tracie potts, nbc news, washington. trump s back in iowa today -- he's got a rally scheduled for in des moines. senator marcc rubio is baak campaigning in iowa.. where he promised u.s. forces would never be involved in a "fair fight." as rubio told a veterans town hall meeting in des moines... he'd make sure american troopspsalways have superior resources and strategy in any conflict. the republican presidential candidate also promised extensive reform of the veterans administration... when i amampresident benefits are going to follow the veteran. the veteran is not going to have to follow the benefits. he later told reporters donald trump can't win a general election. rubio held 14 campaign events in iowa over the last two months. that far trails a rival he's increasingly jousting with - senator ted cruz. cruz has held 41 iowa events in the last two months. and speaking of cruz...a prominent iowa evangelical leader is now endorsing him. bob vander plaatsannounced his endorsement in des moines, calling cruz a "serious l

his approach, they're still quite undecided by the solutions he's proposing to those issues. >> tracie potts on capitol hill. thank you, tracie. >>> george pataki will not be on the ballot. he did not try to qualify for yesterday's deadline. 13 of the 14 still left in the race met the state's requirement. awe three democratic candidates will be on the ballot. the primary is super tuesday, march 1st. >>> it could take up to a week to learn exactly what caused the evacuation of the head caquarte. a letter was sent with white matter. it was harmless. >>> today former governor martin o'malley will be in virginia. the presidential candidate is visiting the mochlkt he's speak out. adams is the biggest mosque in our area and the second biggest in the country. >> incredible. a factory just blown up in syria. two rebel groups are blaming responsibility. it demolished the factory you see there. take a look at the orange dust in the air. the groups say the site was used to make chemical weapons for the syrian government. >>> a heightened alert in switzerland. police are hunting for four people they say

to thwart and we'll likely hear more about that at the counterterrorism center later today. >> tracie potts on capitol hill. thank you, tracy. >>> 4:44. there's no indication that the woman in the san bernardino massacre was posting jihadist messages before she received her visa. investors say tashfeen malik only sent e-mails. she posted a facebook message in support of isis. both were killed in a shoot-out with police. they were privately buried in southern california this week. >>> a four-year veteran of the university of merry, washington, police difficulty is nation sexual assault charges. he was arrested yesterday. the victim of the alleged assault tould "the free lance-star" she was assaulted while summers was on duty. she was not a merry, washington, student. he resigned after being suspended the day before. >>> prince george's county may have a leg up in order to bring the fbi and its thousands of workers to maryland. barbara m barbara mikulski said she raised $3 million to make it half. government officials are considering two locations in maryland and one in fairfax county, virgin

but those who aren't doing as well within the party seem to have a better chance against her. >> tracie potts live on capitol hill. thank you, tracie. >>> president obama is making a rare trip to the pentagon. he'll meet to discuss the fight against the islamic state of iraq and syria and then he'll deliver a statement following that meeting. the president addressed the nation last week. >>> a new report conducted by nbc news finds that it cost less than $5,000 for the san bernardino shooters to form the plan. the total came to about $4,500. the report also found that most of the items were relatively easy to gather. the lieutenant governor in california says the ease at which the shooters built their arsenal is cause for concern. >>> two children and a school principal are believed to be among the dead in syria this morning. air strikes killed dozens of people yesterday. they hit the suburbs of damascus. video shows the confusion as the strikes came down. >>> today annapolis yacht club officials will work with city leaders to find a new temporary space. the club was severely damaged in a fir

tracie potts has more from capitol hill... "the threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it." president obama admits... the isis threat is evolving. his strategy: airstrikes... arming iraqis and syrian rebels... special ops forces... cutting off finances ending the syrian war... but not treating muslims differently here: "we must enlist muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate." he's urging congress to end gun sales for those on the no-fly list: "what could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi- automatic weapon?" reaction in mes square: el reassured every time he ys it." "i don't necessarily feel fer." "i watched his speech and i wishat he would do more." and reaction capitol hl: per burned in / presidential candidate :47-:55"for god's sakes, mr. president, change your strategy. come up with a ground force to go in and destroy the caliphate before we get hit here at home." super burned in presidential candidate :56- 0

aaron. >> tracie potts on the hill. thank you, tracie. >>> ad spending has topped more than $100 million so far this year according to ad tracking data compiled by nbc news. that's much higher than at the same point four years ago. 1/3 of that spending has come from jeb bush and his allies. the smallest advertiser so far is zwrudonald trump. >>> d.c. mayor muriel bowser is looking ahead. she says she's going to run for re-election. >> have you thought about that scenario, about the possibility of maybe having to run against former mayor gray again? >> we'll be ready for whatever the field looks like in 2018. >> so does that mean that you have decided you will run for re-election? >> absolutely. being mayor of the district of columbia, especially now and especially as a important who was born and raised here, is the best job in the world. >> mark also asked the mayor about the presidential race and if she's worried about losing staff to hillary clinton if clinton secures the democratic nomination? >> we -- we've already -

