blayne alexander is tracking all the action for us. hi, blayne. >> reporter: you're. in the senate, both sides republicans and democrats are laser focused on nomineerett kavanaugh. republicans want to see him on the supreme court and quickly and democrats are trying to stop him any way thean. it's the first in a series ofet? sit-downs and supreme court nominee breath cavanaugh escorted bypr vicident mike pence face to face with chuckan grassley mitch mcconnell. >> we look forward t working very closely withour leader. >> reporter: cavanaugh must win over moderate republicans lisa murkowski and susan collins, both of whom supported cavanaugh's lower court appointment and now. >> his role as a circuit court judge is very different than a supreme urt judge. >> reporter: after 12 years on te bench cavanaugh has a lengthy paperil of writings and decisions to come under scrutiny. >> you can see time and time again a pattern where i don't see thi spark of independence. i see someone who is very conservative >> reporter: democrats slamming him on everything from gunro contl t

nk you, blayne. blayne alexander in alexandria. >>> today was the last day for the supreme court's so-called swing vo supreme court justice anthony kennedy is leaving the bench. 92 of his majority opinions were decided in a 5-4 vote. the 82-year-old ruled on some of the biggest cases in the country including gay rights and abortion. earlier this month preside trump nominated federal appeals court brett kavanaugh to reple kennedy. >>> new details cing out this afternoon about two deadly and dangerous roads in loudoun county. evergreen mills road and watson road have been the scenes of many crashes, including the recent food truck tragedy that took the life of an ashbu woman. the county ordered a safety audit of the roads, afternoon the public will hear what's been learn. he meeting takes place from 6:30 t0tit ho school in leesburg. >>> you know, there's nothing more special thanid a being able to make their bedroom their own, put their own stamp on it, you know, but for those who are dealt unfortunate

blayne? >> reporter: and, wendy, the opening statements have now come and ne, and those jurors will now begin to listen to testimony, ren to idence, and over the course of the next few days they will not only decide the fate of pau manafort but issue the first real referendum on robert mueller's investigation. once the man i chargef donald trump's presidential campaign. >> paul manafort has done an amazing job. >> rep mter: today paulanafort on trial. it's the first related to special counsel robert r'muelle russia investigation, but not focusing on election meddling. during opening statements the prosecution painting manafort ad greedy a hiding millions he earned ason altant with the ukrainian government. his defense, pointing the finger rt rick gates, manafort's for number two and now a star government witness saying manafort trusted the wro man. the outcome of this trial cld have major implications on muel br's probe. ause this is really going to be the first time that an official body, na

blayne alexander is here to try to break it all down for us. blayne? >> reporter: and doreen, that hearing was certainly something to see. you know, a lot of people on social media todayaying that it was more like a reality show than a congressional hearingay teter strzok for the very first time had the chance to defend himself pubically during that very contentious hearing. >> i'll begin by swearing you in. >> reporter: i agent peter strzok in his own words. >> you want me to read this. >> omg, he's andi . >> reporter: once a top investigator in the russia probe, today forced to read his owext messages that got him removed from that investigation. trump is a disaster, we'll stop it. >> reporter: and listening es those mess led by house republicans trying to prove the investigation was potically motivated before it gan. >> f trump, trump is a disaster. just went to a southern virginia wal-mart. i could smell the trump support. reporter: strzok said the messages he exchanged with fbi lawyer lisa page never influenced > s actions. u need to understand th

blayne alexander is on capitol for to break this all down us today. >> hi, blayne. >> reporter: during that news conference we saw two very different approaches for president trump so on iran he signalled that he's happy to sit down with the country's leaders to work out a new deal, a when comes to congress he had a ecry blunt message. fund borderity or he'll shut down the government. >> president trump talking trade with t it nan prime minister and facing questions not about tariffs but ahreat to congress. the president tweeting that he's willing tohehut down government unless he gets funding for the border wall. >> i would have no-no problem during a shut doup.e it's t we had proper border security. we're the laughing sck of the world. we have the worst immigration laws anywhere in the world. >> reporter: and or leveling a fi and furry-like threat against iran the president announcing today he's willing to et face to face with president rue happy to work out a new nuclear de. >> no preconditions, no. if they want to meet, i'll meet. any time they want. any time they want. it's good f

