i have the absolute right to do a national emeency if i want. my threshold will b if ian't make a deal with people thatre unreasonable. ernment 0 of the g shutdown. no progress between the two sides. the president heads to the border to make his case today.e, meanwhhose working without pay including secret service, border patr, marshals, nasa, and over 14,000 air traffic controllers among many others will not get a paycheck tomorrow. a manhunt is underay in philadelphia. police using long guns, going block by block. the suspect is considered aded dangerous and may have been involved in multiple homicides. controversial singer r.ke y may be facing new investigations after allegations of a abuse preying upon underage girls.

>> plus superstar james harden gets his bell rung on this pass. eads-up to play defense. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you on this thursday morning. vem frances . >> and i'm phillip mena. 20 days into the shutdown rushowdown, and president is heading to the epicenter of this impasse. the presidentlanning to tour the u.s.-mexico border near mcallen, texas, today. the tripomes on the heels of his threat to declare a national emergency to pay for the border wall if congress doesn't reach a deal and after the president reportedly walked out on negotiations with top congressional leaders, a compromise seems fther out of reach than ever before. >> meanwhile, lawmakers are working to ease t pain from the shutdown. democrats have introduced legislation to protect furloughed federal workers in danger of defaultin on their bills. and later today, the house will vote to reop the departments that help farmers and families who rely on food stamps. it com a day after democrats and a handful of republicans in the house passed a bill to reopen t irs. for the latest on the debate,

let's go to c's tracie potts in d.c. tracie, some republicans are starting to brere rank >> reporter: well, they are, and it's telling about where this situation may be headed. take a look. there were eight house w republican voted with every single democrat to reopen the irs onwednesday. here they are. keep in mind that republicans and democrats in the house are up for re-election every two years, so saye of them be looking at 2020. perhaps even more telling, five senate republicans are now saying that they want to see this shutdown end. but will talks have completely fallen apart. at the white house on wednesday, democrats say president trump simplyalked outhen they refused to fund the border wall. their focus now, the 800,000 federal workers who may not be getting paychecks tomorrow. >> many federal workers will not be receiving their paychecks. the president seems to be

insensitive to that. he thinks maybe they could just ask their father for more money, but they can't. >> i know there will be millions of americans, hundreds of thousands of fedel workers that are as disappointed as we are that the democrats are unwiing to engag in good faith negotiations. >> reporter: the president tweeted that meeting was a total waste of time. as you said, he heads down to the border today. back here in washington, another vote. this time democrats will be soting to reopen agriculture department progr like food ers.ps, assistance for fa again, the senate has said as long as the president's not behind it, they won't even brinp it for a vote, and the white house is threatening a veto as they try to approach this piecemeal to get the government reopened. it's day 20. on day 21, this will tie for thd longest sn in american history. >> hard to hear, especially for hose workers expecting tha paycheck. tracie, thank you. with no end in sight to the shutdown, president trump still holds the option to declare a

national emergency and fund the borderll. but that move would likely lead to a major legal battle over the extent of his executive por. nbc's kristen welker has a closer look at this issue. >> reporter: the question, will he or won't he? the presidentow doublingn on his threat to go around congres and declare a national emergency. >> i have the absolute right to do a national ergency if i want. my threshold will be if i can't make a deal with people that are unreasonable. >> reporter: so what is a national emergency? passed76 in the national emergencies act gives presidents the broad authority to taketi in a crisis and to redirect money already approved by congress. it was used after 9/11 and during the spread of swine flu in 2009. but can president trump issue one to build the border wall? experts say maybe. >> can the president declare ao na emergency? absolutely. might that be challenged in court? probably. who will prevail? that's a very difficult question. >>eporter: democrats are already threatening a legal

challenge, and even someic reans warning mr. trump against it. >> that would be your last option, not your first. he may have the authority to do that, but i'm hopeful that the normal process of negotiating through the appropriations bills will get us where we need to te. >> rep experts tell nbc news the president could cite a allowing military construction projects not otherwawe authorized by that are necessary to support such use of the armed forces. ter that contentious meeting with democrats, the vice president said mr. trump is stillooking at declaring a national emergency, and white house lawyers. >> kristen welker, thank you for that report. for millions of americans, the partial shutdown is far more than just aig political f in washington. in justhe 24 hours, t government will stop cutting checks for furloughed workers, and whiey e all expected to receive back pay, that won't help with the bills due now. nbc's tom costello has more on the impact of the impasse in d.c. >> reporter: among those working

