headed back to the back o the plane. it just seemed like the right thing to do. per ppetual chaos. the white house is dealing with theming mueller investigation, a possible government shutdown, more unrest at the border, and the frantic search for a new chief of staff to manage it all. get ready for less clean water as the trump administration prepares to roll back obama-eralean water rules today. and guess who one of the neficiaries are? golf course owners. a ter inexas after a former fraternity president copped a plea deal with a judge over sexual assault and will serv no jailtime. a pint-sized porch pirate. what kind of an adult would put this kid up to the task of stealing someone's holiday packages? a an act of kindness shown toward a mom and her sick baby

that will kick off your tuesday in just the right way. "early today starts right now. good to be with you this morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'mhillip mena. as president trump continues to scramble for his oext chi staff, jared kushner appeared on fox news saying this about trump's search. >> the president will make the right choice for chief of staff when he's ready, and hopefully he'll choose someb gy he's great chemistry with, great relationship with, who will help him navigate the next couple of years through all of the good opportunities that emerge to keep pushing forward. >> kushner also thanked john h kelly f service to the administration. and today accused russian spy maria butina is poised to plead guilty to conspiring as a foreign agent. sheust cooperate with federal, state, and local authorities in exchange for a shorter prison term or early release after being jailed for fivhs mo a judge will decide on wednesday whether to accept the deal. and speaking of deals, republican lawmakers are sounding off against michael cohen. >> well, let me say this about mr. cohen.

jesus loves him, but everybody else thinks he's an idiot. i think most americans think he's a sleazeoid grifter. i can't imagine basing any kind of prosecution on the word of mr. cohen. >> as robert mueller continues peeling back the layer of his investigation, the million dollar question now is who will fill the position of chief of staff? re with more is nbc's hallie jackson. >> reporter: president trump under pressure legally and about to be understaffed internally now that john kelly is on his way out. >> joh kelly will be leaving, retire -- i don't know if i can say utretiring, he's a great guy. >> reporter: the chief of staff's resignation has been rumored f month as his relationship with the president deteriorated. >> people leave. they come in. they're here. it's a very exhausting job. >> reporter: now the hunt's on for chief number three, a title

typically among the most coveted in washington. bu this time contenders aren't exactly knocking down the door. nick ayer w whoks alongside the vice president, had beeno expect take the job temporarily, but those talks fell ipart. sources familiar with the discussions say the scramble for a plan b includes candidates now like controversial acting attorney general matt whitaker, budget director mick muaney, and conservative freedom caucus chairman mark meadows. >> it's flatotring. i'm n campaigning for the job. >> reporter: whoever it is will have to handle looming special counsel. the president has denied any wrongdoing, tg there's no smoking gun, no collusion. but jam comey, the former fbi director fired by donald trump, now one of his critics, argues the president is tiptoeing towards becoming an unindicted co-conspirator over the hush money payments. >> if he's notthere, he's

certainly close given the language in the filing, that the crimes were dmcommitted at his direction. he reporter: keep in mind next chief of staff will have to jug the not just the rusioa investig questions but the 2020 re-election campalln as that means political strategy skills will be especially important for whosier the pnt picks. >> some job to take on. thank you. president trump is set w to ith democratic leaders this morning as the fight to fund the border wall contpues. trill be sitting down with house democratic leader nancy pelosi and senate democratic leader chuck schumer as both sides try to hash out a deal to avoid a government shutdown. and the ddline is fas approaching. nbc's tracie potts has thete from washington. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. that deadline i nextweek, one week from friday, december 21st. it was put off during the bush funeral here in washington, but now lawmakers and the white house are facing this question can they come to some agreement

primarily ony border secur funding? if not, we could be looking at a rtial shutdown four days before christmas. so the meeting today between top democrats here and president trump to try to hammer out something democrats say what they agreed t was $1.6 billion for overall border security, not sold on this idea of the wall at all. president trump, as you know, is insisting on the wall, and he wants more money, $5 billion as a down payment on that wall that he had said that mexico would pay for, but now it looks like congress is gng to have to up front that money at least. and the wall, by the way, is ting to cost least five times that much. this is just a down payment. how mucht odds o money to put into this budget for border security. if they can work that out, we could possibly avoid this partial government shutdown. if t, it could be a tough christmas for a lot of federal workers. we'll see what happens when they headus to the white later this morning. >> a lot to work their way through before the holiday.