blayne alexander is tracking trade and tariffs tonight for us, blayne? >> reporter: certainly, there's a lot to track on that frontea ng to that same group today the president promised american farmers that the tarils w pay off eventually. today his administration says that help is on the promising billions of dollars in emergency aid, but critics s that they have a better idea. stop the trade war that made it necessar in the first place. with the trade war heating up, president trump sending help to american farmers caught in the crossfire. this is the time to take off the rip-off of tariffs. we have to do it. >> reporter: the administration nouncing $12 billion in temporary aid for farmers hit hard by retaliatory tariffs. >> i it's two yea we'll have a lot of problems. >> reporter: president trump made it clear that the trade war is not ending soon saying that tariffs are the greatest and promising this eventual happy ending for supporters. >> farmers will be the biggest beneficiary. watch. we're opening up marke. to watch what's going happen. just be

blayne alexander joins us now to break it all down for us. blayne? >> reporter: yeah, pat.sel defin say to say that for the most part senate republicans and democrats alike are really making judge brett kavanaugh their mission. republicans want to see him on the supreme court, and democrats want toim stop no matter what. it's the fst in a series of senate t-sidowns. supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh escort by vice president mike ps face toace with top republicans chuck grassley and mitch mcconnell. >> weer look closely looking th your leader. >> reporter: frienayy turf t but tougheruestions and roads ahead. he must win over republicans lisa murkowski and susan collins and now -- >> his role as a circuit judge is very different from a supreme court judge. >> reporter: after 12 years on the bench, cavanaugh has a length paper trail of decisions and writings certain to come under scrutiny. one likely point of contention, abortion rights and his opposition to allowing aeenage immigrant to get an abortion. >> you see time and time again a pattern where i don't see this spark

here's blayne alexande to tell us what happens next. blayne? >> reporter: wendy, that's exactly why the timing of this is getting so much attention and really raing so many questions now. of course, today's indictment lays out an elaborate scheme that was pulled off by a group of russian officials so t now big question, what exactly will president trump say when he's face to face with russia's leader? today, deputy attorney general rob rosenstein announcing indictment of 12ussian intelligence officers accused of attacking the democratic nationalommittee and hillary clinton's campaign, a bold attempt to sway t6 2 presidential race. >> 11 of the defendants are chard with conspiring to hacking computers, stealing document and releasing those documents with the intent to inrfere in the election. >> reporter: while rosenstein says there's no allegation this affected the election result, these indictments are the mos direct accusation yet that the russian government was behind a comple hacking scheme that began months before election day. >> it's imp

blayne alexander is here to tell us why the company is now folding. blayne? >> reporter: yeah, wendy. that brand ofum ivanka products, including purses and handbags and shoes will soon be no more. in a statement today the company is calling it a very difficult decision for ivanka trump who said in her own statement that after 17 months in washington she doesn't know if or when she will return to the business, and e's calling this the only fair outcome for her team. but this brand really has struggled wh sales i recent months. this is something that's kind of become at symbolic tar for people who are critical of her father, of president trump and olicies. we've seen stores like nordstrom's stop carrying the brand in recent months citing low sal and even seen boycotts for the ivanka trump products. of course, there's a question os why wouldhe not sell the company and keep it going. in the past ivanka trump says she doesn't want to sell the brand becauseti essly that would be selling the trump name and whoever pies it would then be able to leverage the president

blayne alexander joining us now from capitol hill with the details on this. blayne? >> reporter: yeah, during this afternoon's news conference with president trump we saw two very different approaches. he says he's happy to sit down with the levered iran to work out a new detaal. but to congress his message was blunt. pay for borderity or i'll shut down the government. president trump talking trade with theme italian pinister and face questions not about tariffs but a threat to congress. the presint tweeting he is willing to shut down the government unless he gets fuing for the border wall. >> i would have no problem doing a utwn. it's time we had proper border security. we're the laughing stock of the world. we have the worst immigration laws anywhere in the world. >> reporter: and a week after leveling a foyer and fury-like threat against iran, the president today announcing he's willing to meet face to face with president rouhani to work out a new nuclear deal. >> no preconditions, no? they wan to meet i'll meet, any time they want. any time they want. it's good f

