news channel 8's lindsey mastis joins us now live from the morning alert center. kn. >> gayle and gene, good morning, i reached out to chipotle to find out exactly what they're planning to tell the employees today. i found out the company will be broadcasting the meeting live so all of the employees will get the same information. here is what they will learn about today. chipotle is now using what they call high resolution dna based testing of many of their ingredients before they're shipped to restaurants. they're also changing the way they praep food. they'll be washing and cutting many of the produce items like tomatoes, and cheese in central kitchens. they have new protocols for marinading chicken and sake. this is something they started the problems came to light. the company also claim takes will share information about what it thinks caused some customers to get sick. that is going to be significant because what caused all of these illnesses to happen in such a short time span is still unknown. about 500 people got sick last year as a result, chipotle profits fell 44%. the u.s.

. >> i'm lindsey mastis andly show you how you can see behind the scenes here at newschannel8. by using facebook. >> plenty of sunshine this afternoon. just a gorgeous day with our relative lighter winds in most locations. temperatures in the low 70s . this trend will carry on. we will talk about how long coming up. >> we'll have that and more coming up. you're watching newschannel8. (phone ringing) you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise) hey candidates, >> 8 on your side wants to take you behind the scenes. >> we are showing facebook's live feature to show you what is going on behind the camera. lindsey mastis will also show you what to do so you don't miss out. >> reporter: to see behind the scenes here, all you have to do is log onto facebook. we will show you a different perspective. and, answer all of your questions. it is time for facebook live. from the

news channel 8's lindsey mastis lindsey, it's a mess behind you. >> reporter: it really is a mess. and i want you to take a close look over here. notice it's not just debris but also the family's belongings. and what is miraculous about this is that no one was hurt. if you look at the damage here, you can just see how serious this is. i want to show you what this scene looked like at 3:30 when i got here. you can see the pickup truck under the car sport it had to go through two pillars first before it landed on top of another car. and then the tow company had to take the cars out one by one and tow them away. the pickup truck was on top of a honda acard and it hit another honda accord which pushed that into a black suv that's a nissan. and that one was also damaged. and they had to take all of them away. and one neighbor tells us that the family is really upset. >> shook up. shook up. you know. they're nice people. they are nice people. >> reporter: now look here. you see all of that wood there. that used to be a shed and a laundry room according to the neighbor. and now i did spea

. >> news channel 8's lindsey mastis joins us live with the morning alert. lindsey? who exactly might have advice for peyton manning. >> believe it or not, peyton manning's mother is speaking out. i guess that is normal. retire, especially now that he is on top and that is the truth. take a look at this. we have data here from twitter. super bowl. it is not at all surprising to see he the number one most tweeted about player on the broofkz all over social media, he is getting aclate laids for set -- accolades for setting new records. with his super bowl 50 victory he gets his 2 hundredth career win, an nfl record and he is being compared to john elway. this is another tweet from espn. elway rode off into the sunset after a second title. . there is this from the sports. manning's dad thinks he is done in denver but leaving the door another team. as for manning himself, listen to how he handles the question i look forward to celebrating with my friends and family and i think i'll take time after that, like i said, i'll enjoy tonight. take it one step at a time. >> who

lindsey mastis just pulled up to the scene. lindsey, bring us up to date. >> reporter: well, good morning. this is about as close as we are allowed to get but i want you to see a little bit more. i just got some new able to get out of the house safely. it was an elderly woman, the homeowner and a friend as well as two dogs, they are all okay this morning. a neighbor says she saw flames and called 911. >> it was pretty big. it was coming through the house. i could see it like flushing out. it had my -- i was sweating. >> reporter: now we're told that the call came in just before 4:00 this morning right here. and we have not been able yet to the talk with the homeowners but i have seen one of the dogs out here this morning. and if you look at the house, shape. and i was just told that the arson investigator is onscene. right now, they are trying to figure out how the fire started but the good news this morning is that everyone got out safely. i'm going to remain onscene all morning. as soon as i get more information, i'm going to

news channel 8's lindsey mastis has been following the results through the early morning hours. lindsey, what are the latest results? >> reporter: gayle and gene, right now the results are still coming in. and let's look at trump's numbers. he is at 45%. that is better than those polls projected. and now we also have marco rubio and ted cruz. and now this has been neck and neck all morning. early on, marco rubio was slightly ahead and then ted cruz was ahead. and now marco rubio is at 24%. senator ted cruz is at 22% but they're still far behind trump who is celebrating his third win. >> we won the evangelicals, we won with young, we won with old, we won with highly educated, we won with the poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. 46% with the hispanics. number one with hispanics. >> reporter: right now, trump is ahead of senator marco rubio here in the polls here in his home state of florida but we don't vote until mid-march so candidates are focusing on right now. that includes texas, senator cruz's home state. candidates have to show a chance against trump on super tuesday

