letter, and i'm really happy he wrote back to me. re investigators piecing together the moments leading to the crash of the ethiopian airline 737 and comparing it co the lion ash from less than six months ago. many nations have grounded the planes but not the faa. an explosion rocks a power station in caracas as secretary of state mike ppeo orders all remaining u.s. o personnel out venezuela. is president trump getting a pass from nancy pelosi over impeachment, or is the speaker playing politics at a whole other level? also developing overnight,a mma conor mcgregor arrested and thrown in jail for hours, facing charges of strong-arm robbery and criminal mischief according to police. a massive cocai bust to the tune of over $77 million.

"early today" starts right now. good tuesday morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm marlie hall. the world is waiting for more answers from boeing after a 737 jet went down in ethiopia,le ing no survivors. the community of redding, california, is mourning the loss bennett and melvin riffel, brothers who had beenva tioning together. and antoine lewis, from the chicago suburbs has also beenid tified as one of the victims. his mother tells nbc news he was on f vacatiom his position in the military. as airlines await more details about the cause of the crh, some a taking no chances and choosing to ground some of their planes. for the latest, we go to nbc's sarah harman, who is at the airport in nairobi, kenya. sarah, good morning. th reporter: good morning, marlie. faa and the ntsb are both on th site of the crash assisting with the investigation, and now

that the plane's black boxes have been found after a 30-hour fsearch, the work unraveling this mystery can begin. what happened in those final moments aboard flight et-302? plane maker boeing is comin in for tremendous scrutiny this morning over t model of aircraft, the 737 max 8. this is the second time in less than six months tha this model was involved in a deadly crash. the last time in indonesia, a very similar profile. that jet also crashed just a few minutes after takeoff, and everyone onboardaskilled. we're also learning more about the victims this morning, an incredibly diverse list of passengers, people froman more 30 countries. among them, 32 keheans. in nairobi, families are receiving counseling at a site near the airport much the red cross is offering opport. onthe young men from kenya was a student at georgetown

university in washington, d.c., ird-year law student. the community there is holding a vigil in his honor. a vy sad day for so many people here in nairobi. rlie? >> sad indeed, sarah. thank you. it is an issue that hasdi ded the democratic party while some are already calling for congress to launch impeachment proceedings. house speaker nancy pelosi says president trump is, quote, just not worth it. she waded into the controversial debate for the first time in a new interview withsh "the gton post" saying she's not for impeachment unless there's a compelling case for it. tracie potts join us with ormor >> rr: good morning, frances. not all democrats agree with has pelosi, but she finally weighed in, pumping the brakes on this idea of impeaching president trump. pelosi telling the post that it dividing tes the a country is j not worth it. she's also weighing in on the mueller report due any d now, that report on russian

collusion, possible collusion, interference in the election, and how that may have an impact on all of this. i that is so conclusive that there's a bipartisanshipes there's age to the president, so be it. nixon was -- president nixon was not impeached. the rublicans final saw the light. i have no idea, nor should i haveny idea what the mueller report will say. but what i'm sing is from our standpoint, our day to day work is not about him. it's about theca ame people. >> reporter: there are several developments hpening this week that could have some impact on that report or give us some sense of where the investigation is headed. first of all, a second sentencing for former campaign chair paul manafort, this one in d.c. ger stone, former trump campaign adviser will find out when his trial is happening. and status hearings for former national security adviser

michael flynn and manafort's deputy rickgates. both of them have been cooperating with the government. plus tomorrow, former jusmece depa head matt whiskertaker, the acting attorney general, is back on capitol hill not for a hearing but for a closed door meeting about his previous appearance. that could afterwards give us some sense of where lawmakers ared hea with their investigations. >> trie, thank you. now to breaking news out of venezuela. secretary of state mnoe pompeo ced the u.s. will withdraw all remaining diplomatic staff from the country's capital of caracas this week. the move comes after growing coerns of safety after the country was crippled by a agssive power outage. the o flaring up what is already a growing humanitarian crisis, and the country'ses embattled ent, nicolas maduro, is blaming it on the u.s. nbc's gabe gutierrez has the latest. >> reporter: throughout parts of venezuela, the lights are out.

dozens arrested for looting. airports and public transportation grinding to a halt, and hospitals going dark. we're desperate, without water and electricity for my children, thisother says. the blackout is the latest crisis for a country in chaos. the u.s. has stepped up its condemnation of baled president nicolas maduro after recognizing opposition leader juan guaido as president. guaido's supporters allege at least 21 people have died in hospitals since the outages began last week. the government has already fallen, this m says. maduro blames the blackout on cyberattacks by the u.s. government though he's offered noevidence. secretary of state mike pompeo partly blamed cuba and rusra venezuela's problems. this woman is worried no electricity means her crucial insulin will be damaged. an certain future in a country where baservices are scarce. gabe gutierrez, nbc news.