patn the. >> blayne alexander, thanks, blayne. >>> right now hundreds of landscape professionals fromoss the country are volunteering their time and their talent for a dayf service at arlington national cemetery. we're going to introduce you to some of the people who are helping honor the nation's veterans and >>> we have some breaking news right now. good news for you. thoy two little missing in montgomery county have been found unharmed and they are fine. we told you about 9-year-old chris wilson and 14-year-old reginald wilson earliern this newscast. police say the pair were found today walking down the street i gaithersburg. they are both fine. that'sood news. > well, now that tap water is safe to drink again in d.c., water officials say they are reviewing ways t better warn customers about water problems in the future. theoil waterdvisory wased lift yesterday. a malfunction at a pumping station led to the advisory being issued onrn friday ing, but it took hours for d.c. water to notify the public. >> we were able to take care of the malfunctionhat occurred. we're investigating th

thank you, blayne. blayne alexander. vladimir putin's invite to visit washington is now on hold. this coming as secretary of enate mike pompeo faced questions frome foreign relations committee. pompeo had a somewhat testy exchange with thee' comms top democrat abo the president's closed-door summit with putin. >>te did h you what transpired in the two-hour meeting? >> i had a number of reconversations withdent trump about what transpired in the meeting. i was present when he and president putin both gave us a sense of what the discovered. senator, i understand the game you're playing. t we don't know what the truth is, and only way we will know what the truth is, what transpired in those two hours, is by understanding that at ou least if were briefed by the president what he told you. >> when asked,ompeo said he has not talked with the translator who president trump and vladimir putin. >>> today, a suspected speci agent for russia was in federal court. maria butina'sttorney wants her released from jail until a possible trial. butina is accused of gathering intelligence on america

blayne alexander, washington. >>> our political analyst join us, president trump sided with vladamirsee this morning in terms of watching this unfold with the world. >> first of all, it's hard to know what happened when you talk about the meeting. why? nobody was therexc interpreters. there were no noteakers. typically you have note takers so when it's out and done reporters get a read-out. we know nothing of what happened except what we heard after the press conference. what does that leave us with what president trump really said? given his reputation for inability to tell the truth or at least mend it, it's hard to know and we have to rely on this meeting. >> what surprised you the most at that news conference? >> surprised? i was astonished because he threw his intelligence community under the bus. at the time of his inauguration, 17 agency heads, all relating to intelligence said the russians interfered. astonished because last friday, director of national intelligence, dan coats, said the russians were still interfering. it was red light blinking time as it was like 9/11. aston

let's get more from nbc 4'sex blayne der. >> reporter: that tape is certainly stirring up a lot of debatenot over just what's being said in the recording but the intent behind it.ng we're g to play part of that tape forou and let you decide. the head othe european commission at the white house ted as president trump's trade war heats , but there is another battle brewing over his own recorde words. >> mr. president, are you worried about what michael cohen going to say to prosecutors? >> keep going. >>ed are you worri about what is on the other tapes, mr. president? >> reporter: tapes recorded in 2016 by the president's former attorney michaelnd cohen a first aired by cnn. cohen and candidate trump discussing money to silence "playboy" model karen mcdougal and her claims ofn affair, which the white house has denied. >> when it comes time to thefi ncing, which will be -- >> listen, what financing?ha we'l to -- >> we'll have to pay this off. >> reporter: at issue, whether there was an effort to conceal the payment, a potential violation of campaign finance laws. >> no, no, no, no, i got - o

blai bldene alex thanks, blayne.ined up with other spouses and world leaders for a photo-op. the man is prime minister of luxembourg. -sex marriage became legal in luxembourg in 2015. >>> four years sinelha rudd disappeared without a trace. this afternoon, volunteers and d.c. police were back out in the community handing out flyers, continuing the search. relisha was just 8 years old when she vanished from the homeless shelter at d.c. generaw where s living. she was last seen with a janitor who investigators believe he killed himself. investigators have not turd up any new clues what happened to relisha. her disappearance and effort o fi what happened to her is today's talk around town. taylor, all these years later, emotions still really running high about this high-profile case. ut >> absy. the concern for our listeners is we still don't know whatpp ed to this little bright young girl who had her whole life ahead of her. of course our listeners, their hearts break for those that have anyone that is missing, but whe