our lindsey mastis pulled up to the scene in the last 45 minutes or so. lindsey, what's the latest now? >> reporter: yeah, you're right. we have been getting updates all morning long since we have been out here. this house looks at like now. we're going to have meliek zoom in a little bit. you can see one of the tampa fire-rescue trucks is leaving the scene. that's because the investigators are getting ready to go inside. the fire was put out shortly after it was called in. it was called in around 3:50 in the morning. they got the fire out at 4:17. i'm told there were four people living there at the time, all of them adults. a 73-year-old female and the rest were all males in their 30s. one person is in the hospital, a 35-year-old male. i am told that he has non-life threatening injuries. a neighbor tells me that he was out here with the garden hose trying to put the fire out himself. and i want you to hear what she says happened. >> yeah, he had no shoes. he's a spanish so he's pretty light skinned but he was dark. like, you see the blackness all over him

lindsey mastis is joining us live with the morning alert who wants him to r? >> peyton manning's mother is speaking out. she wants him to retire especially now he is on top. that is the truth. let's look at this. over here. it is not a surprise. he is the number one most tweeted about player on the broncos team and all over social media he is getting accolades for setting new records in the game. with his super bowl 50 victory, manning gets his 2 hundredth career win, an nfl record and getting compared to john elway, look at this tweet from espn, it says elway rode off into a sunset after a second title lchlt peyton do the same? and then this, from nbc sports. manning's dad thinks he is done in denver but is leaving the door open that manning might play for another team. just listen to how he handles all of these questions. >> i look forward to celebrating with my frndz and family and -- friends and family, and i think i'll take some time after that and like i said, i'll enjoy tonight. take it one step at a time. >> who can blame him? why would he want to talk

lindsey mastis reports it was a miracle the family got out. >> reporter: it didn't take long for flame to overtake the home. a neighbor called 911 and ran to help. >> i'm treeing to see who else is in there. >> reporter: she saw a man she knows. the family who lives here says his name is samuel callisto and he tried everything he could to save his home. a move that landed him in the hospital. >> it was scary. you see him in the door way with a water hose, you know, the water hose only gives you so much water. >> reporter: everyone got out even the two dogs benji and tucci. carmen lives near the front of the home where the fire started. she lost medical items. she revealed she is fighting colon cancer. >> i don't want to go through it again. >> reporter: her sons admit most of their belongings are in storage. they only moved here about a month ago. but she believes sammy lost everything. >> everything. everything is gone. >> she's alive. he's alive. sammy is alive. thankful for that. >> reporter: the family plans to stay in a hotel until they can find a new place to live. lindsey mastis

news channel 8s lindsey mastis just arrived at the scene. we saw the live pictures. lindsey, looked like a mess throughout. >> reporter: it is such a mess. and i want you to take a look at the path that the pickup truck took because you can see where it hit some of the trees here, some of the plants and then i we want through the concrete blocks and into the on one vehicle, it also landed partially on another vehicle pushing it into yet another vehicle. so altogether, four vehicles involved here. and we're told that the driver, a man is under arrest under suspicion of dui. what is interesting is that as bad as is and as bad as it look, no one got hurt, not even the guy that was driving the vehicle. and now they're trying to remove the vehicles. so we want to come back out live. and you will see how we have the towing service just holding up the car part to make sure it doesn't collapse. and then one by one, they have been taking the vehicles out. and they just removed the pickup truck. and there's another car, it's hard to see from here, but there's another car in the

lindsey mastis explains how to protect your cyber self. >> reporter: these facebook quizes look like fun but cyber experts call them click bait for a reason. >> a lot of disney ones i guess. >> reporter: like a lot of us, katy hays of lakeland can't resist. >> if my friends took it, i usually take it. >> reporter: but be ware, hackers can use them to lure in more victims. >> they have so much information. >> reporter: the managing explains hackers want one thing, money. it seems harmless. >> you never know who is really asking you for the information. >> reporter: hackers will use quizes to disguise malicious links. some will connect to your facebook account to extract data. they can even trick interview downloading malware. quiz questions themselves could be a trap. >> the more they know about you, the more ways they can trick you into doing something like clicking on a link that you should not click on. >> reporter: so how can you tell whether the quiz you're taking is safe? he recommends being cautious with quizes and polls that want you to sign in. the same goes for email address

news channel 8's lindsey mastis is in the tampa news center this morning. and looks like the glove are off. >> reporter: that's right. the gop debate is trending on twitter right now. and our florida senator marco rubio is getting a lot of attention for his performance, essentially going after trump and bringing up sore points. >> you are a lousy -- >> well, i don't know anything i don't know anything about starting a university, a fake university. a fake university. >> one at a time. >> let me tell you -- >> reporter: political experts believe now is the time for senator rubio to step it up against trump or just go home. senator marco rubio isn't even winning here in his home state so he has to make a change before the primary. but first, we have super tuesday when people in a dozen states vote including senator ted cruz's home state, texas. cruz got into similar exchanges with trump. his strategy seems to be working because according to the latest poll, senator cruz has 38% of support in texas and trump and senator rubio are battling for second place ther

our lindsey mastis pulled up to the scene in the last 45 minutes or so. lindsey, what's the latest now? >> reporter: yeah, you're right. we have been getting updates all morning long since we have been out here.

