Ron allen is on white house duty this morning. Good morning to you. Reporter the white house is expected to announce the president s trip to cuba sometime later today. It has been just over a year since mr. Obama said he would begin normalizing relations. Many critics are saying it is much too soon to reward the castro regime. A Senior Administration official telling nbc news that president obama will visit cuba in march marking the first time in 88 years a sitting president will visit cuba. These 50 years have shown isolation has not worked. It is time for a new approach. Reporter warming relations began after facetoface meetings. The pair announcing in late 2014 that they would begin normalizing ties. Over time it is possible for a new relationship between our countries. Reporter last august the American Embassy was open. Since then secretary of state john kerry travelled to the island and this week signed a deal to resume air traffic. Still there are hurdles. Tourists cannot visit the island and trade cannot resume until an embargo is lifted. Ted cruz and marco rubio were quick to pounce on the announcement. Rubio saying he would not go if he were president. The problem is they are not just communist dictatorship but antiamerican. I am saddened to hear i wasnt surprised. Reporter mr. Obama said he wouldnt go to cuba unless there was progress on human rights. Unclear whether that will happen but the number of dissidents regime is increasing. Thank you. You heard some republican candidates talking about cuba. Our new poll shows ted cruz leading nationally. We have the complete coverage of that race beginning with nbc National Correspondent peter alexander. Reporter donald trump is holding on to a commanding lead here in North Carolina. Nationally the race reached a new turning point. The wall street journal poll shows ted cruz leading donald trump. Here in South Carolina ted cruz is favoring. The sounds you are hearing is the sound of screams coming from washington, d. C. Reporter with the gop lineup shrinking after the New Hampshire primary the wall dramatic shift from last month. Trump dropping seven. I think somebody at wall street journal doesnt like me. And yet he tells fibs, lies. Reporter the trump cruz feud escalating. I am pro choice. We cannot trust donald trump with these serious decisions. Reporter trumps lawyers call it defamatory insisting he opposes abortion. I have had Great Success in business, Great Success with lawsuits, Great Success in things we do. I dont know if we will have a lawsuit but we want to keep somebody honest. Reporter trump still dominates with cruz behind. Marco rubio is picking up speed from governor nikki haley. We say that every day is a gate great day in South Carolina. Ladies and gentlemen, if we elect marco rubio every day will be a great day in america. Reporter not a great day for jeb bush who 24 hours earlier told nbc news haleys endorsement would be the most powerful in the state. Its all been decided apparently. The pundits have made it all decided. We dont have to vote it is all finished. I should stop campaigning maybe. Its all done. Thats not how democracy works. Reporter here is something you dont see every day. Jeb bush chest bumping his brother back stage after w. s endorsement part of a new campaign video. I dont think the president was ready for that chest bump. Hillary clinton and Bernie Sanders working overtime to Court Minority voters ahead of saturdays nevada caucus. Tonight they faceoff in las vegas at a town hall event. Andrea mitchell is already in position. Good morning. Reporter with reports that clintons top donors have complained about a grass roots effort Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders facing off in nevada, a state she needs to win after losing to sanders in New Hampshire. Hillary clinton and Bernie Sanders will be appealing to nevada voters during a democratic town hall on msnbc. With just two days before the caucuses clintons lead has disappeared. A new poll has her just one point over sanders. Nationally things could be getting worse. Among women clintons favorability is shrinking just six points ahead compared to her double digit lead a couple weeks ago. Both candidates are reaching out to africanamerican and latino voters. Clinton on the south side of chicago focussing on racial barriers and the problem of Police Violence against minorities. She also accused sanders of wavering support for president obama in 2012. Even tried to have someone run against him. Reporter sanders looking ahead to South Carolina. We have a real good shot in nevada and i believe we are going to do a lot, lot better in South Carolina. Reporter hoping to pull off an upset and show he can win in states with more minorities than predominantly white New Hampshire. I think on election day people will be surprised about how well we do. Heading to the south and west clinton is releasing a new ad aimed at nevadas hispanic voters taking on the issue of deportation. And just a few hours ago clinton stopped along the strip to greet workers on the overnight shift at her hotel. Whoever wins saturday in nevada will have a lot of momentum Going Forward in South Carolina and beyond to super tuesday, what is clearly a prolonged primary battle. Andrea mitchell in las vegas. Lets turn to mark halpern. Lets talk polls. Here is what we see, 36 donald trump far and away the leader and this tight race for second or third. Field . Donald trump is way ahead in our poll and other poll. The real match between marco rubio and jeb bush. The former protege. The two of them before i thought maybe both make it out. Whoever is ahead here in South Carolina on saturday is probably going to get to go on into the finals. Whoever is behind can get out quite quickly. We have the new nbc wall street journal poll showing donald trump not leading two points behind ted cruz with marco rubio at 17. We talk about difference that showed trump with a lead from 15 to 20 points. What do you read into the number in terms of ted cruz at least . Reporter the nbc wall street journal poll is a good poll it doesnt reflect the fact that trump does have the lead. Ted cruz being hit by donald trump and marco rubio has moved up. He has consolidated a lot of support in the conservative wing of the party. I think no doubt ted cruz while still behind trump probably. Lets talk about the democrats saturday a caucus in nevada. We have seen polling suggesting it is a dead heat there. How do you think Hillary Clinton has changed her message in the hampshire . She has honed in on the message that andrea talked about that Bernie Sanders