>> blayne alexander, thanks, blayne. >>> a hate crime caught on camera. ou probably have seen the vide a man berating a woman for the shirt she's wearing. new today her response and her tough words for the police officer nearby. >>> plus, a local teenager comes in contact withoi anous plant. why it took him so long to realize something w. wro nothing wrong with the weather air, melia. >> exactly, pat, but we could use the rain. not a lot in the forecast, but i'm going to break down when you could see a few showers and thunderstormsver the next few days coming up. >>> we're heard the warnings about a poisonous hogweed plant in our area, and now we're seeing its harmful effects. erika gonzalez joins us with a look at how one local teenager suffered serus burns from this. erika? >> reporter: pat, a 17-year-old from northern virginia is now in the hospital because of those burns. a warning. some of this video is hard to watc 17-year-old alex childress was working as a landscaper in w spotsylavnn he thought he was cutting down just another bush. some of i fall

blayne? >> reporter: doreen and jim, that's just some of the criticism that we saw after the news conference earlier this morning. a lot of the criticismfr coming right here on capitol hill, brds like shameful and not a good momentng used to describe it, and those are from fellow republicans. >> here inashington all eye are on the helsinki summit, specifically what the president said or didn't say to vladimir putin about russi meddling in the 2016 election. >> president trump had three opportunities to speak to this dand refu every single time to criticize putin. r orter: not only refusing to call out vladimir putin but refusing twl ackge russia even interfered. >> i beat hlary clinton easily and declining to say whether het believed u.s.ligence or a strong denial from putin. >> i have confidence in both parties. >> cou have pushed back and d reed with his own intelligence team. e opportunity to do it, and he decided not to the. >> on capitti hill csm cross party lines. republican senator joh

blayne alexander reporting live. pat?me ago the miami marlins baseball team suspended ties wi papa john's, the latest fallout over the company's founder's use of the "n" word. john schnader resigned as chairman of the board after admitting to using a racial slur during all conference in may. "fo hes" reportede used the slur during a media training exercise. he stepped down as ceo last year after blaming slow sales growth on nfl players kneeling during the national anthem. >> a tribute to two trail blazers in the district. they find their place on a new mural near ben's chili bowl. >> wendy rieg is in the newsroom with more on that coming up. wendy. >> reporter: washington is honoring the stars of baseball when it hosts thel- ar game next week and more on a newal muhat honors mamie johnson and josh gibson and a look at the legacy that these players have left behind. you head to amazon because you think you're going to get the est deal there, but did you know there are certain items that you'll find cheaper whenyo u shop so

nbc's blayne alexander joins us from washington, d.c. with the closer look at judge kavanaugh and his political roots. >> reporter: judge brett kavanaugh, a one-time clerk for justice anthony kennedy, tonight picked to fill his supreme court seat by president trump. >> there is no one in america more qualified for this position, and no one more deserving. >> reporter: a d.c. appeals court judge, kavanaugh once served under president george w. bush and also under kenneth starr, the special prosecutor in the clinton lewinsky scandal. though conservative, the he did not pick based on ideology. >> i did not ask about personal op judge's political views, but whether they can set aside those views tothe law and the constitution require. >> reporter: kavanaugh vowing to be fair. >> i will keep an open mind in every case, and i will always strive to preserve the constitution of the united states and the american rule of law. >> reporter: now the focus shifts to the senate and what promises to be a fiery confirmation battle. >> hey hey, hoho, kav

here's nbc's blayne alexander >> reporter: today deputy attorney general rod rosenstein announcing thesian intelligence officers accused of packing the democratic national committee and hillary clinton's campaign. a bold attempt to sway the 2016 presidential race. >> 11 of the defendants are charged with conspireing to hacking into computers, steal documents, and release those documents intent to interfere in the election. >> reporter: while rosenstein says there is no allegation thi affected the election results, these indictments are the most direct accusation yet that the russian government was behind a complex hacking scheme that began months before election day. >> it is important for us to avoid thinking politically as republicans or democrats and instead to think patriotically as americans. >> reporter: rosenstein said he told the president about the indictments earlier this week. today president trump saying this about the investigation. >> i would call it a witch-hunt. i would call itted rigged witch-hunt >> reporter: the timing notable. president trump is set to meet with vla

yol right, blayne alexander, thank >>> 15 weeks to go before the mid-term elections and we havena snapshot of what voters all across the country are thinking. a new nbc news "the wall stree journal" survey suggests president trump's overall job oneoval rate ticked up point from june to 45%. 52% of registered voters disapprove of his job performance, but the president's standi among his base, the republicans, is at an all-time high of 88%. he loses support, however, when it comes to his handlin of russia. only 26% of voters approve while 51% disapprove. now, youw need to k half this poll was conducted before president trump's summit with vladimir putin and half was conducted after it. >>> new at 6 when you need a ride with a ride-sharing compant you tou'll get home safely but a prince william county woman says lyft driver sexually assaulted her last week. policest ar' mir sammi handuk. the woman says he was about to drop her off and then attacked eer. this happened in gainesville area. she contacted lyft and then called police. handuk is charged with rape. he's been locked up without bond.