very, very true. >> lindsey mastis was just covering that for us. it's dark and dangerous on the side of the road, folks this is a backup that is starting to happen now, away from pinellas, not too bad. i want you to use the howard franklin bridge, but the two right lanes are taken away this is affecting the howard franklin bridge, but a decent drive across it. no reason to take the courtney campbell causeway. and it will be 8 minutes to cross the howard franklin bridge. another huge issue is ulmerton roadblocked at franklin parkway, and you need to take roosevelt to access 275 instead of ulmerton. what a mess this is is a vehicle that hit a pole, and it's hardly recognizable, and you can hardly tell what kind of a vehicle that is. the crash rolled up around the taken the person in the vehicle to the hospital. it's a possible fatal crash here, and the eastbound lanes are blocked, and the cars you can see in the distance, that's eastbound, and roosevelt is your alternate to hop on 275, and this is west of the interstate on ulmerton. tough news for tr

news channel 8s lindsey mastis is live if the scene this morning. in the riverfront community. we're told one person is in custody, lindsey. >> reporter: yes, gayle, that is right. it's been a scary start to this friday morning and behind me, you can see where they just pulled out this vehicle from the carport. notice that it is completely crushed. you can't even see the top of it very well. that's because a pickup truck landed on top of it this morning. that pickup truck is right over here. take a look at that. you can see some damage to that truck as well. and now the car behind it was also involved and there's a fourth vehicle way over here. and you can see a little bit, that the windshield there is all cracked up as well. and now what happened is around 1:50 a.m., that's when the call came in. the pickup truck ended up landing on top of a vehicle in the carport. it also hit that white vehicle you saw earlier and pushed that vehicle into that black suv. that's why there's so many vehicles involved this morning. and now incredibly, no one hurt. not even the driver of that vehi

news channel 8's lindsey mastis has been following the results through the early morning hours. what are the latest results? >> reporter: gayle and gene, good morning. morning long and we are now at 94%. and these results are really coming in now. and take a look at the trump numbers, he is at 46%. that is better than he did in the polls that were projected that he was going to win. and now marco rubio and ted cruz, as you mentioned, they were neck in neck. this morning, i got in and rubio was on top and then it flipped. and now marco rubio is at 24%. this just refreshed, so the latest number for ted cruz is 21%. so senator rubio is on top right now. these two have been battling for second place but they're far behind trump who is celebrating his third win. >> we won the evangelicals. we won with young. we won with old. we won with highly educated. we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. 46% with the hispanics. [ applause ] >> reporter: right now, trump is also ahead of senator marco rubio in the polls here in his home state of florida. but we don't vote until m

news news channel 8s lindsey mastis is live at the scene. it's a riverfront community. we're told one person is in

news channel 8's lindsey mastis mast has been following the results all morning long. lindsey, what are the latest results. right now, the results are still coming in. we have 96% reporting. these are numbers from nbc news. and they're showing that donald trump is at 46% right now. that is better than the polls predicted. and then when we come over here to marco rubio and senator ted cruz, these two senators were neck and neck. when i got in this morning, senator rubio was on top and then it slipped and then senator cruz. and now it's flipped again. senator ted cruz is only 21%. senator marco rubio on top with 24%. these two are battling it out for second place but they're still far behind trump who is celebrating his third win and part of his statement is now trending on twitter. >> we won the evangelicals. we won with young. we won with old. we won with highly educated. we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. 46% with the hispanics. 46%. number one with hispanics. is also ahead of senator rubio in the polls here in his home state of florida. but we do

news channel 8s lindsey mastis is now live in the tampa news center. florida? >> reporter: well, an employee ford. and when we found his facebook page, he posted miami as his hometown. take a look at this video posted to his facebook page. months ago. it shows him firing a weapon and we do not know whether this is the weapon used in the shooting but at least one witness describes seeing him gun down victims with an assault rifle. in the work day and it came as a complete surprise. >> we were already looking at him and he yelled and went -- [ imitating gunfire ] >> i saw the shell casings come out of the assault rifle. that vivid. i can still see it. >> reporter: altogether, he opened fire at four location, wounding 14 people, killing three before being killed by law enforcement. and investigators believe something set him off but they're not revealing a motive just yet. i will stay on top of the story and let you know as soon as we get more information about why he opened fire. we will have updates on our wfla news app. gayle -- >> but the sad reality, we hear

in gibsonton, lindsey mastis, newschannel8. >> the driver was going about 80 miles an hour and failed to stop at a stop sign. we understand there are about $100,000 worth of damage. >>> now to your vote coverage. we are just 90 minutes away from start of donald trump's campaign rally at the usf our political reporter candace mccowan joins us there live. how big of a crowd are they expecting tonight? >> reporter: well yeah, take a look at the room josh. it is about half full right now. the arena is half full. in the stands a lot of people are here to see trump. an hour-and-a-half before he takes the stage. but there is one donald trump, he is here already. todd is here as donald trump tonight. >> yes i am. tonight, i'm here to rally and it will be huge. it will be fantastic. and we just are going to do it. we are going to make america great again. >> reporter: well i have to tell you guys todd is not just an impersonator, but a trump supporter. >> i'm a trump supporter because $20 trillion ago, i'm i said this country need to pay that debt. >> reporter: well, thank you very much. obvio

