good morning. mass shooting tragedy. >> attention all police. aurora h an active shooting. >> five victims killed, pice officers wounded, as a man fired from a manufacturing company in aurora, illinois, started gunning down his co-workers. b >> this respon law enforcement, from centrfederal, state, local law enforcement didn't surprise me but it overwhelms me. the gunmandead. questions swirls. were there warning signs? how can attacks like this be stopped? we're live on thee. national emergency backlash. president trum preparing for a fight this morning, one day after declaring a national emergency to pay for his border he admits he didn't have to take this route. >> i didn't need to do this, but

i'd rather d it mu faster. >> did the president torpedo his chances in the courts? questions and releas the two brothers who had been in police custody after being arrested in connection with the alleged attack on "empire"or a jussie smollett are free this morning. where does the investigation go from here? all that. plus, breaking aovernight,n ex-cardinal addefrocked among a sexual misconduct scandal. "hamilton" scare in san sfr francis francisco. what hapd to set off the panic. the show will go on, as planned. the acamy makes a major reversal, days after saying it'd cut four categories from the live broadcast. how hollywood's biggest stars helped make it happen. today, saturd february 16th, 2019. >> announcer: from nbc, ne th is "today" with sheinelle

jones, peter alexander, and dylan dreyer, live from studio 1an rockefeller plaza. >> good morning and welcome to "today." thank you for joining us o this busy saturday morning. >> sadly, on this saturday, it is another morning that we wake , a mass shooting in illinois. police there revoealing new details overnight. we want to get you caught up on the latest.eo fivee were killed inside the henry pratt the gunman taking aim at police officers who stormed the building to try to take him down. five officers in total were injured before the suspect was eventually shot and killed by police.ve igators say the gunman had been fired from his job just hours beforee started shooting. >> overnight, police searched ng for oter's home, loo any evidence of why he may have plotted this awful attack.c' ron mott is in aurora this morning with more. ron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sheinelle and peter. investigators are trying t m

figure out hh planning went into this shooting. this employee showed up at work with a gun on a day he was being fired. when it was all over, lives were shattered and yet another erican town dealing with bloodshed and tears. >> attention all police, aurora does have an active shooter. >> reporter: this morning, a community stunned. >> requesting as many ambulances as possible for an active shooter with many injuries. >>eporter: police say a 15-year employee, 45-year-old gary martin, who was in the process of being terminated, opened fire at the henry pratt company pla in aurora, killing five co-workers, shooting another, wounding five officers who responded to the scene. l the officers suffered non-life threatening injuries, the chief says. >> i saw hundreds of uniformed officers ready to assist. this response by law enforce nt fromfederal, state, and local agencies did not surprise me, but it still overwhelms me. we still lostives today, and it cannot be overstated that those people did not deserve

this. >> reporter: the chief said the first officers who arrived were immediately fired upon, as did a subsequent group of police. >> i got the shooter riutralized. >> reporter: authoes say police shot and killed martin. his home surrounded by law enforcement late sbinto the evening.e thrkplace mass shooti ining prompted a flurry of lockdowns on neighboring businesses and schools. e student stayed home sick but was too close for comfort. >> i was in my room, and i heard gunshots. iot down on the floor, peeked out the window, and i saw cop cars pling up. >> it was traumatizing. >> you rushed toward danger. >> reporter: illinois governor pritzker offered condolences and offered praise. >> there is no words for the kind of evil that robs neighbors of their homes, their eams, and their futures. >> reporter: as the investigation unfolds, the at s second largest city asking a now familiar question posed aroundamerica, why us?al

offi have yet to identify the five people who lost their lives here yesterday. they have planned another media briefing for later this morning, hoping to provide at least some explanation for why this has n.happened yet ag sheinelle? >> ron mott, thank you. sean h >> sean hen ry is aop former fbi official. he's in studio with us this morning. >> ron asked the quest obviously, the investigation is still new at this e,int. here we less than 24 hours later. what are investigators looking for at this hour? >> they're looking at whathe motivation was. originally, people will suspect it was a disgruntled employee. he was recently fired orbout to be fired. they'll wanto know some specifics. they'll be looking for writings. they executed a searcharrant at his residence, look at his social media or any of his computer devices, talking to relatives and his the find out what may have set him off. >> it is another day to be gratef for the heroics of the law enforcement officials who rush in on days like this. they literally go into the danger. police arrived on t scene

about four minutes after the first calls came in. law enforcemento appears have done something right here. is this the tactic thou, to rush in on occasions like this? >> law enforcement officers do things right every day. when you see how they put themselves in the linere of absolutely, when you have an active shooter, it is different than traditional law enfcement techniques. when executing a search warrant rmedooking for an fugitive, it is slow, very deliberate. you might be using shields. in a case like this, where you've got an actor shooter going through a building, the to save theective i lives of those inside. law enforcement trains for acting shooters by g toward the shots. they give up concealment. they give up their sety to get to the shooter as quickly as they can, to neutralize the thcaat. in this, we see five officers who were shot, putting their lives on the esline. are officers who are heros. they likely saved lives. >> you used the word "training." here's my question, we tal about r flags.

the mother of this man says he was stressed out and, of course, like we said, he was set to be fired yesterday. are there red flags perhaps that we missed? >> there often are red flags but not always.so times, people are distraught. they're quiet. they're not out actively speaking about what tey're abou do. i think when we're looking at incidents like this, we want tow know if thee clear targets, and to let people know, alert them, when they see s, certain si they need to bring them to law enforcement. bring them to their lesuperviso. them know that somebody might be on the edge. >> yeah. >> sean henry, thank you so mu t. another d celebrate the heroics of those who went in and think about the families who ones. ved >> absolutely. >> thank you. let's turn to another big thory still developing this morning. president's decision to declare a national emergency to pay for the border wall. the president says he's ready for a fight, but sore his opponents. nbc's white house correspondent kelly o'donnell is traveling with the president. she's near his florida estate. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, heinelle. the white house idefending the

president's ability to, on the e hand,ake what congress gave him by signing into law that compromise border security funding package, but at the same time, going around congress. the white house looking for money approved by lawmakers for other purposes and diverting that to build a borderwall. the president himself says he knows his action will set in motion a legal fight. with his borr walational emergency declared, the president is taking a long holiday weekend in palm beach. >> hi, everybody. u>> reporter: after ampin the alarm. >> we have an invasion of drugs, invasion of gangs, of people, and it is not acceptable. >> reporter: congress apponved enough for 55 mile of new barrier, $1.375 billion. the president plans to divert another almost $7 billion, much of it previously approved for other purposes, including military construction projects.

as he tests this exepotive r, he appeared to undercut the core urgency of this declaration. r i could do the wall o longer period of time. i didn't need to do this, but i'd rather do it much faster. >> reporter: the president let s frustration show, that congress failed to fund his campaign promise when republicans had control. >> i'm very disappointed at certain people, particular one, for not having pushed this faster. >> are you referring to -- who? >> speaker ryan? >> let's not talk about it. >> reporter: he did open up about the influence of conservative media star. >> sean hannity has been terrific -- rush uglaim he is a great guy. anncoulter, i don't know here. they don't approve telicy. >> rep talking about democrats averting the shutdown.