thank you, tracie. this morning an announcement that the environmental protection agency plans to roll bama era clean water guidelines as many unnerved. most of all,oc aes for clean and safe bodies of water for the public. just the possibility that many waterways will no longer be classified as rtricted from harmful practices has regulators, business giants, and scientists discussing the future of america's streams and rivers. golf course owners, including presidt trump, are set t benefit from the epa changes. the epa has been working toward aemreplt of clean water regulations since the president took office. this morning, lots of questions still remain over a video showing police arresting a mother andipping her child from her arms at a government office. nbc's stephanie gosk has more. >> you're hurting my son! >> reporter: the mother's f screamilled the social services office in brooklyn. multiple new york city police office tried to pull jasmine hendley's 1-year-old son out of

he arms. the more aggressive they became, the more shocked the crowd grew. >> my god!t look w they're doing to her. >> reporter: witness it all started because the office was crowded. >> there was s nowhere to sito the lady, she sat on the floo r edorter: the nypd says officers a her to leave, but she refused and created a disturbance. the video posted online does not show what took place before the confrontation turned physical. hendley now faces four criminal charges including resisting arrest and endanging a child. while she remains in jail held t warrant ate arr shuffed in new jersey, her son is with hisramother. >> i honestly want them fired. >> reporter: the violent struggle clearly striking a nerve. >> we're bter than this. and this is a blemish on our entire city. >> reporter: both the brooklyn d.a. and the nypd announced investigations, and both described the video the same way, troubling.

stephanie go , nbcnews, new york. now to texas where there is outrage after a former fraternity president who had been charged with sexl assault was allowed by a judge to cop a jail eal and serve no time. and his accuser is slammin decision. nbc's kerry sanders has the story. >> reporter: outrage in texas. former baylor universityat frnity president jacob anderson charged with four counts of sexual assault. in a no contest plea de, the 23-year-old given what critics call a light sentence. three years probation and a $400 fine. under the ter of the deal, he will not have toegister as a sex offender. his unnamed victim, a then 19-year-old soph foromore claim she had been raped two years ago,elling the uj j, i am devastated by your decision to let my rapist, jacobalr anderson, go free without any punishment. he stole my body, virginity and

power overdy my she also writes, she's angry that the prosecutor didn't show if i had the courage to come back to waco and face my rapist and testify, you could at least ve had enough respect for me to show up today. sistant district attorney hillary le board in a statement says all of the facts must be considered, and there are many facts that the public does not have. anderson, who will serve no jail or prison time, will have to complete a mandatory sexual offender treatment program. kerry sanders, nbc news. us> at least 32 faith leaders from various religroups were arrested while protesting an the u.s.-mexico border in diego. more than 300 faith leaders came together and marched two miles to the border to show support r migrants rights to seekge refun america. the event, called love knows no borders, was organized by a quaker group. sources say the detained otesters were tak into custody when they tried to push

past heavily armed border at least one protesters was charged with assault. the search for five missing marines off the coast of japan has been called off. a refueling aircraft carrying five crew members and aht f jet carrying two others crashed into the sea on thursday. the identities of the five marines now declared dead have not been made public, but the ir marines say t families have been notified. the crews were conducting a training mission whenhe accident happened. two men were initially rescued but captain jahmar resilard of florida was later pronounced dead at a hospital. firefighters rushed to the scene of h ae fire monday night at a baptist church i dallas, texas. witnesses captured video of the building up in flames and the billowing thick smoke. fifighters on the scene tell local media that they are not aware of any injuries and that th church was likely empty at the time. a few people at nearby apartments cho to evacuate, but the fire did not appear to spread. police are investigating the cause of that massive blaze. some thrill seekers in

belarus took a plunge into icy water. this pool here is carved out of arozen lake, and the temperature is just 1 degree above freezing. you see the contestants there, young and old, competed in races from short sprints to 450 meter swims. the competition is the second age of the international winter swimming association world cup. >> people who do that, i have to tell you, time and time again, ever year, wow. >> heart attack central. just jump right in. i hearyou. so polar bear plunge continues this morning in aas of virginia and north carolina after the big snowstorm. 26 degrees in richmond, currently. we went above freezing in many areas g briefly and the the refreeze. black ice is a problem. a juut all of the snow and rain showers are almost over with. because of the black ice we do have slick roadways for the morning. we doin haver weather advisories and a lot of schools that are going to have delays or cancellations. we're not going to see the