lindsey mastis shows us what to do -- and not do -- to save money. (reporter stand up intro: lindsey mastis) "when it comes to spring break, you don't want to wait for any last-minute travel deals. that's because experts say that flying." spring break isn't just for college students. it's a chance for families to spend quality time together -- on vacation. and you don't want to get left behind. (sot: tammy levent, ceo elite travel management "the minute you know you want to take a vacation, you have to book." using third party websites and apps to find deals -- may seem like a good idea -- but... to happen, the airline only helps those, physically, that bought either from a travel agent or their airline direct." some cruise lines offer online specials for booking in advance -- like norwegian. (sot: ryan yerwood, traveler) "once you get on the cruise, it's very hard to save money, because everything you see you want to buy." levent recommends making off-ship plans with the cruise line. (sot: tammy levent, ceo elite travel management group) "if you boo

lindsey mastis is joining us now instudio. that's happening on our home front. >> reporter: today in pinellas county, 8 on your side is going to be meeting with mosquito control and the health department. and they're going to show us what they're doing to help prevent the zika virus from spreading. in hillsborough county, they're setting more ground traps and that's because the type of mosquito that carries zika likes to go after targets from about the waist down. and right now, there are 65 traps in hillsborough county. but the weather is affecting how many are being captured. not favorable for trapping the mosquitoes outside. when it's too cold, when it's windy and when it's rainy. >> reporter: hillsborough is also spraying in areas where there are confirmed cases. right now, everyone in florida with zika actually got it from somewhere expels none of the confirmed -- somewhere else and none of the confirmed cases include pregnant women. the goal is to keep it that way. 8 on your side will have new information on what pinella

lindsey mastis joins us live now from the morning alert center. lindsey, is this affecting many families' travel plans. >> reporter: gayle, good morning. no one wants to get zika virus but those most at risk are pregnant women because it can affect the development of unborn children. because zika is getting so much attention in the news, it is affecting travel. according to aaa, people are not canceling their trips but instead changing where they go or they're pushing their vacations back to later in the year. disease control wants pregnant women and women who may become pregnant to avoid traveling to areas known for zika. and an ohio woman got zika after visiting haiti. the nurse explains she isn't worried because she's not pregnant but she still got sick. >> started having a headache, joint pain and then on thursday, the 28th of january, i had a rash that came all over from my face, my leg, my arm, my trunk. >> reporter: a chicago woman is speaking out about getting zika in honduras. she was pregnant at the time and miscarried but she doesn't kno

lindsey mastis is following the story for us live from the tampa news center. so lindsey, what do we know about the flick. >> reporter: good morning. thankfully -- about the victim? >> reporter: good morning. thankfully in this case, the victim isn't really a minor. the person mack crowder talked deputy posing as a 14-year-old girl. but the timing couldn't be worse. the university is facing a lawsuit alleging more troubling behavior by male athletes. crowder bonded out of jail just a few hours ago. he planned to meet the 14-year- old in person and that's when he was arrested. the student once known as a college athlete and scholar is now suspected of a disgusting crime. and the university of tennessee is in hot water for a whole other reason. it's facing a lawsuit filed by a group of women. they claim the school mishandled reports of sexual assaults by student athletes. and they name bronco's quarterback peyton manning as part of one incident in the suit. crowder's story is the top clicked overnight. we are working to figure out what his connection to the area i

lindsey mastis is live from fhp in bradenton. it's really impacting people in our area. >> reporter: it is. just this morning, hearing not crash, that's not the only one we have this morning, and it's morning. that's exactly why the florida highway patrol is doing this awareness week they are meet here at 10:30, really focusing on the consequences. they are hoping that will help the drivers realize they need to stop when the crashes happen, and you know, one legal expert tells us there's all kinds of reasons why people are not stopping. >> it could be everything from they are maybe not supposed to be out, maybe they are breaking their curfew or they are on house arrest, or second, they feel the wrong place at the wrong time, and safety may be an issue for them. >> reporter: state law requires drivers to stay on the scene they are also supposed to help anyone injured if they can. legislation from 2014 requires drivers who flee the scene of a of 4 years in prison. the ramifications are something that families like the gimsons know

news channel 8s lindsey mastis is live with the morning alert. so lindsey, how is our tampa police department reacting? >> reporter: gayle and gene, good morning. you know the tampa police officers are signing up to work the concert. they even tweeted this saying that the event will be fully staffed. but it's a different story over in miami. the president of miami's fraternal order of police accuses beyonce of using the performance to promote an anti- police message. take a look. >> reporter: during the performance, beyonce and her dancers dressed in outfits reminiscent of 1960s era black panthers. in a statement, the president of miami's fraternal order of police insist that it promoted the black panthers and he accuses beyonce of failing to support law enforcement. and here's what he posted to twitter, it says back the blue, boycott beyonce. and i checked her twitter and instagram accounts this morning but beyonce has not responded. tampa police tried to put to rest rumors that officers security. take a look. it says, what? tampa pd officers hav

