president's historic visit to cuba this week. a tampa police officer narrowly avoids getting hit by a wrong way driver. and an inside look at what will be pinellas county's tallest building. good morning and welcome to "10 news early morning." i'm mark rivera.. lets get a look at #10weather with meteorologist bobby deskins. president obama

havana on sunday. now reporter chris martinez shows you what the president hopes to accomplish in this "historic three day visit" to the communist nation. president obama brought his family to cuba. a big step toward normalizing cold war adversary. he's the first cuba in nearly 90 sot: obama this is an historic visit and an opportunuty to with the cuban people. the president greeted u.s. embassy staff and then toured old havana. for weeks - work crews have been preparing for the president's arrival. .restoring some roads - and repaving others. fresh coats of paint have also been applied to homes and businesses in areas the president will

and this welcome sign was put up outside a restaurant in old havana. many cubans are hopeful the visit will pave the way for more openess between the island nation and the u.s. i think we're gonna have some changes but it's going to be slow. during his stay, the president will meet a number of prominent cuban dissidents at the u.s. embassy... but the white house won't say who is on the guest list. president obama will also meet with u.s. leaders. many cubans believe his visit will make life here better. i think the people want to hear honesty from obama, that he actually respects the cuban society and what we beleive in." the president will also enjoy the great american pastime on cuban soil. he'll have prime seats for an exhibition baseball game between the tampa bay rays and the cuban national team. chris martinez, cbs news, havana cuba tampa bay rays fans are pumped about that baseball

tuesday in cuba. the rays will become the first major league team to play there in 17 years! the players took off from tampa international airport sunday night. you can see them here about to board the plane. 10 news anchor ian reitz is along for the ride! he'll be bringing us reports from cuba over the next couple of days...as the rays get ready for tuesday's historic game. be sure to follow us along... for our cuba coverage... just download the free 10 news wtsp app. another weekend, another suspected wrong way d-u-i driver on i-275. as 10 news reporter jonathan petramala shows you... fortunately this time, no lives lost...but it was close. if you connect these dots, you usually get the same picture. mangled cars and lives lost because of wrong way drivers. according to this map compiled by f- dot, no where in the bay area does it happen more than on i-275 in tampa. early this morning aja cancela is

southbound on northbound i-275. near fowler avenue, a d-u-i officer with tpd was able to swerve out of the left lane just in time to dodge cancela...he radioed it in, and she was stopped off busch boulevard before causing a crash. cancela was arrested and charged with dui aja's mother sue said her daughter was apologetic and made a mistake. troubling only two days after hillsborough county deputy john kotfila was honored by thousands after he was killed by a wrong way driver. it's the wrong way for anyone to lose their life...and it nearly happened again. in tampa, jonathan petramala, 10 news

the "peter o. knight airport" is open today but there are still questions about whether a second plane" could have been involved in a deadly crash on friday. the crash claimed the lives of two people inside this twin engine cessna. n-t-s-b investigators say there was another plane that took off at the same time as this one... but, they aren't sure what role it played, if any. paul cox the weekend weather delayed the investigation of the crash site a little. but, a preliminary expected to be complete within a few days. music, no

a donald trump attacked a protester at an arizona rally saturday night -- is now facing charges. about the incident during a g-o-p dinner in palm beach, he called the protesters "professional aggra-vators". the night's dinner ended with a call to "unify the republican party". a man singing brought up former candidate "ben carson" to join trump on stage.## a wild story out of pasco county... two 13-year-old girls could be facing charges for leading deputies on a car chase...that ended with the girls deputies say it happened just after 4 o'clock sunday morning on "u-s 19" and darlington road in holiday. passenger seat was and the driver has minor injuries. was going on -- there an 80-year-old ambulance that was responding to help.### tampa's chances

super bowl are looking up! we're on the "short list" competing with atlanta, new orleans and miami for the 2019 or 20-20 championship game. but atlanta could miss out if a "controversial bill" sitting on the governor's desk goes into law. the bill protects religious groups who don't want to serve the gay and lesbian community. the n-f-l says the law would "go against" its anti- discrimination policy. do you remember phoebe jon-chuck? if you don't know the name... you probably remember the horrific story. and a group of bikers hopes you never forget her.. for the second year, they're hosting "flowers for phoebe". it's a fundraiser in her honor to raise money for a scholarship. phoebe, just five years old, was killed last year. her father john is accused of throwing her off "one of the bridges" leading to the sunshine skyway. on sunday dozens of bikers rode from largo to the site of her death -- and dropped off flowers to remember the young life taken too soon.

last year they gave away a 4-thousand dollar scholarship and hope to give away the same amount or more this year. they also have a gofundme page for the fundraiser. you can find it on our website wtsp.com right now you have a chance to lend a helping hand to a local hero... who has dedicated his life to saving others. lieutenant "eric valdes" is a firefighter with the hillsborough county fire rescue. back in january, he was riding his motorcycle when he was hit by an uninsured driver... and now he's faced with a ton of medical bills. well, on sunday, a local law firm held a fundraiser to help out. it included music, raffles, food and support from loved ones.