>> i got $1.4 billion. >> reporter: the president lamented t eected court challenges. >> i think what will happen is, sadly, we'll b sued. >> reporter: friday, democrats on the 2020 campaign trail denounced mr. trump's use of a national emergency. kamala harris in south carolina. >> it is playing politics with taxpayer resources. it is about creating a crisis of his own making. >> reporter: despiteei this a core promise of his 2016 campaign, the president said is is not about his re-election and said democrats want the border wall to be a fight. he claims that he' already done enough on a border wall to convince his voters to stickth him. sheinelle, peter? >> kelly, thank you. several states and civil rights groups a lining up to challenge the president'sou pla in. nbc's pete williams is our justice correspondent. pete, what power doeses the ent have to declare a national emergency? >> well, it is pretty wide.

it comes under a 40-year law. it gives himower to declare an emergency even for something that's not really a crisis. now, opponents of the declaration are saying there isn't any actualemergency on border, and they point to what the president said in the answer to the question from you yesterday thar that he could do the wall over a longer period of time and didn't need to do this. the lawsuits will undoubtedly cite that comment as isn't a crisis. just as the lawsuits against the travel ban cited his statehents during campaign, that what he really ted was a muz licslim ban. the real meat of the fight will be over what he wants to do with that emergency declaration authority. >> aet's delve into that little further. what are the likely legal challenges that he will see ahead? >> so the first one is the constitutional argument, that the president is spending money that congress didn't approve for something congress opposes. some legal scholars are saying m the at was undercut when the congress actually gave the president more than $1 billion

to start working on the wall. the secon thing is something that a lawsuit has already been filed. aclu is saying it a willue this next week. what the president is doing is illegal. this is the statutoryargument. >> right. >> he wants to use the pentagon's money for a mi notary purpose, given that troops are not allowed to conduct civilian law enforcement, like border patrol. the president says this is national securitye ourts tend to defer to the white house on such things. but you can be sure, however plays out, it'll go on for at least a year in the courts, probably ending up in the supreme court. >> pete, of course, no lack of news in d.c. these days. new developments as they relate to paul manafort. what more is to tell us there? >> two new things this morning, peter. we now know that the judge in the washington, d.c. case, where he pleaded guilou, said in this week that he told so many lies after pleading guilty when he was questioned by the special counsel and the grand jury, that it raised questions about where his loyalties lie, whether he was trying to protecthis man,

kilimnik, who is suspected of having connections to russian intelligence. in a separate virginia case, the trial where he was convicted, prosecutors say he should get a harsh punishment bause his bank and tax fraud was so brazen. >> pete williams, thank you. let's bring inbc news analyst robertosta, reporter for the "washington post," as well as the moderator of "washington week" on pbs. good morning to you. >> morn >> robert, right out of the gates here, the president clearly traded a fight in congress for a battle in the courts. the democrats already pounced on this national emergency declaration. chuck schumer and nancy pelosi saying it amounts to a crisis that does not exist. for the president, was this more of a political crisis, or was it, in fact, a real crisis at the border that he's to?cting >> the data out there does not back up the president's claims that there crisis at the border. is there a humanitarian crisis?

certainly at some level, there is. in terms of border apprehensions being escntated in re years, that is not the case. what we've seen from the president is aic pol challenge mounting, as well as a on capitol hill, democrats are talking about moving legislation to disapprove of the president's cision. that could be taken up at one point by the oupublican-controlled senate. >> robert,nd your colleagues at the "washington post" wrote about the drama inside of the white house on thursday, with the threatening not to sign, essentially, the legislation that would keep the government up and running. giverss ctive. why was he so upset? how clos up the whole deal?wing >> quite close. this was his signature campaign promise. by only getting 55 mes of wall and border barrier money, he was very disappointed, according to his confidants. he wanted more. he felt his core voters deserved more. heallied voters in el paso, texas, earlier in the week. it took mitch mcconll making phone call after phone call to

the president to finally get him to sign it. a disappointment for many inside the west wing. >> robert, republicans haven't been entirely behind this either. mcconnell was against it before he was with the president on it this week. we also heard fromnncoulter, the popular republican commenta commentator, f l against the national emergency. s> the only national emergency is our presidentn idiot. >> for someone popular within the proeident's base, the president's action have any impact on republicans or on his ba.? >> it do if you think about 2018, the midterm, electioe pheresident usedmmigration issue to tryo rally voters. looking ahead to 2020, what was on the arena side when he rallied in el paso? a newis slogan, f the wall. immigration is, again, a motivating tool, as well as a policy issue for this president.

's trying to make sure the ann colte coulters of the world is satisfied. >> what's the latest on the thought of when this investigation will be wrapped up? >> that'll be a decision, in rt, of course, by robert mueller. it'll be something the new attorney general, william barr, confirmed this week, will now have to oversee. attorney general jeff sessions, acting attorney general matt whitak whitaker, they're gone. it is now barr, a two-time attorney general, to try to handle this very delicate,an politicalegal issue. >> we hit a lot of topics. robert costa, thank you for your time. >> thank you. > dylan here. dylan, i should say, is off this morning. here for a check of the weather, dave price from wnbc. good morning. >> nice to see you, guys. a lot to talk about in the weathert'department. get to it now. we're dealing with a winter storm along the eastern sea boar beginning to bring some snow and

rain from kentucky and west virginia to virginia, rain to the carolinas. this is the same system,y the way, that brought all of that rain and that mountain snow out in california, racing across the country at 150 miles per hour. to work ice, it begins its way out into the atlantic as we head into the rest of the day and as the weekend wraps up. winter aerrt for ano storm system rolling to the west. 17 million people underor warnis advisories right now. watch it, you could have some travel trouble as you head up to the pacificnorthwest, rolling into the northern plain states. let's talk about where thisoi system is to go. it is going to begin to push on through. eventually, snow is going to develop for the plains. travel impacts likely, but nothing particularly serious as we roll into sunday, it works through the midwest. rain will develop for the south mewith that w air beginning to come into play. that's a quick look at our national amaps. here look at what's going on right where you are. >> we, dave was talking about

the storm system. what has changed? first, we thought we were going to see snow. the storm is tracking farther uth into north carolina. some of our southern tier areas may get it. we're also warming into the 40s. if we do get anything, it'll be mainly in the form of rain. southern virginia, north carolina, best precipchances. traveling south today, notice, you'll hit that. notice, here we go, fredericksburg through the northern neck and maryla, those areas are going to likely see rain. tempereures warm. we staying right in the 40s for daytime highsy. to >> and 18 minutes past the hour, that's a look at your weather. >> nice to see you, dave. >> thank you. still to come, new twists and turns overnight in the alleged attack on "empire" actor jussie smollett. what pole are now saying after two men who were in custody were released. the incredibly sweet moment a toddler met the nfl player who is just like him. we're back after th s. >> sweettory. ♪

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we are back on a saturday morning with the weekly download. our look back at the week that was. >> headlines were dominated by the back and forth over the border wall, but there were a o lo other stories that we covered here, as well. beginning with another huge dose ofwi er. whiteout and wipeout. a massive winter stormnded tens of millions in the east rn ha eastern half of the country, causg treacherousconditions, leading to power outages and making life plain miserable. >> let me make it safely to where i he to be. >> you have to be careful out here. can' go too fast. guilty. mexican drugingpin joaquin el chapo guzman convictan of crimes spng a quarter century. >> this is a victory for every family who has lost a loved one. >> el chapo set to spent the rest of his life behind bars. potentially alongside some of

the most notorious criminalsd.n the wo a small plane crashed in kenya, killing all five people on board, including two americans. >> a witness told kenyan media, a woman tried to jump out of the plane but was tangl in her seat amazon cancelled plans to d build a seconheadquarters in new york city after facing fierce backlash from som lawmakers and unions. >> amazon has got to go. >> critics praised the lost in space. >>ven though it is a machine and we're saying good-bye, it is still very hard. >> nasa finally declared the mars opportunity rover gone forever after it vanished during a dust storm last summer. itarks the end of a 15-year mission to the red planet. i was just kind of screaming the whole time doing my barbarian yell as best i could. >> the colorado man attacked by a mountain lion while joggi spoke out this week describing the moment he realized he had to ll the animal with his bare hands to survive. >> it really clicked after i hit

it in the head with a rockit an idn't release my wrist, that more drastic measures wer necessary. all hail the king. show.st in >> this terrier named king won best in show at thest westmer kennel club dog show. some of theweek's mostom memorable mts caught on camera. this was a high-speed police chase you don't see every day. the fugitive leading office orsn a wild ride across a golf course. golfers scrambling for safety. a chimpanzee used a branch to escape a zoo enclosure in northern ireland, eventually returning on its own. a close call. philadelphia 76ers star joel embiid chased a ball into the stands, leaping over regina k g king, sitting court side. no one was hurt. and shaquem tgriffin, first one-handed player to be

drafted in the nfl,mb eced a toddler bn without a hand of his own. the meeting melting hearts worldwide. >> he's adorable. we had him on the third hour a couple days ago. just as adorable as he can be. we surprised him withnother little girl who, his mom met on facebook, with the same coerition. they w saying with guys like griffin, there's no limit. he is playing in the nfl with one arm. >> he andis twin brother are on the same team in the nfl. he was not defined by his disability. that was the story, the highlight of hae week. >>s what you need on a day like this. >> tell me about it. still to come on "today," an aboutface at the oscars after an uproar by some of hollywood's biggest stars. your burning tax questions answered. what are the big changes this year? we're back after your local news.