the news channel 8's lindsey mastis has been following this story. she joins us for the morning alert. the fbi is trying to set the record straight and it is asking the public to weigh in. how are they doing that? >> good morning. this is the note and in it, fbi director james comey focuses on the victims of the san bernardino terrorist attack. this letter was the fbi's way of swaying public opinion and it could put the pressure on apple to comply with that court order. in part of the statement, comey writes, maybe the phone holds the clue to finding more terrorists. maybe it dupz. but we can't look -- maybe it doesn't. but we can't look the survivors in the eye if we don't follow this lead. master key on the loose as apple suggests. if they guess the pass code toomz, it could wipe the phone out. they want to keep that from happening so they can have unlimited guesses. apple has not responded to this so far. in the past it insists creating technology to help the fbi in this matter would make all of our phones vulnerable. comey makes the point that a

. >> news channel 8's lindsey mastis is now live from east sitka street. you keep getting new information. what have you learned since we last checked in? >> reporter: well, gayle and gene, so far there, are four people that were inside the house when the fire broke out. and it was called in around 3:50 in the morning and firefighters were able to put but one of those people, a 35- year-old man did get burned. he is in the hospital right now being treated. we are told he has non-life- threatening injuries. you can see the house and what is left of the front of it. i am told that the fire mainly stayed to the front two rooms and that is where a 73-year-old woman, carmen ortiz was staying. i talked with her a moment ago and she tells me that it's horrible. >> i even lost by id there, my glasses, everything. house. i was sweating. >> reporter: and now that was a neighbor who saw the flames. she said she couldn't sleep and lucky she was up and able to call 911. to help the family. i am told that the red cross will be here later on this morning trying to help t

lindsey mastis is on top of the results this morning joining us now from the tampa news center. the results on the democratic side just shockingly close. >> reporter: absolutely. you know, even though the results are in, there's not of a gap between clinton -- there's not much of a gap between clinton and sanders. it's been close all night. some precincts had an odd number of delegates but equal support for the candidates so in those cases, they broke the tie with a coin toss. well hillary rodham clinton's team is calling the race for her. >> i will keep doing what i have done my entire life. i will keep standing up for you. i will keep fighting for you. i will always work to achieve the america that i believe in. >> reporter: and what is significant is that senator sanders is pulling a lot more support than the polls showed leading up to the caucus. senator ted cruz is on top this morning. his strategy included visiting all 99 counties in iowa. he got a record 51,000 votes. that's the most ever for a republican in the iowa caucus. >> tonight is a victory for courageous conserva

news channel 8's lindsey mastis is live with the morning alert. i hate to the think kids are drinking out of anything that mold i did. >> reporter: gayle and gene, good morning. these cups are so popular because kids are drink them and they don't spill. that's what's great. but the technology inside the cup that some parents insist is causing problems. and take a look at the pictures posted by parents online. they're actually showing mold and one parent believes it made her child sick. that is gross. this woman insists that she cleans them after each use but she claims it's impossible to remove and clean the stopper itself. so parents are showing problems now with several brands. even posting videos online. right now the ones going viral are tommee tippee and they put out a statement on facebook about this. they are claiming that the problem isn't with the cup but with the cleaning procedures. so they also up loaded video showing parents how to remove the valve and how to wash it to keep mold from building up. and now they admit there could be unf

lindsey mastis joins us live with the morning alert. >> after trump found out he came in second in iowa, he congratulated cruz and tweeted his experience in iowa was great but now is changing hesitate tune completely accusing senator cruz of stealing the election. trump has been on twitter nonstop. he insists that senator cruz did something criminal. earlier senator cruz's campaign apologized to carson for telling voters that carson planned to quit the race. they claimed they got the report from cnn. it reported that carson would not go to new hampshire or south carolina but he would remain in the race. now, here is dr. carson's tweet. he called it shameless tactics and dirty political plays linking to an article that makes it clear he is not happy with senator cruz. trump is bringing this back up senator of more dirt -- accusing the senator of more dirty politics. it is his latest tweet saying what he insists is a voter violation certificate sent to voters. he calls this fraud. he tweets he wants either a new election or for cruz's results to be nullified. senator cruz is no aggressive

news channel 8's lindsey mastis has been following the tweets and posts and has the morning alert. what's the reaction from the they are all thanking voters. that's despite so many experiencing a disappointing night. now take a look here. we have the latest numbers right now. florida senator marco rubio is coming in fifth place, just behind our former governor, jeb bush. and now even though they came out in a similar spot, this is being considered a step up for bush but a big step down for senator rubio. and you know what, he is blaming himself for his poor performance. to twitter. he says our disappointment tonight is not on you, it's on me. i did not do well on saturday night. so listen to this, that will never happen again. he's referring to his debate performance. and hillary rodham clinton is also posting to twitter. sanders. and now the winners aren't boasting much this time around including trump. he tweeted, thank you to new hampshire, i love you. and he posted this picture of his family traveling with him. and senator sanders tweeted this, he says when we stand together, w