tracie potts is sorting through all of that this morning. is it possible, has trump outtrumped himself? >> possibly. you don't see anyone on the republican side standing with him on this. of course, as you might expect, a muslim community calling it reckless, un-american, like a lynch mob leader according to one group. democrats again as you might expect condemning him for this. hillary clinton says it plays into the hands of terrorists bernie sanders. sanders tweeted martin o'malley, former maryland governor, called him a fascist demagogue. what stands out here is the condemnation from his own party, from republicans. carly fiorina calls this a dangerous overreaction to president obama's address earlier this week. ted cruz says that's not my policy. even conservative dick cheney is saying it stands against everything we stand for, everything that we believe. scholars are questioning whether it is legal to prevent people from coming into this country solely based on their religion. right now, angie, looks like donald trump is out there on hi

tracie potts says the latest on who is gaining ground on front-runner donald trump. good morning. >> good morning. first of all, let's talk about front-runner donald trump because in the latest monmouth university poll, he's now at a whopping 41% support. about three times as much as the next consender, he is the front-runner going into this. you'll see him center stage tonight. the one to watch is ted cruz. not only is he gaining ground on trump nationally within a few points in our poll, but also in several polls now he is number one in iowa. number one among likely caw cussgoers. number one among evangelicals and conservatives. up 24 points over trump on that. ted cruz definitely the one to watch as both of them have pulled the gloves off now on each other. watch marco rubio. he's been a fairly solid number three and only four points behind trump in one of the -- or behind cruz in one of the latest national polls. he's got a new ad out today in iowa and new hampshire, targeting conservatives, he had a rally in las vegas last night where he was targeting clinton. t

tracie potts joins us live. we know there has been a lot of talk. are we going to see any action on climate change. >> we could, but probably not going to be today. the negotiators are going to be there for a couple of weeks working on this, just look at today's agenda, they're looking at things today like china and india among the biggest polluters. coal, how much we want to continue to rely on that. scientific research in antarctica and the amazon. overnight, while you were sleeping, the white house made a big announcement, 73 more american companies are pledging to go green, cutting their emissions by up to half and using 100% renewable energy. that almost doubles the companies that have taken that pledge so far. big things are happening there. we saw an announcement with bill gates and announcing they're putting more private money into climate change. the president has been meeting with the leaders of india and china. and he's also focusing on terror, anti-terror efforts, working behind the scenes to get more countries involved in and backing th

coming up, tracie potts will have more on how the u.s. plans to respond to the attack. >>> just into the live desk, check out this video of a plane crash in india. you see smoke pouring out after that jet burst into flames. officials say all ten aboard were killed when the plane went down near the new delhi airport. what caused the crash is still under investigation. more as we get it. >>> it is 4:33 now. >> the car hit them and just like a bowling ball hitting pins. >> today the woman that police accused of driving her car through a crowd of pedestrians will be in court. lakeisha holloway is in jail on suicide watch. her 3-year-old daughter was in the car with her when she swerved on to the sidewalk twice sunday night. she killed a mother of three and hurt dozens of other people. las vegas sheriff joseph lombardo spoke to the news media. >> we haven't determined to the exact fact what the motive was. we believe that she had some disassociation with the father of her child. >> holloway's daughter is in protective custody now. authorities

i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. decision 2016 coverage: a republican rising in the polls senator marco rubio is in iowa city this afternoon meeting voters after a town hall with veterans in west des moines this morning. the most recent monmouth universty poll has him in third place in iowa behind ted cruz and donald trump. we wanted to interview rubio one-on-one in iowa city, but his campaign told us the senator did not have time to oit down with us. rubio campaigned in michigan yesterday -- where he was critical of the president's speech the other night.. not literally. i refuse to call stop being so discriminatory. end of speech. donald trump also weighed in on the president's speech about terrorism. "we can't be politically correct stupid people. we have a no way that a normal president can make the speech that he made trump has been taking heat from both sides of the aisle over his plan to keemuslims from coming into the u-s for now. which is something the democratic frontrunner touched on during her stop waterl

i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. speaking of that poll -- for the time, senator ted cruz leads in iowa. the monmouth university poll of likely republican caucugoers in iowa shows cruz with 24-percent -- five points ahead of dooald trump. dr. ben carson was first in this same poll two months ago... but as his stock has fallen -- cruz has picked up steam. it's very encouraging. we've got a long way to go. bu it's in that poll -- about one in five said congressman steve king's endorsement of cruz recently makes them more likely to support the texas senator. continuing coverage this morning: an autopsy is set for later today -- after a body y as found in the cedar river. a trapper discovered the body sunday morning near gilbertville. at this point, authorities are not releasing more details, so we don't know who this was. investiggors are waiiing for the determine a cause of death. they say they don't suspect foul play. a man who shot a dubuque police officer has been sentenced again. eddie chest - and his son were convi