>> announcer: this is a "news 4 today" news break. it 7:26 on this saturday, february 16th. erod morning to you. i'm david cu a busy overnight. we start you off with breaking news. this comg in from the vatican. theodore mccarrick is no longer a catholic priest. has been defrocked, as the says. we've been tracking this story since allegations of sexual muse againstccarrick surfaced this past summer. overnight, the vatican explaining its process in m ccog to thisuling. january 11th, a decareree found mccarrick guilty of sexual misconduct with adults and minors, and abusing his power. we're updating this story in the nbc washington app as details

come available. today, a stunning, new smithsonian exhibit opening. the courtyard at the gallery filled with hundreds of orchids. you can get orchid-inspired snacks at the museum's cafe. it'll continue through the end of april. coming up, could we seere se snow today? lauryn ricketts tracking your saturday forecast. we'll check in with her right after this.

if you wanted some snow, doesn't look like we're goingt o seen our area. storm system slipped to the south. fr aericksburg, even little stafford county, orange, annette, out to the northern neck and southern maryland, going to get in on the rain action. again, this is a trajectory ro'll take as the storm slips through north na. those will be the only regions that see some of that wetness, that precip 43 degrees will be our daytime high today. we're clearing this afternoon. tomorrow, only upper 30s. we'll have increasing chances of some rain with some sleet late

tomorrow night into early monday morning. david? >> laurks, th we'll have another news update in 25 minutes. we are back on this saturday morning. february 16th, il19. one here in new york. we thank everybody for being here. we'll have a little rmup on friday. sadly, many of those folks will be gone. by th we begin with a check of the day's headlines. we start with another senless tragedy. a man who had been fired from his manufacturing job went on a shting rampage in aurora, pillinois. fiple there were killed. five police officers also were shot andwounded. the suspect was killed. investigators raided the gunman's home overnight to try to figure out how much of his attack was pre-planned. vice president mike pce spoke a the security conference in munichoments ago, slamming america's cl ee's closest allie what hehe calls coddling of

iran. >> the time has come for all of us to act. the time has come for our european partners t stop undermining u.s. sanctions against this murderous revolutionary regime. d> the vice president also s the u.s. will keep a strong presce in the middle east and will keep up the fight against isis. breaking news overnight. the vatican has defrocked disgraced ex-cardinal and the former archbishop of washington, d.c., theodore mccarrick. the vaticanays it removed mccarrick after an investigation into sex abuseclaims. the move comes days ahead of a gathering led by theope that brings together bishops from around the world to discuss the sex abu crisis affecting the catholic church. a road show of "hamilton" in san francisco. mistakingly, people thought there was a shooter.

a boy had aseizure, and another patron had a heart attack. >> frightening scenethere. new developments in the alleged attack on "empire" actor juie smollett. chicago police say the two men they arrested inn connect with the case have been freed without any charges being filed. nbc's kathy park is here with more on where the investigation stands this morning. good morning. >> good morning. poli say one of the two brothers from nigeria worked as an extra o"empire." overnight, both were released and are no longer considered suspects. this morning, we're no closer to finding out what exactly what happen to smollett. >> reporter: overnight, new evidence in the reported attack against "empire" actor jussie smollett set two men free. >> innocence prevailed, right? my guys are walking home. they're not charged. they are not suspects in this ca t. >> reporte latest twist comes just hours after chicago police arrested the brothers from nigeria. investigators searched their home, finding a black ski mask,

boles of bleach, and an "empire" script. sources tell nbc one of the suspects worked as an extra on the tv show the release of grainy surveillance fphotos from the night of the allege ad attack raising more questions, wsmch lett tried to address in an interview with abc. >> i don't have any doubt that's them. >> reporter: throughout the investigation, police have described the invtigation as an alleged assault and battery, finding evidence of a crime after screening hours of security vio. smollett, who is black and openly gay, stood by his account, saying his attackers shoud racist and homophobic slurs and becameviolent. >> he said, this maga country [ bleep ], punches me right in the face. i punch him back. >> reporter: after speaking out, his story faced scrutiny, with growingpeculation from local

media that it was staged and part of a narrative to keep is character from being written off show. police dismiss those reports, while producers call the claim patently ridiculous. >> i want them to stop babng to stay alleged attack. >> reporter: a star fighting hi back,time, trying to bring closure to a case that has captured the nation's attention. >> smollett has stayed silent arrestfriday's chicago police never revealed the identities of the men ten into custody. there is more investigative work to complete. >> a lot of people t to the bottom of this. thanks so much. big news at the oscars. last night, the motion picture academy reversed its controversial decision to cut certain csegories from t year's live oscars broadcast. the decision came after a huge backlash from some big hollywood stars. nbc's morga chele chesky is in angelesplo n. >> reporter: it's been a rough year for the academy year round, fi the kevin hart

controversy. late friday, after serious pushback, the organization said its plan to cut certaingo e drama deserving its out of own screenplay. a plan pitched to save time,he leaving t academy trying to save face. on friday, a major reversal. the academy saying it will no longer cut four categories from the lecast. film editing, makeup and hair styling, live action short, and cinematography. >>s a director, without my nematography, without hair and makeup, there is no movie. >> reporter: director spike lee far from the other celebrity speaking out. in letter to the organization, other a-listers were critical, calling it nothing less than an insult. in deturn, the a responded, saying they heard the feedback from its membership. all academy awards will be presented without edits, in our traditional format. >> i think the academy is struggling to try to make sure hat this show not only is

entertaining but also gets ratings. >> reporter: the move follows a year that the academy back pedaling. in august, the group announced a category for popular achievement, but dropped the idea before explaining what it entailed. in december, host kevin hart announced he'd be step duong, foll down, following homophobe iic tweets thaturfaced from years past. >> the oscars is in the news more than it ever has been. you can have people tunin in to see what will happen. >> reporter: t show, minus its host on sunday, will go on planned, as it has the past 90 years. tune in to witness the a joy ofn oscar-wieming cographer or makeup artist. best picture will come soon enough. entertainment critics say the big question now is i this year's no-host model will work. if it does, don't expect host next year either. >> with all the controversy, maybe people will, like he said, tune in to see what will happen.

morgan, thank you. >> standing ovation for the cinematographer this year, right? >> yeah. dave price is back with another check of the weather. >> peter, nelle, looking out west, another storm system begins to roll on through. this one, not as strong as what we've seen over the past couple of weeks. of the mind, some highest peaks have seen 200 inches of snow. of course, we've seen in some locations throughout california, upwards of a foot of rain. more coming your way. it's not affecting a large swath ofpopulation, probably a couple million people under advisories and warnings, but enough that it is important to note. yet another storm system rolls out west. it begins to meander, working its way slowly. in and snowcontinues. heavy snow for the sierra nevada and meanders out west, winds up in the southwest as it works its way through the work week. let's take a look and see what we can expect with respect to rafall and snowfall. looks like we're going to see probably anywhere from 1/4

to 1/2 inch widespread. locations.ch in some remember, this is on top of record-setting flooding. more snow and, in some sections where we see mountainous conditions,pwards of a foot or more. that's a quick look at the national 'smaps. he look at what's going on right where you are. >> not much going on right where we are. now, listen, if you wanted snow out there today, what has changed? the storm tracking through north carolina. any precip is going to sta farther to the south of our area. temperatures are warming into thew,0s. e're looking at rain. if you're traveling, virginia, north carolina, you're looking a lot of rain. just south of fredericksburg, seeing rain now through thene northern, out towards the southern maryland area. that's pretty much where t ts is going stay. if you're traveling there, just know, some rain but dry for the rest of us. oo that's a quick at your weather picture. >> thank you, dave. still to come, colin kaepernick reaches a dealith the after his kneeling controversy. will he ever play pro football again? up next, confused about all those tax changes this year?