lindsey mastis is live from the police department. police believe they have been on a crime spree since friday? >> reporter: that's right. i just talked to two different tampa police officers this morning to find out if they have made an arrest in the case. not yet. we are told, yes, the suspects actually used the vehicle in three robberies, and the carjackers abandoned the vehicle after officer crashed. now look at this map. vehicle from a woman on friday just before 10:00 p.m. on north central avenue and east curby street, and then they abandoned it 3 miles away at east lake avenue and central avenue. i want you to look at this the police officer pursuing the car lost control and crashed into a power pole. the officer went to the hospital with minor injuries, and the criminals ditched the car about a block away. according to tampa police, three male carjackers took the vehicle from a woman by opening the door to her car and pointing a semiautomatic handgun at her, ordering her out, and then they drove off. luckily she was not hurt.

lindsey mastis is following this story live for us from the morning alert center. what kind of information are we talking about here? >> good morning, the university of central florida admits a hacker got access to 63,000 social security numbers. the president of the university about it last month but they're just now sending out letters to let victims know. they should start arriving next week. the school insists the hacker did not get any credit card information, financial or medical records and no glades are affected. the school is using -- grades are affected. the school is using a national firm to investigate and are working to improve the online security to keep this from happening again. the university is offering a one free year of credit monitoring and identity protection. we have the story on our facebook page. be sure to share it with friends and family, especially anyone you know with connections to ucf. gene? >> okay. i bet some of these victims wish they would have known sooner. you can follow the morning alerts every day on facebook and twit yefrment

news channel 8's lindsey mastis is live from the morning alert center. lynn see, what consequences does she face? >> reporter: good morning. even though she won't go to jail, there's a long list of consequences impose bid the court, plus we all know her >> i am drunk on south florida avenue. driving drunk is not cool. >> reporter: she took a plea deal. she will serve 12 months of probation because it's her first dui. she will have to perform 150 hours of community service. and her license will be suspended for six months. and she is prohibited from going to the bars. the court also wans they are get an alcohol evaluation and treatment -- wants her to get an alcohol evaluation treatment. and the story is trending on our website. a lot of people are commenting, some believe the punishment isn't enough and others insist it's what anyone else would get for a first time offense. head to our wfla facebook page and tell us what you think about the plea deal. >> i'm sure you're going to get a lot of feedback. you can follow our morning alerts each day on faceboo

lindsey mastis is following the story this morning. so do we know if any of the >> reporter: gayle, good morning. none of the cases here in florida involve pregnant women but take a look at this, we have two cases here in hillsborough county. the others are in miami-dade, lee county and santa rosa county. nine cases all together. and now the american red cross wants people that travel to areas experiencing outbreaks to refrain from giving blood for at least 28 days. outbreak areas include mexico, the caribbean and part of central and south america. zika is linked to a birth defect that leads to babies being born with smaller heads because their brains won't develop fully. according to the centers for disease control common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. and it could take as much as a week for symptoms to appear. and now in texas, something new, the first confirmed case of zika spread through sexual transmission. >> with zika, we don't know how long someone can remain we understand it, someone had just gotten sic

news channel 8's lindsey mastis has the morning alert. lindsey, a lot of people weighing in. >> reporter: absolutely. apple trended on twitter overnight here in tampa. there's a huge discussion and here's the bottom line, the feds believe the phone contains information that might stop a apple's ceo worries about long- term consequences that could make us all vulnerable if his company hacks the phone. 8 on your side spoke with an attorney about this. >> sometimes we get short- sighted. this could help in this instance, let's not worry about the consequences down the road and that's where it gets dangerous, i think. >> reporter: people lined in front of an apple store in san francisco to show their support for the company's decisions but others believe apple needs to do more in the name of national security. we asked, should apple create technology that can create iphones? we have one who write, if am doesn't help the fbi, regarding a terrorist act, i wouldn't want am's products or service. but becky write, no, no more government overreach.

. >> lindsey mastis is live. we are learning this stolen car was used in other crimes? >> reporter: that's right, gayle. good morning. i have been checking with the tampa police department to find out if there's any new information, and so far they are not releasing anything new. this vehicle was used in three other robberies according to tampa police. these guys had the vehicle for about 24 hours only. friday just before 10:00 p.m. on north central avenue, and less than 24 hours later, they left it at east lake avenue and central avenue, and now look at this this is why they were able to get away. the police officer pursuing the car lost control and crashed into a power pole. the officer went to the hospital with minor injuries and the criminals drove about a bloke away and then left the car behind. according to tampa police, three male carjackers took the vehicle from a woman by opening her car door and pointing a semiautomatic handgun at her, ordering her out, and then they drove off. luckily she was not hurt. police are determined to arrest these guys. we are reques