a u.n. report ratcheting up tensions with north korea this morning. experts say kim jong-un is evading sanctions using chniques never before en. the assessment underscores the challenge facing president trump after talks with north korea collapsed at last month's summit in vietnam. nbc's andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: kim jong-un hasew found ways to get around u.n. sanctions, raking in millions by shipping coal and smuggling inoil. the techniques being used, some of which i've never see before, and i've been investigating maritime trafficking and smugglingmo for than 15 years. >> reporter: the u.n. says blacklisted north korean ships are masquerading as legitimate by repainting their names andng steali electronic tracking signals from other ships thousands of miles away. >> this ship has assumed the identity of its sister ship. >> reporter: the newt u.n. rep also says kim's nuclear and missile programs remain intact. only days after new images show

kim rebuilding a missile site he had promised last yr to dismantle. the administration has been relying on the sanctions to pressure kim to disarm, saying he is desperate for money. but according to the u.n., global oil traders and banks are unwittingly letng north korea evade sanctions. >> they're not monitoring the ships that they are either financing, insuring, or that are carrying their product. >> thanks to andrea mitchell for that report. ufc star conor mcgregor is facing two felony charges. according to police, a fan tried to snap a photo of mcgregor as he left aiami beach hotel. the mixed martial arts fighter is accused of slapping t phone out of the man's hand and stomping on it several times before picking it up and walking away. he's charged with strong-arm robbery and criminal mischief, posted bond, andt the jail hours later. mcgregor pled guilty last year to disorderly conduct in new york and spent w the pasteek court-ordered community service as part of a plea deal in that case.

in boston, a waterain break led to the evacuation of 6 buildings and shut down traffic as crews responded to that messy scene. much of the roadway was left under water, forcing police t send drivers along alternate routes. luckily no injuries were reported, but the damag to homes was pretty extensive. no word yet on what may have led to that water main break. it was a close call for one pedestriea in nor london. security footage captures the man walking along a sidewalk when just seconds after he walks out of frame, a section of brick wall collapses onto the walk way. fortunately no one was injured. gale force winds are believed to have been a factor.et one person t it was the man's lucky day and suggested he buy a lottery ticket asap. >> it is crazy with these winds we're seeing over and over again. let's see what's happening closer to home. >> good morning. we a watching huge storms. not everyone morning i can tell you it's rainingn los angeles

phoenix, and san diego at the same time. this storm is going to move its way through the four corner w out in the central plains. later on tonight, the storm will bring in the potential of severe thunderstorms. isolated tornadoes, mostly taing western sections o texas. on top of that, a lot of rain. a good deal of warming. melting snow on frozen ground. potential for floodinge up h in areas from kansas, to iowa, to southern minnesota. that's a look at the big weather loory of the day. here's a close at your day ahead. you can see the thunderstorm forecast. most of this is going to be as we go throughout later on this evening through the overnight inurs into tomorrow mo the temperatures are going to start falling in areas of the central plains as this storm matures and gets a little stronger. we'll have a snowstorm also. this storm's going have it all, blizzard conditions. it's also going to pump warm air up the east coast. not all bad for everyone.ab ity, thank you. in today's quick hits a i close call in new jersey. a bull went berserk and started

ramming its owner's suv. when officers arrived, the bull charged their car, torcing poli put it down. a shocking sight on an east texas highy. a driver spotted a pickup truck hauling a horse in the bed. police did pull overhe owner, but no word of any charges. the tallest outdoor observation deck in the weste hem atmosphere will soon open. 1,100 feet off the ground, slightly taller than the empire state building. we'll be right back. wrinkles just won't. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair's derm-proven retinol works so fast, it takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin. making wrinkles look so last week. rapid wrinkle repair® pair with new retinol oil for 2x the wrinkle fighting power. neutrogena®

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leading the news, a shocking story of abuse of power by one florida's best. police sergeant lionel maranash is accused of using police a databases aersonal dating service, targeting at least 150 women. thea olice chief calls i truly disturbing situation. >> i personally met with most of the women involved in the smaller subset in an effort to lp them regain their trust in

the bradenton police department and also simply to tell them i'm sorry. >> he had been with the bradenton department for 12 years. heeresigned in oct but still remains under criminal investigation by the fbi. a charter bus carrying the university of south carolinm baseball t home from a game going up in flames. the burningeanfernoy trapping all 38 people onboard and destroying all of the equipment. fortunately all of the players and trainers for the team made it offhe bus in the nick of time. this video, which was shot by one of the team's h catchers,as since been viewed tens of thousands of times online. according to the school, the team is now hoping for donations after the horrifying indent. > the feds make the biggest cocaine bust in 25years. authorities seized 3,200 pounds of cocaine fou in a shipping container in newark, new jersey. the drugs were said to have an estimated street value of