i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. new this morning: a budget deal to keep the government running. congressional leaders and the white house reached an agreement on a massive tax and spending package. it would increase domestic and defense spending -- and extend dollar bill to run the government september, setting up votes for thursday. first, they have to pass another short-term spending bill -- because the current package runs out tonight at midnight. something else to keep an eye on today. the federal reserve will decide whether to raise short-term interest rates for the first time in nine years. the announcement could come early this afternoon. a rate hike would be a sign the fed believes the economy is continuing coverage this morning of a controversy surrounding the new university of iowa president. he says he's sorry for what he said at a recent meeting. bruce harreld apparently said teachers who aren't prepared, should be shot. we've seen the e- mails in question -- between harreld and a university librarian. s

tracie potts has more on the latest war of words between ("nbc meet the press") super "she lies like crazy about everything." that's donald trump's reaction to what hillarr clinton (sot: hillary clinton/ (d) presidential candidate :08-:17) "they are going to people showing videos of donald trump jihadists." burned in (voice of: donald trump/ (r) presidential candidate :18-:22) "nobody has been able to back democrat bernie sanders on dealing g ith isis and syria's (sot: bernie sanders/ (d) presidential candidate :28-:33) "assad, i want to see him go. but that is a secondary issue "we're not going to take assad to get traction... saying trump's not serious: ("cbs face the nation") super "he said that isis is not a presidential candidate :51-1:00) primaries are now just over a hampshire today. the latest new hamphire numbers show trump up 16 points over ted cruz and marco rubio. tracie potts, nbc news, on the democratic side, bernie sanders is averaging 8 points ahead of hillary clinton in new hampshire, but she's leading by 25 nationally. an awkward moment at the miss universe pageant

i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. decision 2016: a republican presidential candidate lets the cat out of the bag. jeb bush was in eastern iowa campaigning yesterday. he talked about a number of things -- from immigration to health care -- and he also said this: president... i think she would be a great partner... i mean did i say that out loud?" bush has struggled in iowa -- and even though he campaigned in eastern iowa yesterday -- he's been focusing quite a bit on new hampshire. he announced yesterday he's beefing up his staff there -- and buying more t-v and cable advertising there. police arrest a man in connection to several thefts at gyms. waterloo police arrested robert bleakley after the hiawatha department identified him from these surveillance pictures. he's charged with second degree theft. one of the busiest travel weekends is in the books -- and with it -- a traffic stop to remember for an iowa couple. from suspense to all smiles. dan winters shows us what happened. you know that uneasy feeling in the pit

i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. anyone who's been in iraq or syria -- and wants to come to the u-s -- could soon have to take an extra the house ooerwhelmingly approved a bill tightening the visa waiver program. here's how it works. right now, people from 38 countries are allowed to be in the u-s for up to this new bill requires visas for anyone who's been in iraq or syria in the past five years. exceptions are made for government visits and military service. investigatorrbelieve one of the shooters in the deadly california attack might have plotted another attack three years ago. they believe he scrapped the plan after a round of terror-related arrests. many of the officers who were called to last week's attack are now talking publicly about it. they say they never thought they would go through something like more wounded. it immediately hit home that this is not a training drill and at that point we just wanted to stop any threat towards any human life at that point." many have been called heroes for their actionn

tracie potts - nbc news. the ge assembly facility in greenville is one of several factories that make parts for wind turbines. but the american wind energy association says south carolina is one of 11 states that don't actually have any wind farms. the man many called teh "clown prince" of the harlem globetrotters has died. over the weekend george "meadowlark" lemon died in arizona, he was originally from wilmington. lemon played in more than 75-hundred consecutive games during his 24-years with the team. during that time he played in front of popes, presidents, and royalty in hundreds of countries. lemon was inducted to both naismith basketball hall of fame and the international clown hall of fame. george "meadowlark" lemon was time now for an update on your weather. for that we turn to meteorologist ben tanner. during the afternoon highs will reach the upper 70s and an unsettled weather pattern will return. monday there is a good chance of showers as moist, humid air continues to flow in from the south arou

tracie potts has more on that story. tracie, good morning. >> hey, eun. it would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, through september of next year. however, there's a trick here. are republicans and democrats going to be able to get enough votes? they're going have to work together on this and there's actually opposition on both sides. you've got 115 republicans set to vote know. they think it's too much money. there are those opposed to dreamers and obamacare in this budget. and then you have democrats who don't like the ban of the release of crude exports and the lack of relief for puerto rico. so you may have some democrats voting no on this as well. the leadership on both sides urging them to vote yes. republicans need about 100 votes. democrats need about 120 to make this happen. we're told it will probably sail through the senate and that they've got the votes. the tough fight will be in the house and it's possible the vote could get delayed. so we'll be watching that very closely. >> tracie potts on capitol hill. thank you, tra