news channel 8s lindsey mastis is live from the tampa news center this morning. lindsey, what will happen today? >> reporter: the hearing gets under way at 9:00 this morning and investigators are going to dig deep. 15,000 feet of water near the bah hah thats. family and friends of the 3 people onboard still have a lot of unanswered questions. they held vigils while search crews looked for wreckage and now officials know where the ship is but the black box has not yet been now. the marine board of investigation wants to find out whether someone or some organization contributed to the tragedy. now that could be misconduct or negligence. the coast guard will also review its own search and rescue operations to find out whether it did anything wrong that caused lives to be lost. well the national transportation safety board will send another team of investigators underunder water to once again search for the missing data recorder. they have not announced when they plan to search. we will keep a close eye on the hearings today and we will let you know when the ntsb cond

news channel 8 lindsey mastis joins us live. how are the candidates fairing online. >> the code of public opinion and twitter tracks how each candidate is doing. let's take a look at the data here. the most tweeted, the three most tweeted topics are foreign affairs is and national security, healthcare, and the economy, and more people are actually talking about hillary clinton. look at this. she has 56% share of the conversation, bernie sanders only 44%. but senator sanders won in social in another way. he dominated the top three moments by criticizing clinton over wall street. >> the business moderaty of wall street is fraud. it is fraud. i believe that corruption is is rammant. >> the candidates got on social media to spread messages further. there is only one person ready to be commander-in-chief and experience is important but so is judgment and back in 20021 of us voted the right way on the iraq war, the other didn't. we want to know if this is impacting your opinion of the candidates. you can reach out to us on social medi

lindsey mastis shows us why this is so difficult for hunters. >> burmese pythons know how to blend in. >> reporter: so hunters are trained on what to look for. do you think you could bag a burmese python? >> i never wanted to touch one. >> reporter: but after she to do it in the wild. >> you think you have to be big and strong to get a big snake? no. it is all about the technique. once you get them there, you can live capture it. >> reporter: she is part of team python-athon. a group of adventurous women who compete in the python challenge. team leader peggy hopes it will bring national attention to the problem. >> we saw one squirrel, two raccoons, we didn't see one possum, armadillo. hardly any mammals left. >> reporter: but it is not easy. a thousand hunters only turned in 102 burmese pythons. it is not for lack of trying. they even offer thousands of dollars in cash prizes for hunters who bring back the most and the biggest. >> we saw black racers, garter we are very disappointed. >> frustrating yes? but they made the most of it. >> we walked over 40 miles. >> reporter: according

news channel 8's lindsey mastis is joining us live. lindsey, how is the school responding to this? >> reporter: 8 on your side spent all day yesterday trying to get answers for the family. they want to know why nothing was being fun when we confronted the school, they claim they didn't know anything about it. and now they are agreeing to at least look at the case. take a look at this. renee and stacia lopez claim a middle school student is targeting their daughter, writing profanities on school walls and posting a photo they call a death threat. they insist this start 2 months ago at john hopkins middle school. they don't know why their daughter are being singled out so viciously. >> those are big words for a 12- year-old little girl to be written all over a bathroom stall. >> reporter: they claim they sent emails to school officials. and 8 on your side did the same at least six times. the school claims they never got them. district promises 8 on your side they'll be in touch with the family today. it's very concerning that this could be going on and yet the school either doesn't k

news channel 8s lindsey mastis joins us live with the morning alert. what information are investigators hoping to find on the phone? >> reporter: gene, good morning. fbi investigators want to know who suspected san bernardino shooter syed rizwan farook communicated with. that could lead them to other terrorists and perhaps information on the phone will reveal plans for future attacks. remember this big breaking story? syed rizwan farook and his wife tashfeen malik died in a shootout with police after they killed 14 people. the victims were syed rizwan farook's own coworkers. they worked for the county health department and that organization actually owns the phone. well despite the county's plea, apple is refusing to help unlock the phone. the ceo believes if apple is forced to comply, it would create a back door that then could be exploited in the future. the main issue investigators are having now with the phone if investigators try guessing the password and they're wrong too many time, the phone could auto erase and wipe out all the information they

the fbi is one step closer to getting encrypted information stored on one of the san >> yeah, lindsey mastis is joining us now. >> reporter: gening, good morning. fbi investigators want to know who suspected shooter syed rizwan farook communicated with. remember the breaking story, syed rizwan farook and his wife tashfeen malik die thed in a shoot-out with police after they killed 14 people. the victims were syed rizwan farook's own coworkers. they worked for the county health department and that organization owns the phone. so despite the county's pleas, apple is refusing to help unlock the phone and now apple will reportedly fight the judge's order to help. and believe it or not, the release could be too difficult because the company specifically designs the software so it can't be hacked, not even by apple. the main issue with the phone is the pass code that so many of us use. if investigators try guessing too many time, the phone could auto erase and wipe out all the information that the investigators need. this is a story a lot of people are interested in follow thing. we will continue