thank you, blayne alexander. nbc news will bri you the president's pick live with special coverage led by lester holt andhe nbc news political team. that will will come your way tonight at 9:00 right here on nbc 4. we hope you can join us. >>> checking some of todaops other stories now. bail weinstein is out on after pleading not guilty to a new round of sex crime charger >> his law maintains the former movie mogul never forced anyone to have sex. >> mr. weinstein is not a predator he's not a rapist, and i believe that when this case is over we willim uely see him to be exonerated. >> reporter: weinstein previously pleaded not guilty to sex cme accusations from two other women. convicted, he faces a maximce sentf life in prison. >>> the most recent case of poisoning by nerve agent in the uk is now had a homicide investigation. a woman died on sunday after she and her partner became sick. detectives believed they were exposed to a high dose of poison made in the soviet union during the cold war. it's the same a ne

. >> blaynxander, thank you, blayne. to our weather now. today brought some reliel from he rain we've seen across our region over the past weekend. wasn't that sunshine nderful. >> mm-hmm. >> chopper 4 is up over the potomac this afternoon where it's america you're just over 4 eet in most spots and it's actually well below flood level. >> might be tempting for those who arerying to navigate the rapids. and a restaurant temporarily closed after that happened during dinnerervice yesterday. part of the ceiling collapsed in they hope to reopen the restauennt this week >> cleanup is also underway in rock creek part where all the rain and saturation ledre to toppling down. this is broad branch road in northwest. a guy who lives nrby captured this video showing the creek coming out of its bank and flooding out the >> as the cleanup gets underway today we're tracking more wet ather. >> b gentle with us, amelia. >> how about i start with th goodews. most of the day tomorrow is dry, but it's friday evening when i'm tracking a line of thunderstorms mo

blayne alexander, nbc news, washington. >> a $40 million yacht found vandalized. it belongs to secretary of education betsy devos. >> the crew discovered the boat on sunday and says that it suffered about $10,000 in damages. the yacht is usually docked at a marina near lake erie in ohio. detectives will look at surveillance footage to see if they can see who did this. both dev and her husband come from billionaire families. >>> omarosa has a new book deal this. book by the former "apprentice" contestant and aide president trump is called "unhinged." her publisher says uoit's,, explosive and, quote, jaw-dropping. it comes out august 14. omarosa joined the trump administration on janry 17 and left after a year. she said she would never vote gain.rump here's something you don't see again in the district? it's an unexpected surprise for police when they showed up to a d.c. home. that's just what you think it is. >>> and we've got plenty of sunshine out there, thank goodness, kind of a welcome sight across the region. a few showers and thunderstorms popping up across t

blayne alexander is here to break it down fororus. >> rr: this is typically a warm meeting, so this is certainly not the nato norm. today president trump began with some unusually blunt comments. the summit officials had not even started yet, but president trump already blastingie a over breakfast. >> we're going to have to do something becausege're not goo put up with it. >> reporter: the president scolding nato's secretary general. >> how can you be together when a country is getting its energy from the person you want protection against?nd >> reporter: a launching ts extraordinary personal attack against germany over its energy deal with anssia. >> ge as far as i'm concerned, is captive to russia, because it's getting so much of its energy from russia. >> when we stand together also dealing with russia, were stronger. i think what we have seen is -- >> no, you're just making russia richer. eporter: president trump complaining nato countries are not paying their fair share for defensen calling on them to double it. later digging even deeper, tweeting, what good is nato? the president

nbc's blayne alexander joins us now.resident do something completely unexpected at the last minute and goy with someb not on that test? >> rep doreen and wendy, absolutely possible. it'snow the caveat is tha not official until the official announcement is made from president trump, and we're still about three hours away now from that big announcement, but already we've seen members in both partiesy making it v clear how they intend to respond no matter who he chooses. this is the short list, four conservative appeals court judges set to be in the running to fill s an opent on the supreme court. president trump set to announce hisick onprimetime television framing the choice as the most important decision a u.s. president can make. >> it's going to have aasting impact on our juris prudence and on ourry and, therefore, you want to tryou tont c avoid surprises. >> reporter: reportedly leadi the pack, judges brett kavanaugh of d.c. and thomas hardiman of philadelphia according to an nbc source who says all four appeals court