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[birds chirping] [brakes squealing] accidents can happen anytime that's why geico is here 24 hours a day everyday. geico, fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. hot topic this morning in your money. there's been a lot of talk this week about millions of americans receiving smaller tax refunds because of the newth changes in tax laws. some payers who say they always got a refund are lverning they

to pay. >> why do there seem to be so manychanges? is there anything you can do about it at this point? kristen o'keeffe merrick is a financial adviser. >> thank you for having anme. >> ple talking taxesth here. time around is a dooz y. we asked folks to send in questions. cathy asked, why are so many people getting less this go key changes? >> withholding tables changed with tax reform, which ssentially means if your employer or you did not adjust your w-4, you were probably incrementally getting slightly more money in your payccks. would have gone unnoticed because you didn't notice an extra $50, $75 a paycheck. over time, you accumulated more in the paycheck. as a result, now, yourrefund tends to be lower. >> people want the check. >> right. >> here's another e-mail from coach 71.

at is the status of the health care mandate penalty for not having insurance? is it still in effect? what is the penalty? >> a lot of confusion because the administration isn't vocoi about it away. it is going away in 2019. >> 2019 tax year, not affecting what you're paying now.il >> you'reg now for 2018. the you have to consider is form the government provides. $695 penal per adult. $347.50 per child. 2.5% of yourhi income,ever is higher. maximum of that is $2,000. it can be very costly. >> this is a lot to put on people's plate. the deadline comes up faster th anybody would ke. so as it comes for help out there, are there affordable professional options people can lean on? >> there are. the irs has a really cool site you can go and pop in your zip code. it can provi you with some places you can go for free tax

help. unfortunately, you have to kind of fall under a category. you have to make less than $55,000, et cetera. >> a lot of people. >> it is a lot of people. but i would recommend if your situation is complicated, seek help fro t turbo taxes and hr blocks of the world. do n y dor own taxes if they're complicated and confusing to you. >> so many people think they can. give us, i guess, overall best tra practices then. >> file now. i february, cold, saturday. do it now if you have to. don't wait on this. your refund will come quicker. irs says 90% of the filingsllou et back 21 days or less, your refund. >> really? >> yeah. i mean, do it now. don't wait any more. that's number one. if you're filing an extension, extension does not mean you get more time to pay your taxes. it just means your official filing is tended. you have to still prepay an estimate. keep that in mind if filing an extension. if you owe money and cannot affordit, there are options.

the irs provides youtith differ ways you can pay over time. note, you probably will owe some kind of interest onthat. >> especially this year, if you didn't realize you'll end up having to pay, you may not be prepared for that. >> i think that'll be a reality for a lot of americans. >> nice to meet you. we'll need you this year. >> thank you, guys. still to come, one man's fight after her daughter was seriously injured in a scooter accident. first, these messages. essential for pine trees, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz xr. a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma have happened. as have tears in the stomach or intestines, serious allergic reactions, low blood cell counts, higher liver tests

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♪ you guys hungry? ♪ ♪ ♪ we are back this morning. we're taking you in-depth about et other's crusade to justice for her daughter after a scooter accident left her unconscious and in the hospital.

>> tammie leitner has>> more. eporter: we're talking about scooters like these. you can rent them with an app on your phon and you don't need special training to ride one. ome are warning, they can be dangerous. now, a florida woman who rode one is fighting f her life. >> i love you. >> reporter: this morning, a florida mother holding out hope her daughter will wake up after an accident on an electricsc ter. >> she has bleeding in her brain. respiratory issues. she's on a vent. she's ormatose. >> rr: 27-year-old ashanti jordon normally got a ride home from co-workers after her sft broward medical center. one day in december, she hopped on a lime electric scoot instead. and collided with a car. >> do you blame lime for what happened to your daughter center. >> i do. >> reporter: her mother filed a limeit again >> ashanti has offered a

horribly devastating injury as a result of this company telling her to do something in violation of the law. >> reporter: the app instructed ashanti to ride on the street, which is against the law in florida. according tolime, the safety of riders and our community is our highest priority. we're committed to makinghe reets safer. lime is cooperating with police. they're looking into whether ashanti adhered to a stop sign. >> if s was on the sidewalk, the accident wouldn't have happened. >> reporter: scooter sharing has appeared all over cities in the u.s. ther has been an uptick in hospital visits. roughly 40% of those admitted to a hospital due to scooter injuries hadead injuries, 37% with fractures, and 27.7% with sprains, cuts, or bruises.

ashanti's injuries are much more severe. >> just be patient. one day at a time. >> reporter: ashanti's doctors are waiting for the swelling in her brain to go down before determining the next step in tryingo save her life. you know, one thing that really makes these scooters so confusing is that the laws o city and city state to state. peter and sheinelle? >> i underestimated howar pop they are, depending on where you live. thank you, >> i live in washington, d.c. they're everywhere. i haven't driven one.th 're on the streets, the sidewalks. >> anybody can hop on? >> when driving, you have to be watching out. you don't know who is wizzing by. >> good point. he college freshman getting paid to hack the pentagon, some of the biggest companies, even his 'rn school. we back after this. kpaep companies, even his own school. we're back after this.

still to come, big news from payless. about iconic shoe company to go under? what happen when kevin hart and pete davidson teamed uh top an unsuspected family move? first, these messages. when you find yourself in a strange land... discover your inner hero. and unlock the power... to speed through everything... in the blink of an eye. hertz fast lane powered by clear... in select airports 2019. hertz. we're here to get you there. marvel studios' captain marvel. in theaters march 8th.

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on most buick models. >> annou this is a "news 4 today" news 7:56 on this saturday, february 16th. good morning to you. i'm david culver. busy start to your weekend. this breaking news coming in ovnight from the vatica the former archbishop of washington, theodore mccarrick, l noger a catholic priest. he's been defrocked, as the church says. we've been tracking this story since allegations of sexual abuse against mccarrick surfaced this past summer. the vatican explaining its process in coming to the ruling. on january 11th, a decree was issued, finding mccarrick guilty in confession, sexual misconct with adults andrs mi

we'll update you through the washington app. a stern warning for parents. one local county says if your kids are sick, keep them home. the fairfax county health department sent a note to moms and dads, warning flu act hit is spiking in the county. the cdc says the flu iswi spread in the commonwealth. the note reminds parents they can get their children vaccinatedgainst the flu. students should stay hope until 24 hours after their fever passes and flu systemssu ide. busy week in weather. we have an even crazier week looking ahead. lauryn ricketts tracking that next.

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we're looking at some portions of our area seeing a little rain, mainly fredericksburg, northern neck, southern maryland. that's wre this is going to stay. maybe wet snowflakes mixed in, but not expecting any accumulation issues. we get into tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow night, some more rain with traces of atsleet. l be out by monday morning. breezy on monday, in case you're skiing or have anything outside.

wintry mix possible all through the y bend. >> wednesday. >> lauryn, thanks. we'll be back in 25 minutes with another update. for now, back to the "today" show. good morning. mass shooting tragedy. >> attention all police, does have an active shooter. >> aty illinois communi in mourning today after five innocent people were killed when a gunman opened fire inside theirpl woace. five officers who rushed in t t stophewo shooter alsunded. >> this response by lawro enforcement federal, state, and local agencies did not surprise me, but it still overwhelms me. >> the gunman who h just been let go from his job at the plant where he opened fire also dead this morning. community members there struggle to come to terms with how this could happen t them. national emergency backlash. president trump ready for a fight just one day after declaring a national emergency to pay for his border wall. the president admits he didn't have to do it this way. do this.'t need to

i'd rather do it much faster. >> will that admission make it harder for him to get the money? what a hack. a college freshman who has been hacking since he was 15 years old is so good, he is making enough to pay for his colle education. >> how much money have you made hacking? >> i'd rather not tal about that. >> why he is being tapped by stamford, big companies, even the department of defense. today, saturday, february 16th, 2019.ey ♪ >> we love the "today" show. >> 12 years in the making, but i'm finally here. >> girls trip 2019. >> o-h! >> i-o! >> first time in new york city. >> all the way from main > we took mom to new york for christmas. >> that's me.

