>> ♪ >> well, the calls on capitol hill for john conyers to resign are growing louder and more frequent following house minority leader nancy pelosi's stance. >> this is what we're talking about tonight at 6:30. so, let's get to it. >> the allegations against congressman conyers as we have learned more since sunday are serious, disappointing and very credible. it's very sad. the brave women who came forward are owed justice. i pray for congressman conyers and his family and wish them well. however, congressman conyers should resign. >> pressure for conyers to step down has mounted in recent days after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. while employees see

highlight conyers' achievement she made it clear zero tolerance means consequences for all. conyers has denied the allegations. he is now refusing to resign. >> meantime the house of representatives passed new rules that they require antisexual harassment training for all members. this mover is response to the allegations of sexual misconduct which include congressman conyers. >> this is an issue a lot of lawmakers have been talking about, it's a hot topic especially on the local area. good to see. >> thank you very much for having me. >> first of all you're running for office. you're getting ready for this. we saw barbara comstock who is the republican representative of district 10 has been quite vocal in the harassment situation on the hill right now. >> yeah, right now it's a very hot button topic. i would say people have lost faith with regards to the actions of congress and seeing this secret hush fund that people h

taxpayer funds has been causing quite an uproar to say the least. >> where do you stand on that? i mean, for years we found out some astronomical amount of money that's been paid out. >> billions, billions. >> and the people who are being protected, nobody knows who they are. where do you stand on that? do you agree with it or do you disagree with it. >> i disagree with that whole heartedly. i believe there needs to be more transparency as it relates to these payouts. they weren't just tied to sexual harassment but they were also tied to hostile work environments discrimination. all these things should be public record and it shouldn't take much work to get that information out. >> last time we had -- last time sexual harassment was a big issue on capitol hill was way back in the early 90's anita hill stepped forward when clarence thomas was testifying during his confirmation hearings and that set up the year of the woman in 1992 when there were a lot of democratic women who ran for office. the democrats have always tried to seize t

being the party of women. you're a republican. what -- do you see any challenges? do you see any advantages to having that r after your name going into the election next year. >> the advantage i see is i'm not the incumbent. my opponent has been in office almost s 10 years. he's been silent. >> your opponent is jerry conley. >> yes. with regards to the democrats being the party of women, i believe the republican party is actually -- should be the standard bearer for that. >> well -- go ahead, i'm sorry. >> that's all. >> we're kind of talking about the republican part right now, the republicans control about this houses of congress. can't seem to get anything through. where will -- where would you stand if you were, you know, there right now? how will you work to sort of i guess stop this, to bring both sides together to actually get some legislation passed. >> one thing that pushed me to run for office is the stagnation that's in d.c. and i saw that there was a need for new ideas, new fresh

i'm not a typical politician, i'm not a businessman or a lawyer which is what they typically come from. i'm an i.t. guy an combat veteran. that's a different perspective. i hope i can bring that to congress. >> you talk about connolly john conyers almost 50 years. term limits. there's a lot of people out there who like the idea of term limits. would that be something you would consider if you were elected to congress when you talk about the stagnation. >> i'm actually for term limits. working in i.t. it's really hard to stay in one place for a very long period of time without getting stagnant unless you're constantly learning something new or trying new ideas. >> yeah. >> you'll see that the people who have been in office for a very long time haven't been putting any real forward thinking ideas forward. >> we certainly got that on both sides. >> yes. >> we're looking at your case and at least in this instance yes. >> jeff duff thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having

apology today. the today show read lauer's statement this morning. he apologized for the pain he caused others and the network. he said some of the allegations aren't true or mischaracterized but admitted there was enough truth in the stories to make him feel embarrassed and ashamed. nbc received at least three complaints related to lauer. >> all right. let's move on -- >> person on the job mr. president. >> he's here. rex is here. >> ♪ >> he's here, rex is here. not necessarily a ringing endorsement depending on how you look at it. >> right. >> this isn't the first time we heard about reports secretary of state rex tillerson could be out in the trump administration. there are details suggesting his time may be limited. >> let's bring ronica cleary into the discussion. we heard comments he allegedly made calling the president a moron or something like that. >> yes. >> where do things stand right now. >> reporter: well, you know,

