to the hospital. today police in fairfax county will train on decision making on the use of force in the community. officers will go through a series of real life scenarios they may face while on duty. the reengineered use of force trainings that been del