>> peter, can we take a selfie i ag please? >> how nice is that? a i'm up for that, of course. >> you know, wereciate all the people who come out to the plaza on a saturday morning, particularly because it is chilly outside this morning. >> no doubt. we'll get started on this saturday morning. welcome back to "today." another busy morning for us. >>e'll start with today's news. the illinois community still reeling this morning after a gunman walked into his workplace and started shooting. investigators are pouring through evidence to t and figure out the question everyone is asking, why? nbc's ron mott isn aurora, illinois, this morning. ron, good morning. >> reporter: sheinelle and peter, good morning to you both. investigators are trying to figure out how much planning went into this shooting. they said this employee showed up at work with a gun yesterday, went in and started shooting people. he kept the s building underge for an hour and 35 minutes. when it was all over, another american town dealing with bloodshed and tears.

>> attention all police, aurora does have an active shooter. >> reporter: thirn g, a community stunned. >> requesting as many ambulances as possible f an active shoor with many injuries. >> reporter: police say a 15-yr employee, 45-year-old gary martin, who was in the process of being opened fire at the henry pratt company plant in aurora, killing five co-workers shooting another, wounding five officers who responded to the scene. all the officers suffered non-life threatening injuries, the chief says. >> i saw hdreds of uniformed officers ready to assist.es this rnse by law enforcement from federal, state, and local agencies did not surprise me. it didoverwhelms me. we still lost lives today, and it cannot be overstated that those people did not deserve this. >> reporter: the chief sai o th firstfficers who arrived were immediately fired upon as did a subsequent group of police. >> i got the shooter neutralized. >> reporter: authorities say

police shot and killed martin. his he surrounded by law enforcement into the evening. the shooting prompted a flurry of lockwns at neighboring businesses and schools. one student stayed home sick but was too close for comfort. >> i was in my rm and heard gunshots. i got down on the floor. peeked out the window, and i saw cop cars pulling up. >> it was traumatizing. >> you rushed toward danger. >> reporter: illinois gernor pritzker offered condolences to families and prais first responders. >> there are no words for the kind of evil that robs our neighbors of their hopes, their dreams, and their futures. >> reporter: as the investigation unfolds, the state's second largeity asking a now familiar question posed around america, why us? now, off have yet to identify the five people who lost their lives here yestery. we perha will get that at a media briefing scheduled for a little later this morning. as you just heard there, people in this community, and perhaps

around the country, want to know in this has happened again america. sheinelle, peter? >> heartbreaking. ron mott, thank you. president trump and the white house are bracing for a fight after the president on friday declared a national emergency to pay for his border wall. the president's opponents already making plans to challenge that declaration. nbc's white house correspoent, my colleague, kelly o'donnell traveling with the president today. she is near his florida estate. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: goodmorning, peter. no indication yet from the white house how quickly we could see actual constction of the new border barrier. the president, of course, has got a goal of having up to 234 miles of new border wall or barrier. coress only gave him enough money for 55 miles. so they're hoping toake up the difference with the power of the national emergency. wall nationalr emergency declared, the president is taking a long holiday weekend in palm beach.

everybod >> reporter: after amping up the alarm. >> we have an invasion of drugs, invasionf gangs, invasion of people, and it is unacceptable. >> repter: congress approved enough money for 55 miles of new bord barrier. $1.375 billion. the president plans to divert another almost $7 billion, much of it previously approved for other purposes, including military construion projects. as he tests this executive power, he appeared to undercut the core urgency of this declaration. >> i could do the wall over a longer period of time. i didn't need to do this,ut i'd rather do it much faster. >> reporter: the president let his frustration show, that congress failed to fund his campaign promise when republicans had corol. >> i'm very disappointedt certain people, particularly one, for not having pushed this faster. >> reporter: are you referring to -- >> who?te

>> rep speaker ryan? >> let's not talk about it. >> reporter: he did open up about the influence of conservative media stars. >> sean hannity has been a terrific -- rush limbaugh, a great guy. ann coulter, i don't know her. >> reporter: he insists those voices don't d his actions. >> they don't decide policy. >> reporter: as he boasted about democrats approving some barrier funding to avert another shutdown -- >> he's not going to get $1. well, i got $1.4 billion. >> reporter: the president lamented the expected court challenges. >> i think what wil happen is, sadly, we'll be sued. >> reporter: friday, democrats on the 2020 campaign trail denounced mr. trump'stise of a naal emergency. kamala harris in south carolina. >> it is playingit politics taxpayer resources. it is about creating a crisiswnf his making. >> reporter: when we were in the rose garden together, peter, of

course, you pointed outes the ent was critical of barack obama, his predecessor, who usee this s kind of national emergency for other matters. the white house also saying that it is gointo take part of one of the obama national emergency declarations related to drug cartels and use that authority, as well. the president, who had beenic cr in the past, now trying to use this power, knowing there will be legal challenges. it is unclear how quickly we'll see any action. it is expected t take quite a bit of time to work its way through the courts. peter, sheinelle? >> quite a rose garden event. now, t next fight begins. kelly o'donnell with the president. thanks. ak sg of which, several groups are lining up to challenge the president' plan court. pete williams is nbc's justice correspondent. give us perspectiv heefre, pete. what power does the president have toeclare a national emergency? >> the law gives him a wide latitude to do that, f even something that's not really a crisis. opponents of there declaration saying there is no emergency on

the border. they point to the comment the president made on friday, to the question by peter, about how he could have done the wall over a longer period of timt and did need to declare an emergency. the lawsuits will undoubtedly cite thatofomment as p that there isn't a crisis, just as the lawsui against the travel ban cited mr. trump's campaign statement that is he wanted a muslim ban. the real meat of this legal fight is going to be over what he wants to do with this emergency authority. >> i was going to ask, if we zoom in there, what are the likely legal challenges aheaden >> one will argue this is unconstitutional tharks t, that presidt is spending money congress didn't approve for some ing congressopposes. el paso county has already filed a lawsuit making that vy claim. some legal scholars say congress actually undercut that argument this week by giving the president more than $1 billion to start working on the wall. another claim will be thateg th is i because the president wants to use the pentagon's money for a non-military purpose. given that u.s. troops are not

allowed to conduct civilian law enforcement, like border patrol. the president though says this is a matter of national security, and the courts tend to der to the white house when those claims are made. the legal fight will last probably at least a year, and almost certainly end up before t the supreme cith a decision probably right in the middle of the 2020 campaign. >> oh, myoodness. finally, pete, there are new developments as itmanafort. what can you tell? ud two things. we now know the in the washington, d.c. case said in court this week that told so many lies after pleading guilty, especially after his former employee, kilimnik, spected of ties to russian intelligence, it raised questions about where his loyalties lie. then in the separate virginia case, the special counsel's prosecutors said he should bet a lonc prison sen because his bank and tax fraud was so brazen, sheinelle. >> good information this morning. pete williams, thank you. also thi morning, a new development in the wake of quarterback colin kaepernick's

national anthem kneeling controversy. this morning, a deal has been reached between kthpernick and nfl. we get the latest from nbc' ron allen. >> rter: every since he debate about onal racial injustice and kneeling during the national anthem, colin kaepernick hasn'o been ableind a job in football. w his grievanceith the nfl filed in 2017, along with former teammate eric reid, claims owners were colluding to sideline them. now, in a joint statement, the nfl and kaepernick's lawyers say, t parties have decided to grievances. pending subject to a confidentiality agreement, so there will beheo furtr comment. >> it is possible he realized this was going to drag on and on and on, so maybe he just thought, i made my point. it is time to move on with my life. >> believe in something. even if it means sacrificing everything. >> reporter: while kaepernick gained a national following, becoming the face of nike and the target of president trump -- >> fired!