about it today, if our boss was ever asked about me and said she's here, ronica is here, i would not feel very confident about where i stand in my job. so, people are certainly speculating quite a bit about those very short remarks from the president, but could be very telling but you can't help but think back when somebody might be next to go, of all the people who have been let go or fired or resigned in this administration in just one year, take a look at this. just days after taking office, acting attorney general sally yates was fired and within the first six months of the year, the administration said goodbye to national security adviser mike flynn, fbi director james comey and white house communications director mike dubke. in three months from july to september, the administration either fired or lost six more. sean spicer is, reince preibus, anthony scaramucci, steve

and tom price. and now questions have resurfaced that rex tillerson could be the next to go. so, now we're asking the question is rex tillerson next to go? because reports are saying that people inside the west wing are saying that. and sean, you mentioned it, earlier this year october reports surfaced that tillerson called the president a moron behind his back. it was so bad that he had to call a press conference to address the issue, and if you are a really discerning listener, you know, he complimented the president but he didn't really, you know, deny or address that allegation directly. so, now that it is back in the spotlight with rumors surfacing again that tillerson is about to go with the cia director mike pompeo in line to possibly take that position within weeks or months, but white house in very, you know, typical

close to the vest not giving us anything and a really interesting point was brought up today the in briefing, not only is he going to be fired but if he's not, where are the leaks coming from? take a listen to this. >> when the president loses confidence in someone, they will no longer serve in the capacity that they're in. the president was here today with the secretary of state. they engaged in a foreign leader visit and are continuing to work together to close out what we've seen to be an incredible year. look, i don't know where the stories are coming from. i don't try to spend most of my day figuring that out. i'd rather focus on the points that i know and the points that we're driving through the administration. and the secretary of state's a pretty tough guy. i think he'll be just fine carrying this job out. >> well, he is a pretty tough guy. right now the job seems safe but with the rumors continuing to come back time and time again, you have to wonder if his job will be so secure in 2018.

>> thank you ronica. [applause] >> so much excitement. the dow hits 24,000 for the first time today. biggest gain since march. tech companies responsible for much of the boost. the dow gained 331 points the nasdaq rose 49 points and the s & p 500 went up 21 points. i feel like i'm doing news in radio again. you always end every radio newscast with how the stocks are doing. >> lovely. we'll switch it up and talk about the weather forecast. it wasn't too bad either, sue palka. >> i know, we were really fortunate today. jim and shawn, notify going out on a -- november going out on a mild note here but the christmas tree lighting was trumped by this, an earthquake that occurred about 4:47 this afternoon about 10 miles east-northeast of dover delaware. first it was registered as a 5.1 then downgraded to a 4.4 and then most recently the u.s. geological survey says it was a 4.1 and a lot of people

delaware but we haven't heard of any damage and it's nowhere near as strong as what happened in 2011 as those things are exponentially stronger as you go up in magnitude. here's what we focus on going forward. there are going to be a few showers around early this evening. i think around 9 o'clock or so, not a lot, very light rain, pretty much hit or miss and they're gone by morning so we're back to a nice sunny beautiful friday with temperatures maybe a few degrees cooler than they were today. so far the weekend also looking great. it looks dry, looks seasonably cool, in the 50's and we keep rolling through these beautiful days into the first part of december but next week, late next week, we're talking thursday, we do see a pretty significant pattern change as advertised by our models and we may be saying goodbye to the 50's for awhile. we certainly will see 50 back here tomorrow and just wanted to show you very quickly that we're watching these showers getting a little bit closer but not a lot showing up locally. again between about 9 o'clock and 11 o'clock we should see a few of those passing through the area. that's a look at your forecast. jim and

>> all right. >> thank you sue. >> president trump's first year lighting the national christmas tree. we'll take a look -- >> you hear that music. >> yeahing i hear it. >> do you know what that is. >> charlie brown. >> charlie brown christmas. >> vince girardi i believe is the artist. >> jim is a wealth of information.