i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. today, the president will make a rare visit to the pentagon -- to on the war against isis. he'll meet with his top national security advisers. the white house says no major policy shift is expected to come out of it. at least one other event is being planned for this week as the president tries to ease concerns about his strategy. police are investigating vandalism at two mosques as hate crimes. vandals spray- painted graffiti at both facilities in california a left a device that looked like a hand grenade innthe driveway of one on sunday. meantime -- vandals cause a lot of damage to the dubuque veterans memorial plaza. a bench was destroyed. a small pillar -- also turned over. police say they're looking for the driver of a red car -- because red paint was left behind. authorities say they'll be reviewing survfillance video -- hoping that gives them a better ok at the person or people responsible. it's been three years now since the massacre at sandy hook elementa. today,,will be the

tracie potts has some tips to protect your newest devices. >> reporter: cybercriminals may be following santa down the chimney this season. there are a list of most hackable gifts. many use bluetooth to sync with downloadable apps. >> they can be aware of everything else that may be on that device. >> reporter: smartphones and tablets are also susceptible. impersonate a bluetooth device or a connection to gain access to all of the information that you might have. >> reporter: be sure to turn off bluetooth when you're not using it. avoid connecting to unsecured wi-fi networks and protect your own home network. drones and camera-enabled devices are another target for hackers. >> make sure you maintain all of the materials that came with that particular product. th ey are going to outline for you some of the preset passwords or settings on those particular devices. >> reporter: it can be easy to overlook the kids' toys when it comes to siber cybersecurity. >> any kids' toys connected to the internet could be vulnerable to cybersecurity hacks. >> reporter: restrict what you broadcast to the

. >>> nbc's tracie potts is live in washington tracking this political firestorm. >> reporter: a tough one for the party because they want to condemn the message but not the man. he has so many reporters and they don't want to alienate those republican voters. >> it's time for donald trump to withdraw from the race. >> reporter: and he's a republican. party leaders condemn trump's muslim travel ban, but they're careful not to completely abandon the front-runner. >> i'm certainly goir to support the republican nominee for president. >> whoever gets the nomination, the party is going to support. >> ted cruz condemned the plan but steered clear of backing trump. >> a lot of friends have encouraged me to criticize or attack donald trump. i'm not interested in doing so. >> reporter: the party is already taking a hit. hillary clinton is tieing in other candidates. >> their language may be more veiled than trump's, but their ideas are not so different. >> any republican who is too fearful of the republican base to admit it has no business serve as president. >> no shortage of critics. >> that

tracie potts, nbc news. >> experts say it's a good idea to make sure that your security software is up to date on your computers. >> thanks so much for watching this hour. >> stay with us. the news continues at 6:00. >>> right now the latest on breaking news, a fire guts a home. we've just gotten an update on the firefighters' progress. >>> a yonkers firefighter goes above and beyond to help a girl escape from her burning apartment. >>> and some much needed christmas chief with a little political meat and potatoes thrown in. how the mayor spent today helping others. >> and i'm natalie pasquarella. the one phrase on everyone's mind today, record highs. you can see a steady flow of traffic in brook lane. it's been a beautiful day. >> the normal high typically on christmas day is around 40 degrees. not so this year. christmas 2015 was a record. 66 degrees, the warmest ever on christmas day. how much longer is this going to last? that's the big question. let's check in with storm team4's dave price. >> here is what we have to talk about. it is not on exception when you look at this past mo

tracy potts, thanks. if you are into politics, you will definitely get a kick out will ferrell tops a legendary sfl persona, president bush. >> a field of republicans out there are so messed up, makes you miss it, doesn't it? jeb, a pretty good plot choice. as far as i wish you would have asked me about the explanation point on the edger end of his name. look. i don't like to take to broccoli. it doesn't get any tastier few call it broccoli. >> at least two tornadoes ripped through texas overthe weekend. the state of emergency was declared in glendale east of dallas where up to 50 poems homes were dallas. train cars were knocked off the unseasonable weather caught the area off guard. >> it's kind of unusual this is not the time of the year to wrap up and prepare. >> in washington, d.c. the d.c. cherry blossoms were in ploochlt and new york city stourists tourists seemed to bed in ice 68. >>> we have your forecast in a few minutes. . >>> there has been another deadly officer involved shooting saturday near

nbc tracy potts joins us from walk. good morning, tracy. figures. >> reporter: sure, gigi, these numbers tell us what would happen before every top candidate before hillary clinton if that would happen today. donald trump is still the a look, he would have a hard time beating hillary clinton if that election happened today, losing by 10 percentage points, ted cruz who is surging among republicans would lose to clinton by three percentage points. interestingly, those at the top of the field you see there for the republicans can't seem to beat her right now. but the next two candidates could, ben carson, despite a huge slip in our national poll would still beat hillary clinton by one point and marco rubio could beat herbie three points, which is really the biggest spread right now. so it's an interesting pick when you take a look at the fact that those that republicans are most supporting are least likely to beat hillary clinton or unable to beat hillary clinton, but those that are sliding in the poll, they're not doing nearly as well actuall

