i'm frances rivera. >> i'm phillip mena. president trump facing tough questions this morning over his relationship with russia, following a pair of bombshell reports. "the new york times" detailed an fbi investigation into whether the president himself was working for russia. while a "washington post" report claims the president concealed details about his face-to-face meetings with russian president vladimir putin, the president took to twitter in wake of these stories tweeting over two dozen times throughout the weekend. it started saturday morning with a volley of six tweets about the russia investigation specifically targeting the fbi and its former director james comey and the tweets ended with the president talking about everything from border security and the wall to his push to withdraw troops from syria.

i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. here is a story that's drawn international attention. a michigan man expected to facing espionage charges after russian authorities accused him of working as appea judge for a bail hearing. whelan flew to moscow in late december and was attending the wedding of a fellow former service member when he was arrested. nbc's lucy kov nafanov joins ush the latest. will whelan be able to come home anytime soon? >> quite the opposite actually. the judge is expected to extend paul whelan's arrest. his family is preparing for a long and drawn out case, at least two or more years, they say. they've been raising funds through a gofundme page because the legal bills are expected to skyrocket. this is not a trial to determine whether paul whelan is guilty or innocent of the espionage charges. they haven't said exactly what he's accused of doing, but if he's convicted, that could keep him in prison between 10 and 20 years. that's a very long sentence. whelan's appearance in court is to see whether or

i'm marlie hall. >> i'm frances rivera. your news continues right here.ryville >>> welcome to wednesday morning, january 2nd. another chilly start across the bay area. ay bridge this ear for a liv morning. you need that cloud cover to keep us warm. good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm scott mcgrew. marcus washington has the day off. vianey is here for kari hall, and mike inouye is back. >> you'll be a lot busier in the traffic department, mike, hopefully it's just the regular commute. we have clear skies like laura said. no:can, which means yes, it is cold. 36 degrees right now in san jose, and san jose isn't the only spot that's in the 30s.

i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm marlie hall. >> happy new year to you.ust a few hours ago, we watched the ball drop here in soggy and foggy new york city. that's where about 2 million people gathered to ring in 2019. >> dubai illuminated the sky with a light show on the tallest building in the world. and rio's copacabana beach party welcomed 2 million spectators. and on the west coast, the seattle space needle glowed at midnight. fireworks burst over the las vegas strip and san francisco's bay lit us from fireworks from a boat. dan scheneman has more from around the world. >> reporter: in new york, revelers refused to let the rain dampen a good time. a crowd in the hundreds of thousands jammed into times square to say good-bye to 2018 and welcome the new year. but before 2019 was celebrated in new york, it arrived in new zealand and australia. across the globe, fireworks filled the sky from pyongyang to paris. while at the vatican, pope francis welcomed the new year in prayer. 2018 is now history, and 2019 has just started. happy new year. dan scheneman,

i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm frances rivera. - at the cma foundation, we believe every child should have the access and opportunity to participate in quality music programs. i'm sara evans. music has always been a huge part of my life. music education isn't just important if you're going to make it your career. it also helps children develop the abilities that set them up for lifelong success. music is transformative and i want to ensure that it is never silenced. learn more at itstartswithme.org. (upbeat music) ad lib live picture - bay bridge already january 14th. halfway through the first month of the new year. a live look outside. that's beautiful. >> it is. >> lights glistening there near the bay bridge. hope you had a great weekend. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. we'll have a look at that traffic in a bit. not a lot of traffic right now. >> that's my report. tt weather. >> we'll have a lot going on this week. it starts out nice and quietr. we have this parkedn

i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. mostly of the country waking up to dangerously low temperatures, not seen in decades. the arctic blast is bringing brutal cold, snow and ice to the midwest, northeast, and even the deep south. chicago is opening warming centers around the city to provide some protection. amtrak announced last night all trains scheduled to and from chicago today are canceled. the u.s. postal service is suspending mail delivery today in minnesota, western wisconsin, iowa and western illinois. for more on this, we're joined now by nbc's ron mott in >> reporter: hey, phillip, good morning to you. folks here in chicago are waking up to some historic low cold temperatures here. depending on where you live in this metro area, anywhere from 20 to 25 below, with wind chills anywhere from 50 to 55 below 0 and there is a chance this could be the coldest day ever in recorded history in chicago. >>> hundreds of car accidents across several states where millions are bundled up, faced with life-threatening cold. fri