is not practical. He didnt support president obama and people shouldnt vote for him because his idea cant be made into law and reality. That is a very practical message. Does it appeal to peoples hopes and dreams . Andrea is quite right that saturdays caucuses are very important for momentum into South Carolina and into march we see a very long protracted clintb sanersclint Clinton Clinton sanders battle. Thank you. Now to a desperate hunt for dangerous Radioactive Material missing in iraq. Officials fearing it could be used as a weapon by terrorists. Reporter Iraqi Security forces have been searching day and night for months for this case the size of a laptop holding potentially deadly Radioactive Material. Exposure can cause death in a matter of hours. The iraqis are worried it could fall into the wrong hands. Making a socalled dirty bomb. An Iraqi Government document confirms a highly dangerous Radioactive Material was stolen from a Storage Facility linked to Weatherford Oil company in november. Weatherford oil said we do not own, operate or control sources or the bunker and that a Different Company held the material. Nbc has not been able to reach them for comment. We have not seen indication of material been acquired by any terrorist groups in the region. Obviously, we continue to take these reports very seriously. Reporter the state Department Said there was no the theft. At this point the iraqis dont know who did. Security sources told reuters it looked like an inside job. Apple is getting support in its industry in a fight against a court order to hack into a phone used by a San Bernardino shooter, a request that apple opposes and is fighting. Miguel almaguer has the latest. An iphone like this one that locks after a set period of time and requires a four digit code to open it. This is what the fbi cant get past. Apple says if it helps investigators do that it could create a dangerous precedent for everyone who owns one of these. Two months after the terror attack that left 14 dead in bernankeburnsan off a debate over privacy and security. I see the fbis point, but you can see apples point of view. Reporter with fbi investigators unable to unlock the federal judge ordered apple to create new software to unlock the iphone so it can be scoured for evidence. Justice has to be served. Peoples lives were lost y. Feel that is the moral thing to do. Reporter apple says they have been assisting the fbi with plans to fight the judges order. In an open letter tim cook says creating a back door to by pass encryption is something he says they donot have and something we consider too dangerous to create. Privacy advocates say building the master key to by Pass Security will be exploited and google ceo also weighed in on the issue wednesday tweeting we give Law Enforcement access to database on valid legal orders but that is different from enabling hacking to devices and data. The fbi believes they will lose the phone data permanently after ten failed attempts to open it. For family members of the victims there is no debate. When you are dealing with National Security that should come first. Peoples lives matter. While the debate rages on and apple prepares for appeal in court legislators say law can be produced to prevent phone companies from protecting data in cases like this. Should apple help fbi unlock the shooters iphone . A big debate on that. A strange story out of los angeles where a hospital paid ransom to hackers that apparently were holding Computer Network hostage. It paid about 17,000 when it fell victim to ransom wear. Bit coin is online currency that is very hard to trade. Hospital ceo called it the most efficient way to end the problem. Neither Law Enforcement nor hospital gave indication of who might be behind the attack. A little strange. Lets turn to al roker. We have warmth coming up in the next several days. Right now record warm weather today stretching from the plains average. Stretching into el paso. Amarillo. And well see records in charleston, tallahassee, tampa, memphis and houston and that warmth spreading towards the east coast towards the end of the week. Temperatures climbing into the 80s throughout the southwest. As we head towards nashville, atlanta, jacksonville. Charlotte 66 and look at the northeast upwards of 40 to 50 degrees and 60s down into washington, d. C. By the end of were going to gethighs in the lower 50s. Friday. Sunny. Highs in the mid 50s. Saturday. Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. Sunday. Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. Monday. Mostly cloudy. Rain likely. Mainly in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 60s. Tuesday. Rain. Highs in the lower 50s. Wednesday. Rain likely with a chance of thunderstorms in the morning. Then showers likely in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 50s. Thats your latest weather. Coming up a new controversy over the people versus o. 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Rain likely with a chance of thuerstorms in the rning. Tnowers likely the afternoon. Highs in the lower s a eldridged atlkins blvd. Up next on the today show. The florida powerball winners are finally coming forward to claim their part of the recordbreaking jackpot. Then were back with another finally coming forward to claim their part of the recordbreaking jackpot. Then were back with another the time is 7 56. Im ben thompson. phone ringing you cant deal with something, by ignoring it. But thats how some president ial candidates seem to be dealing with Social Security. Americans work hard, and pay into it. To keep it strong. elephant noise donkey noise 7 30. Thursday morning, february 18, 2016. That is the view from the top of the rock. Ted cruz has inched ahead of donald trump nationally in our new nbc news wall street journal poll. Cruz first choice of 28 . Many candidates took part in town halls in South Carolina last night ahead of saturdays primary. One topic of discussion, apples fight against court order by fbi to help unlock the iphone. Anytime you are dealing with issues of security and Civil Liberties you have to balance them both. I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time, protect ourselves from terrorists. Apples argument is that the order sets dangerous precedent. Another sign of the Foreign Relations between u. S. And cuba. President obama plans to travel there next month. This will be the first visit to the island by sitting president since 1928. Fresh controversy tied to the people versus o. J. Simpson as a member of the brown family speaks out about the show. The sister of Nicol