we want to bring in nbc's tracie potts for reaction to the president's speech. tracie, i watched the speech last night, and the president, he seemed pretty forceful with his red rick and challenges to congress. any likelihood it's going make much of an impact before the end of the year? >> some of it. but let's talk about it. this no-fly list and people obtaining weapons, that's something they couldn't get passed last week right after the shooting, so that's unlikely. banning weapons, nobody needs those. they've tried and failed. the visa waiver program, let's take a look at that. ryan call thad disappointing and that's something that the house will vote on. it allows people from 38 countries to come into the united states without a visa and both sides of the state want to take another look at that and crack down on that. finally the use of military force probably not going to happen before the end of the year. it hasn't happened for months and we've been doing thousands of air strikes in syria and iraq. the president has been asked for this and it hasn't happene

"today in the bay" tracie potts live in washington with surprising new information, actually, uncovered so far by the fbi. good morning, tracie. >> good morning, laura and sam. some of it will be made public and the fbi director last night after testifying here on capitol hill talked about what he still thinks is the biggest threat. >> i think the most urgent threat that we faced here in the homeland is an externally inspired or potentially directed threat from terrorist groups. >> will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. >> tell directors what he could not say in public when he dropped this bombshell about the san bernardino shooters. >> they were radicalized before they started courting or dating each other online and online as early as the end of 2013, they were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom before they became engaged. >> that was before the rise of isis and malik to travel here on a fiancee veez. >> still too early to make any announcements about what could have been done differently. >> a year earlier farook was talking to his

nbc's tracie potts joins us live from capitol hill with more on last night's debate. tracie, i heard chuck todd call their arguments moments that will last. what's your take on it? >> reporter: it's interesting to take a look at the things that they were talking about. immigration, surveillance and whether or not the nsa should be bulk collecting our phone records and other data, national security, securing the border, what that takes. they have some substantive differences on those issues that we saw come out last night. did anyone get any leverage here? probably both of them to some degree depending on the issue. >> let's talk about donald trump and jeb bush. obviously a lot of eyes on them last night as well. a lot of strong language in some of their exchanges. >> jeb bush clearly went into this trying to improve his numbers. he has spent millions of dollars and it's just not showing up in the polls. donald trump responded to jeb bush the way that he's done so far, quite dismissive of bush saying, you know, he's a nice guy but he's just not serious enough. this was

in about ten minutes tracie potts will tell us what we're learning about other planned attacks. that's at 4:45. >>> also, it's been nearly three years since the sandy hook massacre where a lone gunman opened fire at an elementary school in connecticut. 26 of them died. 20 of them were children. this morning the relative os testify victims will ask for expansion of background checks on gun buyers. there will be a vigil tonight at st. mark's episcopal church on capitol hill. >>> foggy start to your morning but it's actually not as cold as yesterday. >>> "storm team 4" meteorologist chuck bell with the details. >> you're right, erika. it's anything but cold out there. we've got a fog filled sky and a sweaty ground so the leaves and the roads might be a little slippery in addition to the bad visibility. but we'll be seeing more breaks of sunshine than we saw yesterday, which wouldn't take much. our little december heat wave starts up tomorrow. and the weekend, i'm optimistic for most of it, but there may be a chance for a shower late. but we'll have more details in a little while. t

i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. "harry potter" author j-k rowling is the latest to condemn donald trump for his call to ban muslims from entering the u-s. in a tweet, rowling said "voldemort" was nowhere near as bad as the republican presidential frontrunner. voldemort is the lead villain in the series of "harry potter" books. rowling's fans are praising the author's remarks. gun sales in this country are spiking, in the aftermath of the san bernardino terror attack. in fact, stock in smith and wesson has soared to its highest level in eight years. people's concerns about their safety, and fears of potential new gun laws, are often cited as driving factors. on sunday, president obama asked congress to make it harder for people on the government's "no-fly" list to buy guns. he also said it should be harder for all americans to buy assault apons. oscar pistorius will remain under house arrest pending his sentencing for his murder conviction, after a south the olympic athlete today. last week, south africa's supreme co