>> ♪ >> welcome back to 5 at 6:30. there's a war of words over that grade fixing scanda in prince george's county public schools. larry hogan blasted county leaders for not taking the investigation seriously. >> fox5's tom fitzgerald spoke with the governor and rushern baker. fitz what's going on here. >> reporter: well, you know there's this disagreement going on between the governor and the county executive. that's been simmering. today that boiled over and here's what turned up the heat. this was a letter that that went out this morning from

to governor hogan. what this says is they are asking governor hogan to meet with them directly because of what they see as an injustice to the students in prince george's county surrounding this grade fixing scandal that we've been covering at length here on fox5. they requested a meeting with the governor. we were told late this morning that that meeting will happen but the governor wasn't finished there. we spoke with him today and he says he has very serious questions about what he sees as the lack of action between county officials and school officials in responding to this grade fixing situation. >> when the findings came in and found widespread wrongdoing, the school system again and both the county and the school system refused to take it seriously. now we have a letter from the naacp pleading with us to

involved and take it to the next level. you know, i'm concerned that they didn't take it seriously. i said that at first. >> reporter: well, in that letter the naacp of prince george's county went on to say they are not only deeply concerned about what they have been hearing about this situation but they view the grade fixing scandal as on effect and they want to know what the root cause behind it was. now, ironically today and this happens occasionally in politics both governor hogan and county executive rushern baker found themselves on the very same stage as all of this was going on. now, they're breaking ground on a new university of maryland medical center, it's going to be built in largo. we caught up with the county executive after that. he said not only is he standing by the prince george's county school ceo dr. kevin maxwell he took issue with the governor calling out the county for not responding to this because he says, right there in the state report on this, it says the county

>> maybe he didn't read it. or doesn't understand it. either way i can't answer that question. what i can tell you is that they have taken it seriously because -- serious because we met around it and we continually meet with dr. maxwell and his senior staff about making changes there. so, i don't know what the governor's talking about. maybe that should have been a follow-up question. >> reporter: jim and shawn we should also point out the politics in all of this. governor larry hogan republican is up for reelection next year. rushern baker democrat right now is leading a field of democrats for that many democratic nomination to challenge him. the governor's office tells us at this point they couldn't give us an exact time or place but they right now are scheduling this probably for a week after next. so, this meeting is going to happen at some point. you can no doubt know we'll be there as well. >> all right, fitz, thank you. >> and the new york times editorial board taking heat for tweeting the phone numbers of seven gop

vote against the gop tax reform bill. the times criticized the tax plan and asked leaders to contact those lawmakers and oppose the tax bill. some people on social media ripped into the times saying it's not supposed to be a political organization. the times spokesperson told politico the approach was an experiment to get the anti-gop message out. we got to put something out here too. you know, the editorial pages of papers are not tied in with they're individual entities. the new york times has always had a reputation for having a bit of a liberal bent but still it's not lock stock and barrel the same thing. >> it's different. we should point out that we were just talking about this earlier there may be a little trouble getting this plan through. >> right now there's some -- there's a little dispute on the floor they took a break for dinner apparently. >> pizza. >> pizza in the senate. they're deadlocked over whether or not to send this bill back to committee. there was some shouting on the senate floor. if it sends it back to

plan for the time being because this is moving at a pretty fast clip. >> right. >> but there's some concerns about certain elements in the senate tax bill. we'll follow that for you. we'll keep you updated if anything big breaks on that. >> absolutely. speculation has been growing. now it appears terry mcauliffe is seriously considering a 2020 presidential run. a close friend of mcauliffe says the democrat isn't 100 percent decided but that he is considering it. associates say mcauliffe could successfully talk about his track record as governor of virginia. he has close ties to bill and hillary clinton. >> it is a holiday tradition right here in washington. here's a live look at the national tree lighting ceremony on the ellipse. you can see -- oh its not live i'm sorry. that is when they flipped the switch. >> we turned the lights off and put them back on again for 5 at 6:30. >> we'll talk a little bit more about this on the other side of the break. >> ♪