>> reporter: -- ante ine legal fight has been underway, with kaepernick's lawyers confronting nfl owners and legal officials. at this year's big game, the commissioner denied teams targeted kaepernick. >> i think if a team decides that colin kaepernick or any other player can help their team win, that's what they'll do. >> reporter: kaepernick and reid reportedly have been seeking years of lost hiearnings,ch could total tens of millions of dollars. reid has been back on thefield, but kaepernick hasn't played in an nfl game since the 2016 season. despite the settlement jus announced, it is still unclear whher the athlete turned activist will ever pla in the nfl again. for "today," ron allen, nbc news, new york. some other headlines this morning. a terrifying scene in the midwest caught on camera. take a look at this. a 47-vehicle chain reaction crash that left one person dead on friday. videof the accident just east of kans city, missouri, you see this, shows car after car slamng into the pileup at high

speed. the highway patrol is blaming whiteout conditions for the carnage. >> terrible scene. pay less is the latest to join the list ofai iconic r giants set to close up shop in the u.s. the discount shoe chains reportedly planning to shut down off 2,100 of the remaininge stores in coming months. the kansas-based chain, thisre opened up han six decades ago, will begin liquidation sales tomorrow. >> iconic for sure, right? >> i was going to say, i remember my folks being like, you needshoes? payless. >> my daughter still goes there for her sneakers.s dave prin the plaza with another check of the >> hey, guys. absolutely. nice to see you. we have a great crowd out heou. what's y name? >> kim. >> where are you from? >> maryland. >> it's my favorite christmas present. kim, it's february. nice to see you guys. we have friends from north ta and south l carolina. you're going to see some let's check the weather all across the country and see

what's happening, shall we? as we go to the maps, we arelo ing at some very cold conditions. wind chills, 10 degrees below zero in bismarck. minnealis at zero and zero. feels like zero, and it is zero. single digit wind chills in chicago. s we head throughout the rest of the daytoday, most of the country below normal temperature wise. 22 in rapid city. cold for dallas at 46 degrees. that chilly weather continues as we head into the end of the weekend. that's a quick look aton the naal maps. here's a look at right where you are. >> we've got some rain not where we are right now in the d.c. area. tough go to theouth to find some rain. stafford, fredericksburg. northern neck and southern maryland, it is st this trajectory. area of low pressure scooting through north caro that's why the dynamics stay to the south, and they will stay

ere. sunshine to the north. later on this afternoon, we'll all get sunine as we dry out. more rain and a little sleet tomorrow afternoon. >> and that's a quick look at the weather picture. we'll sen it back inside to you. guys? >> oh, little cutie. >> cute little lady. >> i wasn't going to say because wasn't sure. >> they're mine. >> mini mes. >> we'll see i you a couple minutes. >> dave, thank you veryuch. could the duchess of sussex be coming to a big screen near you? upnext, why the carlton dance can be done by anyone, anywhere. yeah. >> right after these messages. smile dad.

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so you never miss a day. walgreens. trusted since 1901. text joinrx to 21525 to stay on track. oh no. are you okay, mike? yeah, had a pretty big fender bender here. don't worry, state farm's got you covered. [helium voice] ahhh, that's great to hear...robyn? what's going on? are you sure you're okay? yeah, yeah, i think so. ahhhh... ahhhhhh... we're gonna get you a tow truck, mike. thank you. real fender bender going on. fender bender. ♪ fender bender everybody remain calm! there's no reason to panic! go with the one that's here to help life go right. state farm. we are we're back with some news about a dance made famous on "the fresh prince of bel air." >> almost 30 years since the show debuted. will smith. it's making headlines again. dave is in the orange room to show us whathe danceooks

like. david? >> uh-huh, guys. >> do you haveour carlton sweater on? >> i do. i want to announce the official end of my careeroh today. >> no. >> are you ready? >> we're ready. >> all right. >> doing the dance? >> let cue the music. >> oh, my goodness. ♪ >> i'my. re ♪ now, this is a story about the carlton dance t♪ ♪ wen court, oh, wow ♪ i'd like to take a minute, sit right there ♪l ♪ i'll tou how we can channel the fresh cousin of bel air ♪ >> none of that rhymes. that was awesome. >>his is s good. >> fantastic. now that my side hustle as a middle-aged rapper is out of the bag, i was something to tell you ♪ >> alfonsory be fofonso ribiero. go ahead, laugh. carlton banks, the character on

"fresh prince of bel air," had the iconi carltondance. well, it became iconic. he performed it time and time again on the show. he did it on "dancing with the stars. casionally on the golf course. his dance has been at the center of a lawsuit. last year, he sued two video game makers. heud sued them, ing the maker of "fortnite," claiming th used his dance without permission or compensation. the ruling is in. the u.s. copyright office says ribiero cant register his dance, calling it a simple dance routine. >> what? >> yes. in other words, it is free for all of us to use anytimeme. it is not complex enough to clear the copyright bar. u and i can do it wech. we don't have to pay royalties to anybody. >> cue the music. >> no, no. [ it ♪ it's not unusual to be loved

by anyone ♪ >> that's not the move. ♪ when i see you hanging about with anyonar ♪ >> wha we going to do? i don't even know. whoa. easy there. >> you all right? >> not copyrighted. >> you know, i'm surprised about that. i thought he'd win the lawsuit. >> interesting. >> now, you're and you have to do pop start. >> we can do it. pop start. let's kick off on a royal note with the -- this is scary to look at. the duchess of sussex. in caseou forgot, before hairy, meghan was a working actress. now, she'seturning to the big screen, sort of. tv movie she filme in 2010 just picked up for distribution. it will be elresed here this year. the film portrays the pre-royal duchess in a movie titled "the boysui and girls to getting down." the queen is going to love that. self-described tongue in cheek look at 20 something singles a partyin clubbing in la. i'm out ofbreath.

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still to come, still to come, is nowme the tio pick up furniture and electronics, or shouldki you wa? >>, get close to the tv. we'll meet some of the favorite "sesame street" characters. they're here in a bit. >> first, these messages. ♪ only tylenol® rapid release gels

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>> announcer: this is a "news 4 today" news break. >> 8:26 onhis saturday, february 16th. good morning to you. i'm david culver. right to breaking news, vatican. from the theodore mccarrick, no longer a catholic church. hefr has beeocked. overnight, the vatican explaining its processo come to this major ruling. they tell us on january 11th, a decree was issued, finding mccarrick ilty of policeatisolin in the sacrament of confession, sexual misconduct with adults an minors, and abusing his power. we'll continue to update you on this story in ourto nbc washi app. when we return at 9:00 this morning. other headlines this

morning. a shooting yesterday afternoon on q street. one man was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. one local pastry chef says her recipe could potentially be gone forever. you saw her wthere. shks at a bakery on h street. she left her backpack inside her car while she was working this week. someone smashed in her window, snatching several things, including all of her recipes of her sweet creations. she hopes someone will return her bag as soon as possible. ur> we'll check in with layn ricket, who has a look at precipitation this weekend. does your customers connecting to the wifi ever slow down your business? yes, it does slow things down. aggravating. it's a nightmare. so our gig-speed network is fast. and we go beyond fast by making it easy to create separate networks for your business and your customers and even control how much bandwidth each of those gets. so your business won't miss a beat. this is a big game changer.