without pay, the very secret service agents protecting the president. u.s. customsor andr patrol, marshals, atf, and dea. most nasa employees. t 14,000 airraffic controllers. and 51,000 tsa officers. all should receive back pay once the government reopens though that could be a while. >> many of thoseou people that talk about are on my side. >> reporter: in boone, iowa, joe zimmerman and his family are trying to make ends meet. >> everybody talks about 800,000 federal employees. well, that's just the 800,000f us who work. how many wives, husbds, spouses, partners, children, any more people are associated with that 800,000 employees? >> reporter: also furloughed, hundreds of thousands of fda food inspectors. meanwhile, a support network is recommending garage sales forou fued members of the coast guard. while tsa officer robert mulholland, working without fears he won't be able to close

on a new home since the bank needsmeroof of in >> we don't know when this is going to end. we don't know when the income ream will pick up again. >> reporter: this morning the tsa says it understands the stress the shutdown is putting on officers and their families. many living paycheck t ycheck, making about $30,000 a year. meanwhile, the union says some officers are starting to quit, convinced that they will not be paid tomorrow. frances? >> to thanks for the report. while the shutdown has taken center stage on capitol hill,re there aew concerns among democrats in congress about the robert mueiner stigation. there's word this morning that the man who oversees the election meddlg probe is planning to step down. administration s sources deputy attorney general rod rosenstein has decided to step down after a a neworney general is confirmed, possibly in early march. while another sourcs he will stay on until mueller's courtroom work is finished, others say there's no time line. breaking news. the search continues for a man who led officers on v aiolent chase through daware and

pennsylvania. dejuan robinson is a person of interest in several authorities say he caused a 95 that interstate injured at least five delaware officers and one pennsylvania trooper. a then exited the highway to south philadelphi collided with a bus,g injurin two people before escaping on foot. robinson is considered armed and dangerous. > now to an alarming report that raises the question who's tracking you? a new investigation finds top cell phone companies are selling access to your location data. nbc's kristen dahlgren has the e tails. c reporter: everywhere you go, yourl phone is right there with you. but who else knows where you are? for a few hundred bucks, it could be anyone. in an investigation for mother board, reporter john cox was able to track a cell p through a bounty hunter for just $300. >> they sent me a google screen shot of the approximate

area of where the phone was, and it was correct. >> reporter: many telecom compphies sell your e's location data to other companies for things like detecting fraud or roadsidesi ance. but those companies can resell the data, making it ailable to virtually anyone, showing your phone's location down to 1,500 feet or five square blocks. >> hackers can get this rm inion. identity thieves can get this information. all of this can be used t make your life miserable. >> reporter: an industry group representing the telecom companies declined our for comment. but fcc commissioner jessica rosen horsele says she's calling for an investi as soon as the government reopens. >> it should be standard practice that if ty're selli your location data to someone else, you should have a choice in the matter. i don't think any of us have opted into this kind of system. >> reporter: it's likely your location is out there for anyone to see. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, new york. let's talk about the kind of tracking we all want andeed

sometimes, especially when it comes to storms and snow. bill karins. >> talking winter again, right? about time, middle of january. numerous areas dealing with lake-effect snow. be careful driving in those areas off of lakeerie, ontario. even northern ew england recovering. the cold is the story this morning. windchill in minneapolis is zero right now. a chicago, it' 5. columbus is at 8. philadelphia at 19. we're going to have numerous chilly mornings in a row. tomorrow morning it will feel 9 lin new york city. richmond down to 18. memphis at 24. you were wearing shorts in mehis a couple days ago. by saturday, still very cold. portland is going to feel like maine does in the winter. negative numbers. rochester at of6. 7 million people dealing with advisories and warnings from ouw lake-effect here's a closer look at your day ahead. you canhee the hig temperatures today. we haven't had many days where

we've struggled to break freezing in the ohio valley and the northeast. today will be onef those days. it's typical winter cold in minneapolis all the way through fargo and duluth today. not bad, look at colorado in the 50s. of course a lot of people want to know how much snow we're going to get with this storm coming this weekend. thoseetails coming up. >> bill, thank you. in today's quick hits, you may want to stock up on forever stamps. the u.s. postal service is hiking the price by 10% from 50 to 55 cents on january 27th. that's the larst percentage increase since 1991. priority mail rates are also going up. starbucks plans to install needle disposal or sharps boxes in the bathrooms of some of its locations aft workers reported finding blood and discarded syringes. it's raisedce cs of exposure to hiv and other diseases. in melbourne, australia, an overhead road sign crashed onto a free way, crushing a vehicle and injuring the female driver inside. the driver was hospital sized in stable condition. stayed clearer through 48 weeks.