. >> i'm frances rivera. snow and freezing rain made for dangerous driving conditions across the midwest wednesday. police in fort wayne, indiana kept busy responding to crashes. two of the incidents involved semi trucks. one semi got partially stuck on a railroad track because of the ice and was struck by a train. fortunately there, were no injuries. but this isn't the end of the rough winter weather. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with our frigid forecast. good morning, bill. >> it's amazing because we're going from cold to warm back to cold and we've got these rainstorms and know snow and ice in the middle of it. the problem is going tonight flash flooding. 54 million people at risk of this. this includes boston, hartford, providence, new york city, philadelphia, baltimore, washington, d.c. a lot of our major cities. the problem is the ground is still frozeownfrom our last cold outbreak and we have a torrential amount of rain from north florida all the way into the southeast through the mid-atlantic

i'm frances rivera in for alex witt. good to see you in the day light, frances. and hello, everyone. i'm kendis gibson. today's headlines, cave man, stall for the wall, president pointless. president trump ending the government shutdown but getting no wall in return. he's still demanding that wall and he's giving lawmakers three weeks to make it happen and roger that. the president's long time friend and adviser roger stone is now facing criminal charges. he's accused of lying, obstruction and witnes

i'm frances rivera. cracking down on illegal immigration is a cornerstone of president trump's platform. now there's new evidence that another one of his golf clubs was employing undocumented workers. this one 30 miles out of manhattan. several former employees at the westchester county are coming forward to tell their exclusivey with kate snow. >> reporter: for 14 years, she worked in westchester county, new york. >> i liked painting, plumbing, everything we have to fix. >> in the apartment he shares he shows us his uniform and years of pay stubs. she was a seasonal housekeeper for three years, both puebla, mexico. they crossed the border on foot. >> reporter: why did you come here illegally? >> to give them a better life. >> reporter: you wanted to work? >> yeah. >> reporter: they both say they presented forged green cards and security cards when hired. >> reporter: they didn't ask any questions. >>ons,o nothing. >> did anyone direct you to get false documents? >> no. >> but he thinks people at the hig

i'm frances rivera in just hours, democrats will retake control of the house for the first time since 2011 as the 116th congress officially convenes. minority leader nancy pelosi is poised to regain the gavel. she would be the first lawmaker to retake the speakership since 1955. the party plans to use their newfound power to present bills that would end the government shutdown. they could hit a wall in the senate. nbc's tracie potts joins us from d.c. with the latest. tracie, what else is on the democrats' agenda? >> reporter: well, they want to investigate a number of things, of course russia, the idea of collusion, and also protecting the job of special counsel robert mueller. but there's some other things as well. they've put in document requests that haven't been responded -- they've gotte n from the trump administration. that is something they want to follow up on. now, the democrats are in charge of these investigative committees. family separation, voting rights, hate crimes agenda, not to mention the trump tax returns. but nancy pelosi, who you see here, as house speaker, is a

. >> i'm frances rivera.et's get right to bill karins tracking it all for >> one of them is located over the four corners region and the inother is c into california and this is going to cause all the problems and have all the big impacts as we go throughout the next 48 hours. so we had flash flood watches. remember all the fires that we had? we'll get a lot of the debris flows so widespread rain. flash flooding, debris andook california into the wet. some areas could get up to four fe of snow and huge wind impacts too and all of it is going coast-to-coast. >> the president's pick for ortorney general back in the hot seat thisng for day two of his confirmation hearing. senators grilled william rr with democrats zeroing in on his views on the russia probe. he promised to protect t mueller investigation. experts invited by lawmakers from both parties will speak about barr. blayne alexaer has the latest. >> the testimony you're about to give to this committee. >> president trump's pick for attorney general and t