>> tracie potts line on capitol hill. thank you, tracitracie. you can hear donald trump on "today" this morning after "news4 today." >> they tried to give him cpr but he passed away. >> former president jimmy carter are in mourning today. carter's grandson died suddenly saturday night. the 91-year-old shared his personal tragedy during sunday school at his church. he said 28-year-old jeremy wasn't feeling well and went to lie down. when they went to check on him, he wasn't breathing. they rushed him to the hospital but they couldn't revive him. during his lesson president carter reflected on the life he and his wife had. >> he was full of life. from the time he was a little boy he was a special child to us. >> the death comes just two weeks after carter revealed his own battle with brain cancer was successful. >>> new charges coming up for a stabbi in a high school classroom. that's because baltimore police say the teenager who was attacked died last night. t.j. smith was 17. the tenth grader who stabbed him faces attempted murder charges but th

tracie potts has more. << there are wind turbines spinning in 39 states, providing about five percent of the country's electricity. the energy department says producing power with natural gas and coal may be less expensive - but wind is cleaner. jose zayas / wind & water power technologies / energy dept. "that is a lot more than just economics - it's about leaving for our children a cleaner environment." taxpayers have been subsidizing oil and natural gas production for decades. more recently, green energy sources - like wind and solar - are getting tax breaks. this latest one year extension for wind supports hannah hunt / american wind energy association "that includes jobs in construction- in development - in maintenance and also in cons- ah - in manufacturing." one group that advocates for limited government - calls the tax break 'corporate welfare.' christine harbin - deputy director federal affairs - americans for prosperity "they're spending millions of dollars - lobbying congress in order to slip these extensions of the wind production tax credit into these end of year deal

. >>> "today in the bay" tracie potts following developments minute by minute. now, tracie, even if a deal is made, it might not be legally binding and congress wants to take a look. >> exactly. that's likely what we'll hear. part of what we'll hear from president obama. a news conference just got under way a few minutes ago. he has been meeting this morning with small island nations and we want to make sure that their interests are represented here and also overnight the white house announced there are more companies, american companies that are interested in doing business as green companies, essentially. what we're seeing here is that more private investment may be happening, but the big question is going to be, what about these 150 or so companies or countries that have gathered, are they going to be able to come up with some sort of deal? new this morning, the white house is announcing 73 more american companies promising to go green. reducing emissions by as much as half and converting to 100% renewable energy. >> this is the moment we finally determined we

i'm tracie potts, back to you. >>> sunshine now and temperatures into the 40s. here's a look at the next 12 hours. by 2:00 this afternoon, hovering in the mid 50s with just some clouds coming on through. and then by late afternoon, by 6:00 p.m., under a partly cloudy sky, getting chilly, back down to 50. by mid to late evening should be dipping back down to the mid to upper 40s. i love this photo that was posted from yesterday morning. frost on an autumn leaf that was coasted by candace trimble on my twitter page. love seeing your photos. no travel problems for the afternoon or for the evening rush hour or tomorrow morning's rush hour. all green lights for traveling around the region as we stay dry. >> thank you, tom. >>> today marks one year since a deadly plane crash in gaithersburg, maryland. six people were killed in that cras crash. >> the biggest blessing i have is having my daughter around, you know? without her it would have been just hard to move on just knowing everything i used to have is gone. at least i have her to kind of remind me of my wife and m

tracie potts will have the latest on the debate and which candidates are gaining ground in about ten minutes. >>> we know we've got warm weather in las vegas. and we have mild weather across the region here. but it is breezy outside. look at our live tower camera. it was shaking a second ago. gusts up to 30 miles per hour. there we go. shaking again. that wind will stick with us throughout the day. not dying down until 7:00 this evening. current temperatures, holding on to 60 degrees in manassas. shenandoah valley coming up a bit. again, right around 60 degrees today across the nbc viewing area. you can see it will be nice as winds are calm into the evening. getting into the weekend, big changes. going feel more like christmas around here. we have that forecast coming up. >> thank you, lauren. >>> now on news 4 midday, an emotional moment here in washington. >>> why the loss of this police dog from paris will be in the hearts and minds of many here in our nation's capital today. >>> and we're sharing the warmth here on new 4 midday. these are live pictures from alexandria where we ar

tracie potts for us on the hill. thank you. his statement said in part, quote, this week the house will vote on a bipartisan bill to update our visa waver program to reduce the risk of extremists entering the country from abroad, end quote. he said only the commander in chief can provide a comprehensive plan. the msnbc tell money dough harris poll said 36% are worried about a terror atask. 31% about a growing gun. 60% are most concerning about terrorism versus 22% of democrats while 42% of democrats are concerned about gun violence versus 22% of republicans. >>> the president of liberty university is defending his comments on terrorism. jerry falwell jr. said more students should have conceal carry permits. he passed a rule. he said, end those muslims and his comments were taken out of context. >> of course, i was referring to what happened in san bernardino to those muslims, not muslims in general. and i'm not backing off anything. i'm just saying the last part of my sentence was drowned out by cheers and applause. >>> falwell