lindsey mastis is live now with a morning alert. win there? >> reporter: good morning. the latest cnn poll puts trump way ahead of the pack so nevada is becoming a race for second place. it's down to florida sneer marco rubio and senator ted cruz, both are page -- senator senator marco rubio and senator ted cruz. both are rage ago tacks against each other. >> every single day something comes out of the cruz campaign that's deceptive and untrue. >> reporter: senator cruz just fired his campaign spokesman. any favors this morning. and trump has a tower in las vegas but senator marco rubio spent a good chunk of his childhood living in las vegas. rubio and also kicking up support from donors after jeb bush dropped out but bush has yet to endorse a candidate. so tonight's caucus important because candidates are trying to gain momentum leading up to super tuesday, just one week from today. >> and you can follow the morning alerts each day on facebook and twitter. just search the #8 alert. >>> police want you to -- hashing thing the 8 alert. >>> -- the #8alert. >>> here's a cl

news channel 8's lindsey mastis on top of the story this morning. results are in, there's not much of a gap between clinton and sanders. they are separated by less than one-half of 1%. and it's been close all night long. some precincts had odd number of delegates but equal number of votes for each. so they broke the tie with a coin toss. what is significant is senator sanders is pulling more support than the polls showed leading up to the caucus. >> we had no money. we had no name recognition. and we were taking on the most powerful political organization in the united states of america. >> reporter: and on the republican side, senator ted cruz is on top this morning despite coming in behind trump leading up to the caucus. his strategy included visiting all 99 counties in iowa and he that's a record for a republican in the iowa caucus. >> tonight is a victory for conservatives across iowa and this great nation. >> reporter: on the democratic side, former maryland governor martin o'malley is out and so is mike huckabee on the republican side. we will continue to monitor the results and

. >> i'm lindsey mastis. the state's pipeline challenge is over. i'm going to show you how one local group of hunters fared. >> plus, weather and traffic on >> dinner came with a special while enjoying clams in an italian restaurant, she bit down on something hard. she put it in her pocket. later, she was told it was a purple pearl worth about $600. only one in 200 million of these are considered to be gem quality. it is pretty right? now she plans to make a necklace out of her unexpected discovery. >>> there is just something about a certain stray cat in california that will probably help it find a home in no time. can you see it? >> yeah. >> anything unusual? >> yeah. >> that is sally ann. and she has a mustache. someone dumped sally ann in a salvation army box. she was found and taken to a cat rescue in fresno, california. she will be ready to adopt in a few day. >> very cute looking cat. >> maybe that is our weather cat? >> i like her the way she is. >> mental picture. we are back here tonight at 11:00. we will see you then hopefully. have a gr

news channel 8's lindsey mastis morning alert. many of us go on cruises. this sounds like a nightmare. good morning, gayle. hundreds of people are commenting and sharing this story on our wfla facebook page and it's the top clicked on wfla.com overnight. look at this. waves 30 feet high, tables and chairs toppled over. the cruiseship intrucked passengers to stay in their -- instructed passengers to stay it out. the whole ordeal lasted about 12 hours. weather forecasters reported winds of up to 100 miles per hurricane. royal caribbean reports in serious injuries. they are refunds passengers and and they want ntsb is investigating and wants to know why the cruiseship would travel into a storm like this meanwhile, you can share the story, head over to our wfla facebook page. gayle -- >> all right. thank you. and as mentioned, you can follow the morning alerts each day on facebook and twitter. search the #8alert. >>> chipotle restaurants will open at normal hours today. a company-wide monday meeting on food safety had them closed for four hours. it was respons

news channel 8 east lindsey mast -- 8's lindsey mastis is live. it's believed they have been on a crime spree since friday? >> reporter: that's right. i have been talking to police officers here at police headquarters. so far there's been no arrests in the case. the carjackers actually abandoned the vehicle after the officer crashed, and the police believe that they used the car take a look at this map on your screen, and the criminals carjacked the vehicle from a woman on friday, just before 10:00 p.m. on north central avenue and east kirby street. they abandoned it 3 miles away and take a look at this. the police officer pursuing the car lost control and crashed. the police officer went to the hospital with minor injuries, and according to tampa place, three carjackers took the vehicle by opening the door to her car and pointing a semiautomatic handgun to her, ordering her out, and they drove off. luckily she was not hurt. i have been asking for descriptions of the suspects this morning, and as soon as we have information, we will let you know.

news channel 8's lindsey mastis is joining us live from the morning alert center. what will employees learn today? >> gene and gayle, i reached out to chipotle to find out what they're planning to tell their employees today. they will be broadcasting this their employees will get the same information. here are some of the changes employees will look about today. chipotle is using what they call high resolution dna based testing of many of the ingredients before they're shipped to restaurants and changing the way they prep foods. they will be wushing and cutting of -- washing and cutting many of the items in central kitchens and sendings them to restaurants. they have new protocols for marinades chicken and steak. they will also have paid sick leave. this is something they did last year. they will talk about what caused all of the customers to be sick. that is important because it is 500 people got sick last year. chipotle profits fell 44%. the u.s. justice department is discussing chipotle to find out if the company did anything criminal and some customers are suin