help.. head to wtsp.com right now for a link to his go-fund-me page. we're giving you an inside perspective into the future of "one st. petersburg". it will be pinellas county's tallest building once construction is complete. crews are hard at work to turn an "entire city block" into brand new "high-end condos" and a world-class hotel. 10 news caught up with the man behind it all - former st. petersburg mayor rick baker -- to talk about the changing landscape of the city. hear what else the

say about the project...right now at w t s p dot com. coming up at 5 on 10 news this morning...to ease parking problems...one of the biggest tourist spots in sarasota county may be getting a parking garage the next round of presidential primaries is less than one day away with candidates visiting arizona and utah this weekend. a horse is doing okay this morning after crews rescued it in the california mountains. coming up, a warning for parents about a drug poisoning people in the bay area. and stepping up to fight lung disease. the climb your

lauderdale on

water spout. witnesses say the "powerful wind" picked up boats and damaged several cars. thankfully, no one was hurt. but it left some "spring breakers" with quite the story to tell. toss to 10 weather xxx

parents you'll attention to this, and maybe show your kids this next story. a bad batch of a synthetic drug known as "spice" is poisoning people around the bay area. 10 news reporter jonathan petramala shows you how spring break could make this epidemic even worse. it's a scourge on the streets of st petersburg synthetic marijuana, or spice, made over a dozen people in downtown st pete sick today. john briscoe sees it

after six people went to the hospital you can see this man in a blue shirt appear to ingest something...soon after he and two other men are barely holding themselves up on a fence. a bad batch has made it's way not only into st pete but also to clearwater where this video was taken. and across the bay in tampa where we reported on over 30 illnesses caused by spice last week. it's worrying law enforcement because it's also spring break. so far police say they are only seeing it heavily among the transient population, but they want parents to pay attention and kids

the spice road is a dead end. in st petersburg, jonathan petramala, 10 news wtsp. four people were arrested in st pete on saturday, suspected of having spice. it's a complicated conviction though, because chemists change the "chemical make-up" of the drug when one form is banned. stepping up to fight lung disease. hundreds came out to the bank of america building in downtown tampa on saturday and climbed all 42 flights of stairs. they worked their stairwell to support association for their annual "fight for air of lung cancer saw firefighters carrying their 50 pound gear. one firefighter was there to honor her mother... who is a 5-year survivor of lung cancer.

introduced you to 35-year-old jennifer wonder. for the married, mother of three -- saturday's climb meant something much more.. she is currently battling lung cancer. now, she's serving as an inspiration to so many others... embracing each day one step at a time. we have a cool "time lapse video" to share with you now... of saturday's big "river o green" fest at tampa's curtis hixon park. mayor bob buckhorn launched the tradition 5 years ago. the city captured this shot from above... showing the transformation of the river being dyed green. the turnout wasn't as big as years past -- because of all the rain saturday morning.. but lots of families still came out with their ponchos and umbrellas to get a taste of the irish experience. 10 news out in the community-- celebrating and honoring jewish

food! anchor dion lim was one of the judges at the second annual "pass the plate spring cookoff" -- at the florida holocaust museum. local survivors and their families showed off their family recipes! ### and michael clayton - our very own "studio 10 live" anchor and former "tampa bay buc" turned into a thespian over the weekend. he made a cameo in the "bullets over broadway" play at ruth eckerd hall in clearwater. you see him there playing a mobster. this is a musical comedy about a young playwright in need of money who accepts an offer he mobster looking to showgirl girlfriend. you can catch clayton -- on studio 9-a-m right here on 10news. still ahead on morning, a florida team's good luck charm makes a surprising visit to the game. we'll give you one hint..."spacey facey." i'll explain more, coming up. and tonight on 10 starting at 8:00, supergirl, followed by scorpion at 9:00.

then tune in to 10 news at 11. don't forget to stay up for the late show with stephen colbert and his guests chelsea handler and zosia mamet. let's get these dayquil liquid gels and go. but these liquid gels are new. mucinex fast-max. it's the same difference. this one is max strength and fights mucus. mucinex fast-max. the only branded cold and flu liquid gel that is max-strength and fights mucus.

spacey showed up at the florida panthers game in south florida this weekend. and he surprised fans on the video board when he took off his "spacey facey" mask. fans were given the cardboard cut outs at the beginning of the game. it's part of a joke the players started where after a win, the game's m-v-p would get a bizzare, blue sweatshirt showing spacey's face floating in outer space. spacey said he was happy to be the team's good luck charm, but unfortunately they lost that night. coming up on 10 news this morning...the president and the tampa bay rays have arrived in cuba. their agenda today on this historic trip to the country. plus the threatening

presidential front runner donald trump's family members. and pennsylvania police are investigating a shooting the left three people dead when a former state trooper tried to rob a turnpike interchange. whether you have 10 minutes or 30, stick with us and you'll get everything

welcome to 10 news this morning. i'm allison kropff. and i'm mark rivera, in for ian. we're on top of that breaking news hilary just talked about in sarasota. right now, university parkway between old bradenton road and desoto road is closed after a deadly crash. 10news reporter garin flowers is live at the scene. garin you just talked to police,