i'm frances rivera. the shutdown showdown enters week two. today president trump will meet with top congressional leaders at the white house as they try to hammer out a deal to reopen the government but as of now, neither side is budging and with democrats retaking control of the house, there is no telling how long the partial shutdow could last. nbc's tracie potts joins u with the latest from d.c. they passed a pair of bills to reopen the government lt ght, but that went nowhere. >> reporter: it went nowhere because republicans on the other side are calling it a political. st they won't even consider it, even though they interestinglye paomething on a temporary basis last fall. but now they say without any money for the twall, president won't sign it. so they will not consider it. so, everyone heads bac tthe white house today to try to negotiate a way out of this shutdown, but then questhis morning, where does that negotiation begin? because t new house speaker, nancy pelosi, says president trump will get not one dime for this wall. >> is th

i'm marlie hall in for frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. the government is back in business employees will return to work. national monuments reopened over the weekend after president trump signed a measure to fund the government, but only for three weeks, which means we could go through this all over again. the president threatened to resume the shutdown on february 15th if he doesn't get the fund fog interest wall. nbc's kelly o'donnell has the latest. >> reporter: hand-made signs at one national park service visitor's center show the federal government is not fully back in business. but at some landmarks and monuments -- >> martin luther king -- >> reporter: park rangers returned to duty. >> this was not the first day of restored operations. tomorrow we'll see entire staffs back in. >> reporter: also on the job, the message makers. ushaping the next round ohe >> the chanc to prove whether or not they really do believe in border security and whether they're willing to go againsti orbeholden to their leadership that they're never going to

. >> i'm frances rivera. president trump's pick for the next attorney general is in the hot seat on capitol hill today. the confirmation hearing for william barr begins later this morning. for the next two days, senators will grill him on everything from his relationship with mr. trump to the russia investigation. barr has already said, if confirmed, he will let robert mueller finish his probe. nbc's susan mcennis joins us now from d.c. with what we can can expect to the. good morning. >> reporter: that's right, good morning. lawmakers very eager to hear from fired in lawmakers are sure to zero in on the russia investigation and whether barr can fairly oversee it. now, he has written testimony that nbc got hold of. it says he finds it vitally important that mueller his investigation, but it wasn't too long ago that barr sent a memo unsolicited, 20 pages long, to the justice department, talking about being highly critical of the mueller probe and questioning its scope and saying in its memo the president shoul

i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. as we recover fro watching that there. all right. to the news this morning. president trump will meet with topde congressional l for a third time this afternoon as the shutdown show own closes the three-week mark. the latest round of negotiations comes a dayfter the president's national address, making his case for border wall funding. shortly after top democratic leaders gave their rebeutueauty rebuttal. >> the w borderl would very quickly pay for itself. the cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a ar. vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from coress. >> the president is rejecting these bipartisan billshich would reopen government over his obsession with forcing americanw taxpayers tte billions of dollars on an expensive and ll ineffective a wall he always promised mexico would pay for. >> nbc's tracie potts joining us itnow from d.c. the very latest on this. tracie, good morning. this shutdown now the second longest in history. >> right, fellowshp.phil we're in day 19. two more days it will become the longest sh

i'm marlie hall in for frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. officials are confirming that a tornado briefly touched down in miami-dade county, florida. the winds were powerful enough to topple over a large truck and knock trees to the ground. homes in the area suffered minor damage. as of 10:00 p.m. last night, nearly 800 households across broward and miami-dade counties were without power. >>> severe weather wreaked havoc in south florida causing flight delays at the ft. lauderdale international airport. as of this morning no injuries have been reported. florida is expecting cooler than average temperaturesed the as the midwest and northeast brace for record cold temperatures. let's go now to nbc meteorologist bill karins tracking it all for us. good morning. >> germany. in many cases, this will be the coldest since the 1990s a long time ago. we're seeing an expansion of our watches and warnings in the area. now kansas city isof windchills. and couldo few spo today is kind of the warm-up act. then we're going to really plunge by the time we g