>> tracie potts live on capitol hill. thank you, tracy. >> happening today, president obama makes a rare trip to the pentagon. he is meeting with his national security team to talk about the fight against the islamic state. he will then deliver a statement. the president addressed the nation last week regarding terrorism and anti-muslim feelings here in the u.s. >>> a new report conducted by nbc news finds it costs the san bernardino shooters less than $5,000 to plan their deadly attack. two journalists added up the costs. the total came to about $4,500. the report also found that most of the items were relatively easy to gather. the lieutenant governor in california says the ease at which the shooters built their arsenal is cause for concern. >>> two children and a school principal are believed to be among the dead. air strikes killed dozens of people yesterday. they hit the suburbs of damascus. >> today in annapolis, the yacht club will work with leaders to find a new temporary spachls maryland governor larry hogan toure

nbc's tracie potts joins us now with more and tracie, good morning to you. this report is just stunning. >> reporter: yeah. it's interesting, ever heard of something called porch pirating? what they call when thieves drive behind the delivery truck and as soon as it's delivered on your porch, they grab it. so now, some of the big delivery companies out there, fedex and u.p.s., are putting out tips particularly during the holiday season to give you an idea of what to do so that this doesn't happen to you. first of all they say, require a signature. that way someone's got to be at home, and make sure you ship the package somewhere that's occupied. send it to work. or to a friend's house when they're going to be home. having it sit on the porch all day, not such a hot idea. use some of those free services that are online to not only track but alert you when the package has arrive, when the package is on the way. fedex even has a system where you can go online and re-route the delivery, say, if your plans change, you're not going to be at home or something chang

tracy potts, nbc news, washington. >>> in today's money report, a big win for uber drivers, that could mean you'll be paying more for a ride. bill griffith, hey. >> hey guys, we have a rally on wall street right now, but the federal reserve has begun its two days of the meetings and traditionally the market does rally before the fed makes an announcement of some kind, which is expected tomorrow at 2:00. what would be more interesting is how the market trades after presuming that it does rate rates for the first time in nine years tomorrow. but in the meantime, dow's up 193 points is just off the highs for the session. here's an important reason the fed is likely to raise rates. consumer prices are going up. morning's report, known as the consumer price index rose an annual rate of 2%. that is precisely the inflation rate that the fed has been waiting to see it started raising rates. just green lights that ian further. higher prices for cars, medical care, and airline tickets had the greatest influence. more than offsetting the lower prices that we've been enjoying for gasoline lately.

tracie potts, nbc news, watch watch. >> they'll continue to duke it out. 4:41. up next, rowdy, unruly passengers, disrupting flights a growing problem. law enforcement not keeping up with the times. we investigate disruption in the skies putting your safety at risk but with little consequence. >>> got a tip for nbc bay area's investigative unit, e-mail theunit@nbcbayarea.com. nbc bay area, investigate. >>> we are pairing -- our weather and traffic is like the missing man in the room. we'll get to mike -- >> he's got a lot going on with the eastshore freeway issue. >> so do you. >> it's cold out there, too. >> the heater is up on full blast this morning. it's freezing in some spots. so as you head out, you'll want to make sure you're wearing a heavier coat and make sure the kids are bundled up, too. let's take a live look outside looking at the pay bridge from at&t park. we start out with clear skies and a light breeze and very cold air, the coldest we've had so far this week. now looking at all of the temperatures across the bay area, 37 degrees in livermore and

nbc's tracie potts is in washington for us this morning. tracie could that detente between trump and cruz actually be over? >> well, it's possible. and if you take a look at the numbers, cruz certainly has a reason to take on trump. especially with ben carson out of the way in some of the latest polls. now we're taking a look this morning at a bunch of numbers when it comes to donald trump, as you said, for people who thought he'd be off the radar by now he seems to be defying the odds. his numbers are growing. as signs declaring him a racist go up at donald trump's d.c. hotel, and rivals urge him to leave the party -- >> don't let the door hit you in the butt. >> reporter: our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll show 77% of republicans like trump's style. >> people are saying, you know, trump is right. but more than half of americans think his plan to ban muslims is wrong. >> the front-running candidate for president, he's not a serious man. >> reporter: trump canceled his trip to israel amid criticism. >> most people are relieved that

nbc's tracie potts joins us with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: eun, good morning.ber 11th is the deadline. congress has known it for a few months. here we are at the very end trying to figure out if they're going to be able to work out this $1.1 trillion budget. there are only three options. they can extend the current funding again, another temporary extension. they can come to an agreement on the budget or they can do nothing and we're looking at a potential government shutdown which is what both sides want to avoid. there are some roadblocks in the way. planned parenthood. this has been an issue for several months, particularly with conservatives in congress who want to defund planned parenthood, take those federal dollars out of planned parenthood because of the abortion issue. even some who oppose planned parenthood don't think that will end up being the hangup for the budget but it can certainly be an issue. obamacare, another vote to roll back obamacare. that's likely to happen in the senate tomorrow although they could put things off for a day, it probably