$77 million. butow authorities are concerned this could be a sign of a growing problem. nbc's pete williams hashe details. >> reporter: this cell phone videoer shows fedal agents about to unload a remarkable find. 3,200 pounds of cocaine, 1.6 tons with a street value of $77 million. was hidden m a shipping container of dried fruit at the port authorityf new york in new jersey when scans revealed something suspicious and a closer look turned up white powder in 60 packages. it's the s second largestzure of cocaine at the port and the biggest in 25 years. cocaine use peaked a few decades o, but federal drug agents say it's making a comeback. >> cocaine was theis nem in the '90s, but this is traffickers today trying to merge cocaine and fentanyl to create new >>markets. eporter: like other drugs, most cocaine comes intohe u.s. across the southern border through checkpoints. 90% oft from colombia. now withre a dangerous of

mixing it with fentanyl, drugxp agentst to see more big shipments like this one. pete williams, nbc news,sh gton. just ahead, how speaker turned shade thrower nancy pelosi gets a hilarious new title. then jesse and the one-uppers. full house star john stamos takes his jonas brothers fan dom to new heights, next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ walgreens... battle beautifully walgreens... ever notice how hard it is to clean impossible kitchen and bathroom messes with wipes and spray cleaners? try mr. clean magic eraser. just add water, squeeze, and erase.

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h to tell his side of the scary story, joining us, jaguar kelly,y.everyb that's right. thank you for joining us, jaguar kelly. y'all tryingo kill me. >> what? >> you're killing me, jimmy. this isn't autselfies. this is about a relationship with other animals with the hippos and the i giraffes, an can't do t. i didn't do anything to nobody. ou're all killing me with this [ bleep i gave you 30 years of my care. i gave m likeness to a luxury car. what aboutth ? >> two biggest headlines in the nation combine for one funny skit on jimmy kimmel. a celebrity bromance between john stamos and one of the jonas brothers. last yearhe 55-year-old joe bro fan stepped out rocking a concert tour t-shirt from 2009, and one of the band members took notice. on saturday, nick jonas shared o ph of himself wearing a hoodie. on it, a photof stamos wearing

the t-shirt. jonas also challenged him john , it's your move stamos. what happened next? the full house star raised the bar, posted anothf photo tumself cozied up with a pillow featuring the p of nick jonas wearing the shirt with john stamos. i so the keeps going. the jonas brother looked to be dozing peacefully in the latest one under a blank of stamos sleeping with the pillowcase. so this is not ending anytime soon social media is loving it. we're waiting to see what john's be. move is going to this has potential to just keep going and going and going. >> it's like a a picture in picture in a picture. >> hilarious still. everybody loves it was the clap that went viral during the state of the union address. [ apause ] nancy pelosi stole the show with her pointed applause at president trump, and now the speaker of the house i commemorating that event with some merch.

she's sel you can find it on her website congress.orgr ever since i saw that clap, i've been practicing it. >> she'sot the eye roll too during that state of the union. still ahead, the stormier the better for one group of wind surfingre davils. on the flip side, gusty winds causing dangerous and potentially deadly conditions i. german you're watching "early today." at the end of a long day, it's the last thing i want to do. well i switched to swiffer wet jet and its awesome. it's an all-in-one so it's ready to go when i am. the cleaning solution actually breaks down dirt and grime. and the pad absorbs it deep inside. so, it prevents streaks and haze better than my old mop. plus, it's safe to use on all my floors, even wood. glad i got that off my chest and the day off my floor. try wet jet with a moneyback guarantee wit looks like george having are busy day.?

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. lly people want to avoid storms but these daredevils go in search of them. eight of the world's best wind surfers took part in the red bull storm chase in northwest ireland. those riders braved freezing homperatures to perform tse jumps, wave rides, and all kinds of tricks in winds reaching nearly 70 miles per hour. >> most people avoid extreme weather. not them,we r. does it hurt when they hit the water? >> it's got to. >> maybehey're so numb. >> all right. so one of the big stories we're going to have with thisoruge in the middle of the country is with the high winds. high windch w from areas usom albuquerque to dallas. windsng later today and tomorrow up to 60 to 70 miles per hour. we're going to have sameage here too. >> bill, thank you. when we come back, caught on camera. road rage brawl in the middle of street. >> oh, my god. somebody stop them!

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good mornin everyone. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. a motescycle cra into a creek. >> we're taking you to that scene and this one. ow about our weather? >> much calmer than that.ff a sorthwest breeze out there. but it's all about the sunshine the next few days.

news 4 today starts now. >> kicking things off with a lye look outside. march came in like a lion. but the past few daysave felt almost spring-like around here. don't let that fool you.

make sure you grab the coat before you leave the house this morning. >> i feel likeit's been cold this entire month. >> i still take a coat. >> me, too. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. maybe we're done with the snow. melissa mollet with a check on your commute.ur let's things over to chuck bell. >> no. >> does thatean there's more snow in the forecast? >> are you in charge of the forecast? i think we're pretty much donei with last year, we had snow all the way as late as 25th of march. can't say no yet. but we're 11% of the way there. teeratures this morning are stilly, in the 30s and upper 40s. that tells 1half of the story. it will being bright and sunny