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well, we do have some rain to the south. fredericksburg through the northern neck, coming out through southern maryland. that's really where it is going to stay. there could b a little bit o snow mixed in, but i'm not expecting any accumulation. the dynamics of the storm rolling right through north carolina. that's why we've taken snow chances out north of this area. pretty much north of quantico. may see rain in fredericksburg, stafford county, southern maryland. that's it. everybody will get clearing this afternoon. maryland, you're seeing sunshine out there. you'll continue toin have sun and dry conditions through the day. temperatures right around 40 degrees for today. we're in the upper 30s tomorrow. some rain with tracesleet tomorrow afternoon to tomorrow night, turning into early rain showers ending early monday.

chance of wintry mix on wednesday. >> lauryn, thanks. we'll b back at9:00 with the breaking news out of the vatican. details ahead. > we are back on this saturday morning, february 16th. time is flying. 2019. what a great crowd out here on the plaza with us. thank you for coming to see us this morning. >> thays you, >> it is freezing. they're still here. still to come on this half hour oftoday," somef our favorite "sesame street" characters are here, and they're larger than life. wh they're doing in studio 1a, and how you can catch them on the road. a little tlater,re is nothing like a big plate of chicken potpie. wee coming up with comfort food that is going to keep you warm on this cold winter night. >> sounds good on a cinter morning. first, a pretty incredible story. a college freshn who is such an expert hacker, the pentagon and stadord tur to him to

help them. >> nbc's tammy leitner has more. >> reporter: jack cable looks like any other freshn on the stanford university campus. except he'saying for college by hacking into companies. how much money have ye hacking? >> i'd rather not talk about that. >> reporter: it's a lot, enough to pay for four yea at stanford. >> yes, so yes. >> reporter: it started by accident when he was 15. >> i was looking at an online cryptocurrency website and noticed that you could send a negative amount of money to someone else, that would effectively take the money from >>eir account and give it to you. eporter: you could have taken hundreds of thousands and put that in your >> yeah.? for me, it was always just the easiest route to work with companies instead of stealing it. >> reporter: jack is considered one of the elite. an ethical hacker who worked with companies like google, facebook, uber, and yahoo! to find their tech vulnerabilities.

you're the yngest person to have security clearance at the department of defense. >> this past summ, i worked at the defense digital service, basically the s.w.a.t. team of nerd we come in and help improve the state of technology. we all know technology has to be improved in our government and our military. >> he loves too in and not only break things but break things for good. if we don'tse find the things, find these vulnerabilities in our systems, we leave them open foour add ver sversaries. >> repor alex teaches some of stanford's brightest, including jack, on the it cybersec team. we're hearing about threats more than in the past. how vital is it to protect against these? >> of vital isimportance. s not just about information security anymore. it's about protecting our financialsystems. is about protecting our political institutions. the stakes now are extremely

>> reporter: which jack already knows.ra this military hacker is also strengthening security right here at his own university. >> stanford reached ome to if i wanted to help them start a bug finding program. it was an exciting thought. in the past, people maybe have been punished for hacking ieio school's system. >> reporter: do you have any concerns? >> of course. as the chief information security officer, i do have. concer again, i think we are taking a measured risk here. we have aot of safeguards in place. >> reporter: for jack, those safeards are a welcomed challenge. why do you hack? >> there something really cool about doing something that you know you shouldn't be able to f. >> reporte "today," tammy leitner, nbc news, palo alto, california. >> i guess t if he has itch to do it, hopefully we can use it in a positive way. >> he's getting hired by the pentagon and stanford. i can't get my printer to work in our dfice. >> he'ng something right early. let's get a final check of

the weather, my friend. >> a little chilly out here on the plaza. sunny. that's nice. let's take a check of the weather across the countr to the maps. a storm system brewing out west. it'll work its way to the east. while it does, we have another storm system exiting the east coast as we head through today. it is going to bring snow showers to sections of kentucky, west virginia, and virginiath rain t carolinas. as we head through the restf the day, keep in mind, we'll see heavy snow in sections of the northern rockies and cascades. what we can expect tomorrow, rain and mountain snow working east. rain in the great lakes. that's a quick look at the national map. here's a look at what's going on righthere you are. >> right where we are, you're either getting sunshine, you're getting clouds, our you're tting a little bit of rain. the rain is s fallith of quantity c

quanti quantico, marine base, southern maryland. with the rain south, it'll end this aftern becoming sunny. tomorrow, we'll have sunshine in the morning but isolated sleet and rain showers later on tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow night. your mondays going to be cloudy and mild. cooler on tuesday and dry. we're looking at aintry mix headed our way for wednesday with rain on thursday. >> you're up to date on the weather. folks? >> david, thank you. oming up, presidents' day weekend is known for being a great time for sales. are there some things you should wait to buy? look who is here. we're excited for this special visit from our frids from a new show hitting a town near you. find out what kielmo, c llnster, and everyone else is up to. cahe kids a little later. first, these messages.

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that rocking chair would look grahh, new house, eh?e. well, you should definitely see how geico could help you save on homeowners insurance. nice tip. i'll give you two bucks for the chair. two?! that's a victorian antique! all right, how much for the recliner, then? wait wait... how did that get out here? that is definitely not for sale! is this a yard sale? if it's in the yard then it's... for sale. oh, here we go. geico. it's easy to switch and save on homeowners and renters insurance. we're back now we're back on a saturday morning with another edition of our favorite game here. buy now or wait until later. presidents' day weekend is a good day for sales. how do know if this is a good time to buy certain items? we have our savingsexpert with coupons.com. >> good morning. >> i'm ready to dig into the me. >> let's see how you do. ha this one is tricky.

presidents' day, does that mean? for electronics, i'll say, later. >> all right. you're not off to a great start here, sheinelle. sorry. it is buy now. >> why? >> you think, usually,on elecs is, like -- >> holidays or something. >> which is true. here's wh injanuary, they have the consumer electronics show. they launched all the new products for electronics. what do stores need to do?ee they to clear the shelves to make new for the new things. you will get great deals he's here's a little secret, right after the holidays. we're in the period where people ask for returns. ask forte an open box so save more. >> next is furniture. i genuinely have no idea. i see commercials for mattresses i'll say, buy now. >> now, you're back. it is buy now. once again, january is when manufacturers, they launch new furniture designs.samples.

you'll get a better deal. you have gre deals if youuy something off the tip. a little tip, measure your doorway into the ent of your home. if you're buying a big piece of furniture, you have to make surn it goes there. >> we had to cut a couch. i had toch call the c doctor in new york. snowblowers, i'll say later. > good girl. is itlater. you don't want to buy it during the peak of the season. >> yes. >> you want to buy it right before the season starts. october is the best time. >> october. i thought they'd want to make money, and they know we need it. >> they'll helou out before. >> this is interesting. cruises. if it is cold outside, you want to go warm, but i'll y, later. now. >> it's a now. januar through march is wave season. presidents' day weekend specifically, cruise deals you will find. >> really? though they know we have to plan brr spring k, right around the corner? >> it is because they're trying

to fill the roomsoknd you know, all the cruise. you can -- this is something you n buy now and cruise later. that's the trick. one other tip, if you're going to be flying into a port you're going to be docking from, try to fly in the day before. you don't want a delayed flight and miss your cruise. miss your boat. >> last b not least, luggage. what the hay, buy now? >> close. march. >> okay. >> you're doingretty good. march is when you want to buy luggage. in the travel industry, it is called shoulder season. it's in between the busy holiday travel and summer travel. it is kind of like en between. you can find great deals. look for closeouts, coupon codes, all the ways you can save big time on luggage in march. >> but wait. >> next month, a couple weeks. >> annette, as always, thank you. >> my pleasure. >> we're back right after this.

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we are back on a saturday morning. check out who is here with us today. >> yay. >> "sesame steset" favor with us. elmo, grover, cookie monste and chefgonger. not to be missed. >> happy they stopped b before heading to the big stage for "sesame street live: make your magic." >> now, these characters are joined by nick manna, performance director for the show. good morning, everyone. morning. >> thanks so much for having us. we're so excited t wbe here. >> about to say, tell us about the show. when i was a kid, this was the highlight of my year every tye, goin "sesame street live." >> it is a tradition. >> yes. >> celebrating its 50th year. >> wow. >> what's new? >> this year, abby and elmo take audiences down the streets, and they discover the power of yet. the lesson learned that with

pracce and perseverance, nothing can stand in the way of your dreams. it is yet to happen. >> i love fthat. >> there is something we've learned from the years of watching "sesame street," there'slways a messag what do you hope the kids -- we brought some here to enjoy with us. what do they take away from th experience? >> they've developed a show that coincides with the sesame workshop missionment of developing stronger, smarter, wndness kids. we hope peoplek away with hearts full and big smiles on their faces, feeling a kinder. stronger, >> you have a little pretrial conferen amagic. >> elmo has been practicing magic. he needs your help. he'll show the handkerchief like this. put it over his hands. he's going toay the magic words. repeat after this. sesau. sesame. >> i get it. >> oh! >> amazing. >> for u, sheinelle. >> thank you.