tracie potts - nbc news. >> turning our attention overseas, police in vienna, austria have christmas and new year's. intelligence services tipped off several european capitals to the possibility of a shooting or bomb attack through january first. no events have been canceled, and vienna police say there are no knoww concrete threats fofoa specific place and time. the iraqi arar says its troops have pushed deeper into the last remaining district held by isis in the key city of ramadi. ramadi fell to isis miltants in may. recapturing it would be among the most important victories for iraq's armed forces since the extremists swept across a third of the country in 2014. the assault is getting air support from the u-s lele coalitioio the israeli army says its forces shot dead two palestinians who had stabbed a solider today at a west bank checkpoint. the military said the pair of attackers stabbed the soldier at a gas station. the soldier was moderately wounded. forces on the scene opened fire

tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >>> at 35. happening today at all three major bay area airports as it makes its final descent now. until today sjc only allowed and with uber-x riders will have to pay a surcharge for any airport pickups. there is no surchrnlg for uber fares that begin off site. they will have designated areas for pickup. they begin today at noon just in time for the holiday travel. >> the timing is very convenient there. that's the good thing for travelers. you might be encountering some rain, though, if you get an early start on your holiday. let's check in and find out what's going on with kari. >> a lot of rain from this afternoon to the next few days. it seems like at this point it is all going down hill as far as the traveling and the delays. but we really do need this rain, once again, as it continues to move into ucia we'll see it move into the north bay as we go later into the morning and farther to the south throughout the day. this system moving from north to south. we'll see that moving into about th

tracie potts joins us live from washington. >> good morning. >> can you take us through the latest figures? >> absolutely. these are the democrat-republican matchups. sbh interesting. not necessarily beating clinton. clinton versus trump, she'd beat him by 10 percentage points if the election was today. clinton versus cruz, she'd beat him by three. cruz has been surging on the republican side. still not enough to beat hillary clinton. some of the lesser ranked republicans fair better against the other side. dr. ben carson who you said had the slide is winning independents, which allows him to edge by clinton by one point. marco rubio does better than any of the other republicans, beating clinton by 3 percentage points. he wins independents and she wins with hispanics. that skews things in his favor. we'll see what happens at the debate tonight, and how often the clinton name might come up. >> tracie potts in dc, thank you for that. >>> will ferrell bridnging backa legendary "snl" persona, president george w. bush. >> the republican field is messed up. makes you miss me, doesn't it? jeb, oh

. >> well, coming up, tracie potts will have more on classified briefing law makers will get with about how the shoulding suspects became radicalized. >>> in just a few hours, we'll know if your rush hour commute on i-66 will get more expensive. the plan only affects rush hour. the toll would let you pay to use the lanes without a car pool. you'll still be able to use the road for free if you car pool during rush hour. now, when rush hour is over, the tolls go away and the road returns to normal. so big changes could be on the way for i-66. interesting to see what happens there. >> changes in the weather, not likely. we are enjoying this warm pattern, chuck. >> i'll bet. we'll be enjoying it more when the heating bill shows up and we've saved about 20% or 30%. you can start to see the hint of fog trying to form over southern montgomery county. it will be a cloudy day. areas of locally thick fog. we'll have to fight for any little bit of sunshine we'll get today. and it will be anything but cold here. wait until you see the weekend forecast at 4:51. right now 36 gaithersburg, 32 manassas

tracie potts is in washington with the latest matchup just released at midnight. >> i think i'm going to be the one that beats hillary clinton. >> reporter: but our numbers show right now he can't. brand-new at midnight both donald trump and ted cruz would lose to hillary clinton if the election were held today. trump by ten points. cruz by just three. ben carson and marco rubio could both beat her, but they're not topping the field. >> i think i'm going to win. you know, i'm not one of these other guys that goes down. i don't go down, i go up. >> reporter: ted cruz has the momentum now leading in iowa and within five points of trump nationally. the cruz team tweeted this photo fielding 4,000 phone calls in iowa this weekend. with fresh criticism from his rival. >> when it comes to experience in congress, you have almost 9,000 years worth of it. i don't know that that is really the correct answer. >> each time he's the to choose between strong national defense and some of the isolation tendencies in american politics we've seen. and this is an important issue to have a debate over. >>

tracie potts from d.c. for us. thank you, tracie. >>> nevada prosecutors have filed charges against lakeisha holloway for sunday's rampage on the vegas strip. holloway is due in court later this morning where she'll be arraigned on charges of murder with a deadly weapon. child abuse. and felony hit and run. the latter alone punishable by up to 20 years in prison without parole. the district attorney says they may file more charges as the investigation continues. she's being held without bail. authorities say one person was killed and more than 30 injured when holloway repeatedly drove her car onto a sidewalk on the strip. ramming into multiple groups of people before then driving off. >>> for the first time since the military determined he would face court-martial former u.s. p.o.w. sergeant bowe bergdahl appeared in military court at ft. bragg in north carolina. bergdahl was arraigned on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. he did not enter a plea. bergdahl was held for five years by the taliban a