temperatures going above freezing until at least0:00 a. for all your travel needs, perfect in the middle of the country. no problems whatsoever in the rtheast. it's a nice quiet day. good if you have any plans on theoads or in t air. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. here's a closer look at your day ahead. a little bit of cold air spilling down from the northern plains. just that time of year it's hard to get that warm-up all the way north. minneapolis only about 28 degrees today. even by florida standards, this is a chilly morning with highs today only in the 50s in jacksonville. we are going to see a little warm-up as we go throughout this week and a little rain too.id we a lot of stories on these porch pirates especially around the holiday but we don't see this one very often. police in maryland are looking for a kid n older than 8 years old who was caught running up to the porch and stealing that package in broad daylight. so they believe there was an older grinch who is using the

child to commit the crime. >> and wearing a santa attoo. >> yeah. how do you explain that? >> thet elf on shelf is not going to be happy at her house. just ahead, post malone is back with another sure fire hit. could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. and unlike sonicare, oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety. what an amazing clean! i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro.

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for some, that number can be cut in half or more. the most common side effects are pain, redness or swelling at the injection site and constipation. talk to your doctor about aimovig. and be there more. an increasingly desperach sear in colorado for a young manisho vd without a trace on thanksgiving. she was last seen at a supermarket near her home but investigators say her cell phone was detected hundreds of miles away. nbc's gadi schwartz has the details. >> reporter: night after night, prayer vigils held for 29-year-old mother kelsey barrett last seen on thanksgiving near her colorado home. >> we've reviewed video fro the local safeway grocery store and it showed kely shoppingith her daughter on november 22nd. >> reporter: police saying the father of the 1-year-old has cooperated and reported last seeing his fiancee ongi thanng when he says she gave them their daughter. but barnt wasn't reportedg

missntil december 2nd by her mother. >> she's not the kind that runs off. this is completely out of character. >> reporter: igators say a few days after she was last seen, a text message from rr ett's phone was sent to her work where she flewt,s a pi saying she wouldn't be in for the rest of the week. then on november 25th, her cell phone gave a location 700 miles away in idaho. no cars missing. only her purse appears to be eaken. for now police treating this as a missing persons case while the family is hoping the young b mother will found soon. >> kelsey, we just want you home. call us if you can. we won't quit looking. >> reporter: gadi schwartz, nbc news. let's pivot to this pop quiz. can you name the most strained song of the 20th century? youot to thinkbig, epic songs here. think about that during the break. and can post malone strike pay dirt with his latest edition of the crocs? you're watching "early today."

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voice." adam levine is right there. kelly clarkson. >> carson daly. i was digging that brady bunch vibe. all right. an iconic song has broken records for more than 40 years after its release. ♪ easycome, easy go, will you let m go ♪ >> queen'sy" "bohemian rhaps is the world's most streamed song from the 20th century, surpassing 1.6 billion streams globally. it's also the most streamed classic rock song of all time. this is thanks in part to the new queen biopic "bohemian rhapsody," which is the highest grossing music biopic in history. forgot to give some love to wayne's world. >> what's fascinating, you get y see the movie, get to see the story behind how it came together. f post malones are getting a second chance to get crocs

designed by the multi-platinum artist.ir malone's fst collaboration sold out in less than a day. crocs announced that the sec dd design wilp today at 2:00 p.m. eastern. the new crocs are yellow with a barbed wire design and include custom charms like a skull and a saw blade, available of course quantities they retail for $60, but they've already been listed on ebay for nearly $900. >> oh, my gosh. >> if you're not digging the whole crocs thing because you're do itno, that may >> leave it up to a guy with face tattoos to make crocs cool. >>yeah. you know, skull, cross bones, barbed wire. maybe that will doit. just ahead, the good samaritan who did a first class favor for a mom and her baby. you're watching "early today."

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nuz news 4 today starts now. >> it's 4:00 a.m. good tuesday morning. >> we have a few school closings and delays this morning. king george schools are closed today. page, stafford, fredericksburg and culpeper are opening two hours late. all of these closings and dela e in the nbc washington app. >> melissa is keeping an eye on th roads this morning. > but we begin with chuck bell tracking a very cold morning. i hope it warms up a little, chuck. >> it will warm up a little. o emphas a little. we do have a clear sky overhead and as a result tpe