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16-yea american boy was caught fighting for isis in syria. the syrian democratic forces, an american-backed militia, made this announcement of the boy's capture on wednesday. if nfirmed, this would mark the first time an american minor was caught fighting on behalfisf overseas. this arrest comes days after u.s. backed fighters claimed to have detained two other americae fi of the terrorist group. five former guards in kentucky were in court monday. they face manslaughter charges for allegedly abusing an inmate who later died. security video from inside the jail may be difficult for some viewers to see. detectives say the inte, michael mooring was highl intoxicated and restrained in a chair. according to court records, moore died in the facility from blt force trauma to his side. if found guilty, each former guard faces 10 to 20 years behind bars. to ailonaire breakup after the ceo of amazon, jeff bezos, announced he is splitting

up with his wife. he and his wife released a joint statement saying they've decided to dilorce and share their lives as friends. the two have four kids, and bezos is the rhest personn the world. he has an estimated value of $137 billion. so in addition to a hefty divorce, exper suggest his ex-wife could end up with the second biggest stake in the company. the announcement comes just two days befe his birthday. > oh, man, can you imagine the lineup of the divorce lawyers and how much they're going to get paid? zblul the people linin take his money. you can even bet on his next girlfriend. you know that? >> i like that thinking ahead. >> it'28 1/2 years old i the over/under. >> divorce papers haven't even been drafted yet. of speaking of billions dollars, there's a new study ieat suggests a quarter of americans will and will be in debt. that's according to a poll by credit cards.com. they surveyed 1,000e peond

found 65% of them don't even know when they'll pay off their debts. the number one form of debt was a mortgage followed by credit card debt and auto loans camethn d place. but, hey, when you're gone, you're gone. >> your last check just bounces, right? who cares? just ahead, a convincing argument out there to merge south and north dakota into one state. what do you think about that? and the beard, he got beaned. the play that left nba superstar james harden seeings. star you're watching "early today" on a thursday. you know that 98% ofs don't get enough of them? that's why megared advanced 4in1 packs more omega-3 power into just one small softgel. it supports four vital areas of your body. your heart... your brain... your eyes... and your joints. give your body the omega-3s it'. megared advanced 4in1.

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bounce, bounce, bounce, boink. got to hurt, right? milwaukee bucks superstar passed the ball right into houston rockets -- look at this, his guard, james harden, right into his head. 2 happened at wednesday's night's game, uniblententionall. enit viral. shaq joking maybe it was intentional there. harden made a quick recovery. still the bucks beat the rockets in houston 116-109. right now those are the two best players in the nba. those arehe two leaders for mvp right now. maybe he was tryg to take him out. other basketball news here. steph curry has done it again, this time giving away hundreds of his signature sneakers to

oakland high schoolers. he surprised a group of 250 students at oakland's fox theater, giving each a pair of curry sixes. they're designed after the historic theater. the golden state warriors star sad he wanted to show his appreciation for the city ahead of his team's move to san francisco next season. what a hit. look at everybody and the smiles with their new kicks. >> he's also got the moon shoes, right, after talking about that? what do you think about this? hos this sound? mega kota as a e'ate? th a petition out there asking president trump to merge northotnd south d into megakota. the petition already has 6,000 signatures. it's created by a guy named dylan stewart. chan.org spokeswoman says they would need half a million signatures in order to get the president's attention. >> you know what's going to happen after that? people are going to want a

megalinaau b south and north carolina. >> i don't know if they can get along. i don't know. meanwhi meanwhile, puerto rico is like, we'll sneak in there. keep an even 50. still to come, a california man in hot water forlledly stealing his roommate's scratch-off lottery ticket worth $10 million. you're watching "early today." ♪ today's the daisy i do ♪ daisy it's true ♪ before i get on the move ♪ i grab my special food ♪ today's the daisy i see ♪ the difference in me ♪ today's the daisy for cottage cheese (cottage cheese) ♪ ♪ today's the daisy for cottage cheese (cottage cheese) ♪ ♪ today's the daisy! going to extremes for perfect skin? where does it end? new olay whips. while not equal to cosmetic procedures, our b3 complex hydrates to smooth skin.

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good morning, everyone. t eun yang. >> a big announcemr the workers who are furloughed. >> our coverage is filled with news that you will only see on news 4 today. a we're keeping the weekend snow chances in there. whoa nelly. that's cold this morning.

y> news 4 today starts now. >> good morning . i'm n yang. >> we're on day 20 with federal

workers without a paycheck and the president is heading to the border. we're look together latest round of failed negotiations with also on the agenda, snow. things are quiet on the radar now. but in a few days, we could be in a different situation. >> omelissa is back with a chec on your commute. but we begin with chuck bell. you're always at theop of our minds. >> i'm throwing snow at the government shutdown. our snow chances for the weekend remain -- dependin how you feel about snow -- delightfully high. an inch, %, that's strong for a couple days out. a chances of four inches or more, 40%. blockbuster of a snowstorm are lower today an yesterday. generally speaking, it might be in the 3 to 6 range. today, in the 2 to