>> ♪ >> well, from hate speech to guns in america, even some presidential politics, a local church is jumping into the political debates in a thought provoking way. >> fox5's matt ackland shows us how saint thomas episcopal church in dupont circle is turn, heads. >> reporter: the church is undergoing major renovation. they had to put up construction fence so why not talk about some of the issues so many people are talking about and that's why they are using these posters. you can see jesus here with his hand in his face. there are four different banners here. i want to take you through this. yes, science is real. that's talking about environmental issues right now. and if you walk down a little bit further here, this one is on equality. i never said i hated anyone. walk down here a little bit more, this is the one that talks about the issue of guns. so many gun violence going on in the world these days, what is it with america and guns? and then

be getting the most attention, we've noticed a lot of people stopping by taking a picture of it, it's going on social media, is this one directed towards president trump. the president said what? so, today we talked to the reverend of the church to ask him why he and his congregation are speaking out about this. here's what they had to say. >> i don't want to speak for jesus too much but the jesus that i know and the jesus that i follow is a jesus who reaches out to people on the margins, is a jesus who loves everybody and doesn't put up border walls. now, i know there's christians out there who are definitely in line with what our president is doing. but there's also a voice in christianity that says this is not in line and this is not okay. >> do you think that maybe this might actually get to the president's attention if media a does see it. >> i don't know, our president is pretty good at, you know,

attacking people on twitter. i hope i'm not in his crosshairs. >> reporter: these are four banners that the church currently has in place but they plan to put a few more up. they're not revealing them but they say they definitely have to do with issues that so many americans are talking about. in dupont circle, matt ackland fox5 local news. >> certainly thought provoking. >> yeah. we'll see if there's any fallout from that long term. we're back after this way live look from the national christmas tree lighting on the ellipse after this. >> ♪ >> ♪♪

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>> ♪ >> welcome back. the president and the first lady flipping the switch or pushing the button for a big holiday tradition in the nation's capitol the first time he's presiding over the lighting of the national christmas tree. >> lauren demarco has been down on the ellipse for all the festivity and the fun. lauren how was it. >> reporter: a

night that gets you into the holiday spirit with everybody out here and the president of course spoke, president and first lady for their very first time lighting the national christmas tree although this is the 95th annual lighting. there was some great weather. the president actually joked about that a little bit but i want to show you the moment where they lit the tree. >> five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: and -- and just like that, it is officially the most wonderful time of the year. the tree, by the way, about 32 feet tall, the big ornament on top of it is 4 feet wide and weighs more than 40 pounds just to give you an idea of how massive this thing is. it's there year round, the tree lives here at the ellipse in the president's backyard but what a great event. after the president lit up the tree the

wenonah judd, there were dancers, there were military performers, santa was out here. we talked with some folks as they were leaving, everybody seemed to have a really great time and again, the weather just perfect for the event. now, if you want to come down and see the tree, i think the best that would be to wait until about monday because there's a lot of production equipment that they'll be clearing away, packing up, but then you can come down and you can get right up, there's the passage of peace you walk around the tree and there are also all these little trees, there are 56 of them representing each state and territory. they are decorated by each state. so, it's really a nice thing to come down and see and then of course the whole ceremony you can see on hallmark channel on monday night. that's the latest here from president's park. back to you in the studio. >> lauren real quick we saw kathy lee and dean cane, they performed tonight. >> reporter: yes, that's the interesting thing. they were the hosts. i wasn't even hip to the fact that they were going to actually sing. i was kind of shocked. kathy lee has got a great voice. >> yes, she does. >> she does. all right. thank you lauren. >> ror

>> ♪ >> go ahead. >> i was going to thank everybody for watching us tonight. >> yes. >> it was full of gratitude. >> merry christmas. >> we'll see you on fox5dc.com. to bake fresh brioche buns. you deserve a breakfast made with respect. try the new bacon, egg, and cheese on brioche. panera. food as it should be.

in the history of people being asked how they like their eggs, we're pretty sure no one's ever said microwaved.

try the new bacon, egg, and cheese on brioche. panera. food as it should be. announcer: today on "tmz" -- harvey: so lavar ball has sent donald trump a pair of big baller shoes. >> trump his shoes to the united states postal. >> so the ball is now in trump's court. >> if he wants to hurt the big baller brand, he should say these are the best shoes. >> why? >> because nobody else will want to wear the big baller brand shoe. [laughter] >> matt lauer, he had his mea culpa. savannah guthrie read his statement on the "today" show. >> there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. >> if you get caught up with this, say nothing. >> there's nothing you can say that people will be satisfied with.