>> thank you so much, elmo. >> let's take it away. >> let's go. >> good job, elmo. ♪ c is for cookie, that's good enough for us ♪ ♪ c is for cookie, that's good enough for us♪ ♪ c is for cookie, that's go enough for us ♪ s for cookie, that's good enough for us ♪ ♪ c is for cookie that's good enough for us ♪ ♪ cookie, ecookie, coo starts with c ♪ ♪ cookie, cookie, cookie starts with c ♪ ♪ cookie, cookie, cookie starts with c, yeah♪ >> want to clap for them?>> wow. >> so cute. >> you were rrific. >> sid, can we get up? you can got up here. >> come on, guys. come say hi. thank you, eguys. theyeen waiting to do this all morning long.

thank you,>> guys. cookie. >> to find out more about the show and whether it is coming to a town near you, hd to our website, today.com. ♪ c is for cookie, that's good enough fore ♪ coming up next, we're going into the kitchen. stick around with us. >> we have comfort food. the whole familwill be a part it. first, these messages. ♪ cookie, cookie, cookie starts with c ♪ ♪hold on, i'm comin' ♪hold on, i'm comin' ♪hold on don't you worry,♪ ♪i'm comin' ♪here we come, hold on♪ ♪we're about to save you i'm comin', yeah♪ ♪hold on don't you worry,♪ ♪i'm comin'

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whatever the reason, carmax will give you a full refund. that is good to know because reggie is very opinionated. i'm sure he is. you won't find relief here. congestion and pressure? go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray only relieves 6 symptoms, claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. food, s morning on today there is nothing like a comfo comforting meal tos get through days like these. david venable from "in the kitchen with david" is here to show us the comfort food shortcuts. david, 6'6", nice to se you. >> we see eye to eye. >> good food options today. we'll start with a pot sticker soup. >> pot stickers are my go-to.

ai keep them in the freez the time. i usually saute them and serve them over rice. i thought, why not a winter soup with potstickers, but do it prep to table in 30 minutes. >> not that many ingredients. >> only ten ingrdients here. >> yeah. >> beef stock in a carton, cooking oil,oy sauce, fresh vegetables you'll prep ahead of time if you don't have a lot of do it at the start, then some frostickers. we've already heated oil in the stock pot. i have all the vegetableooked up. a little tip, when doing asian cooking, make sure all youres vegetare cut small and the same size, so they cook more evenly. >> okay. >> we'll get them into the pot. you'll hear them sizzle. they only soften about fiv minutes. >> sheinelle is already enjoying it. >> sheinelle is a good eater, i understand. we know each other from way back. >> good days. >> this is fantastic. just let these saute fiv nutes. again, you'll spend more time cutting vegetables than you are making the soup.

it is perfect for a week night, right? >> your cook is "comfort food shortcuts." these are good options. >> i understand you have two girls. >> that's why i am paying close attention. >> exactly. you know what, this becomes kid friendly. all ripes in the book are ten ingredients or less, kid andly fa friendly. i'll add in beef broth. to that, soy sauce. finally, a little black pepper. here's the magic, go to your freezer, grab yourpo froze stickers. >> that's the takeaw s. peop the frozen food aisle and they're li about that.now you turn it into a delicacy. >> pre-packaged food is better quality than before. 25 years ago, you couldn't find pesto in the supermarket worth f eating,t was pre-jarred, right? this is easy to find in the surket. r great quality. now, it is gourmet. let it simmer 5 to 7 minutes, and you have soup finished>>up. ou don't even have to defrost? >> no, the frozen pot stiers ll warm in the broth. >> right, right.

>> fantastic. >> it's why werought david venable. >> and because they're not pre-crisped, they'll be tender so you can get the spoon through them. >> really good. >> chicken potpies. >> of course. >> il eat and help you out. >> please do. this is a biscuit topped chicken potp w. the problh traditional potpies, you have to make crust, make the filling, do that kind ofwething. l shorthand this. first thing we'll do is buy a rotisserie chicken. $5 in the supermarket. >>en easy gh. >> shred it up and put it in the pot. from rothere,n mixed vegetables, chicken stock, cream of chicken soup peter, give me a hand. pop the bowl of frozenge bles. >> this is really good. >> nicely done. >> the truth is, this is easy. >> it is >> literally, it is one supermarket orun, and you're done. >> supermarket shortcuts. the book is full of shortcuts, helping you get things done in record time. add in the chicken stock. peter, give me a couple twists of the pepper mill.

>> so good. so simple. >> here's a tip i'll tell you, if you heat the filling first, then put it in the casserole dish, your biscuits won't burn in the oven. what we found when weested the recipe, if we put in the filling top, it'd biscuits on burn before the filling was warm. warm it first, then put on the biaruits. we'ved the filling here. we're going to use what iall whom biscui o. peelff the top, and whom it here. layer these on top. >> girls can help with this. >> we have friends. >> who is it? >> who is at the door? >> chef gonger. >> oh, my. goodness we have celebrities in the kitchen. >> celebrity chefs from "sesame street." >> i love it. hi, guys. >> ce on in. are you hungry? >> that's a yes. >> silly question,right? >> of course. >> i'll tell you what, this is 30 minutes in the oven. >> can't beat it. >> thenou have a kid-friendly, family-friendly, wonderful comfort di. >> the cost is near nothing. >> it is so easy. these are ingredients on hand or

buy them in the market. >> thank you so much. david, thanks. if you want the recipes and want to see what it is like behind the scenes with david at qvc, check out "crazy kitchens" on today.com/food. >> i'll eat the potpie. that'll do it for us on this saturday morning. on sunday "today," wlie sits down with liam hemsworth. he talks about his rise to fame, his brothers, latest romcom movie, and his marriage to miley cyrus. >> enjoy your ay. hareat weekend, everybody. >> hands in the air, happy dance. get it. get it. there you are. i

good saturday morning. straight ahead right on "news 4 today," a weekend forecast free of snow. at least for some of us, right, lauryn? >> oh, yeah, guys. we are looking at just some rain moving across portions of our area. more rai tomorrow, maybe a little sleet. snow chances have not dwindled.

we'll talk about snow chances coming midweek, coming up on the ten-day. the vatican has dismissed a former washington, d.c. archbishop from the priesthood. after months of swirling controversy and accusations of sexually abusing minors, theodore mccarrick, no longer pa of the clergy. local church leaders are resp d responding. news 4 hhi the latest on breaking news straight ahead. that, plus the latest on the search of a man accused of robbing 20 banks in th region. we have a lot to work on and we have a lot to work on and bring youp to speed on on t uhi switch to fios and get entertainment delivered to your home like no one else. because fios is a 100% fiber-optic network. that means you'll get the fastest internet available and fios tv one with amazing 4k capability,

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>> announcer: "news 4 today" begins with breaking news. good saturday morning to you. i'm david culver. the breaking news coming in overnight from rome. the vaticandismissing ex-cardinal theodore m from the priesthood. the man who was once among the most powerful leaders in the cathic church, this morning, carries no religious title. mccarrick can no longer celebrate mass as a priest, not even in private. the tribunal found mccarrick oguilt sexual misconduct with adults and minors, along with abusing powerolnditation within the sacrament of confession. we have been all over this story summer. broke in the we're going to walk you through the timeline of how w got here today and what is next for the catholic church. also this morning, i'm hearing from one of the local accusers of mccarrick. he initially shared his painful

story with us. we is he acting to the vatican's decision. i'll share that in a moment. first, a pleasant surprise to the weekend forecast. snow chanc we've heard earlier in the week seems to be dwindling. lauryn ricketts trackingsthe la changes. wet but farther soh? >> solutely. for today, david, because i think by tomorrow afternoon, we'll all be wet, and we c sld have somet in the mix, as well, but for the most part, we're just looking at rain chances as we head into this weekend. possibly some more snow and a mix coming our way d-week. what changed today? in case you missed the weather yesterday, i know amelia and doug were tweaking the forecast, we we watching the system to see where it'd go. whether staying to the south or go to the north. for now, farther south, north calina. if you travels take you to southern virginia, north carolina, you'll run irain, and tell be heavy. 40s right