i'm frances rivera. breaking news out of cifornia. 3-year-old casey hathaway has been found alive after he was playing in his grandmother's yard and did not come back home. they shared the new late last night. >> we brought casey to his family like we said we were going to we did not give up. we were very persistent. the little fella is happy and his parents are very happy as well. when he saw us, his little sister had a big smile on his face. >> rescue crews found casey about 40 or 5 yards into a wooded area, not too far from where he went missing. the man heard the toddler asking for his mother and found him tangled in some thorny vines. you can imagine his parentsat ec about his return. >> he's good. he's up and talking. he's already asked to watch netflix. so he's good. he is good. >> that is a good sign. authorities say there was never any sign of an abduction. casey stayed overnight at a hospital forer ozatiationobserv >> we have now reached the 35th day of the government shutdown and nearly a mill

i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. president trump facing tough kbez about his relationship with russia following a pair of bombshell reports. "the new york times" details an fbi investigation into whether the president himself was working for russia. while the washington post reported claims the president concealed details about his face to face meetings with russian leader vladimir putin, the president took to twitter in wake of the stories, tweeting over two dozen times throughout the weekend and started saturday morn ing with a volley of six tweets about the russia investigation, specifically targeting the fbi and its former director james comey. the tweet storm ended with the president talking about everything from border security and the wall to his push to withdraw troops from syria. he also poked fun at one ofs had i 2020 competitors, senator elizabeth warren. he also took a jab at amazon c.e.o. and "washington post" owner jeff bezos who he dubbed jeff bozo. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more on this drama in d.c.

i'm frances rivera. millions wer a in the path of deadly winter blast this weekend. the storm contributed to at least seven deathsn the midwest. some of the hardest hit areas were missouri where several enter statesnd were shutdown many drivers left stranded. a delta plane slid off the tarmac sunday morning when arriving in northern kentuck where nearly 9 inches of snow fell. fortunately, there were no injuries. conditions led to the cancellations of more than 250 flight at three major airports serving the d.c. area. and virginiaic state p say they responded to more than 230 traffic crashes. the storm knocked out power for nearly 200,000 people in virginia and north carolina. drivers are urged to stay off the roads around the nation's capital where the storm has dumpedore than 10 inches of snow in some areas and winter weather advisories are e inect until 10:00 a.m. >> president trump facing tough questions this morning over his relati with russia following a pair of bombshell reports. "the new york tis" detailed an fbi investigation into whether ore president himsel

. >> i'm frances rivera. monitoring powerful storms threatening americans from coast to coast. blizzard warnings are in effect for parts of north central california, where a pair of weather systems are dumping multiple feet of snow. meanwhile, the nypd scuba team trained first responders in ice rescue techniques, while twont storms are expected to move through parts of the midwest and northeast over the next few days. let's go straight to n meteorologist bill karins who's tracking it all. good morning. f> the worst of the storm is right over the top california. there in the middle of it with blizzard conditions, winds up to 90 miles an hour recorded in the mountains. and we are concerned the ferguson burn scar there is a od warning. they did have an inch of rainfall there. california's just filled with all these stormalerts. we have warnings for blizzards and snow. wind advisories, flood watches, flood odwarnings, flash f watch around los angeles and even some high surf to deal with thughout the rest of toda then tomorrow the storm will move into areas of the plains. we'll see

i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. we have breaking news for you this morning. a bombshell claima in the rus probe. president trump allegedly knew more about the moscow tower project than he originally let on. buzzfeed news reports that the president directed h long-time attorney michael cohen to lie to congress about negottions to build a trump tower in moscow. this is according to two federal law enforcement officia involved in investigation of the matter. nbc news has not yet confirmed the report. the sources told buzzfeed that mr. trump "had at least ten face-to-face meetings with cohen about the deal during the campaign." anthony cormier, w was one of the two reporters on the story, spoke with msnbc's ali velshi about the depth of the president's involvement. >> behind the scenee was encouraging mr. cohen to set up a meeting overseas in russia with vladimir putin. he wasncouraging him to pursue the deal. and he was made aware of sorof granular details about the project, what it would look like, where it would be, where they would acquire the land. he was de

i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. as we d enter 18 of the partial government shutdown, the fight over funding for the u.s.-mexico border has now taken an unprecedented turn with president trump going directly to tic american pu this time with a televised prime time address airing tonight at 9:0 p.m. eastern time. it's his first ever from the oval office. but as tak white house claims of a growing threat of terrorism at the southern border, nbc news fou that customs and border protection encountered just six i wigrants whe on a federal list of suspected terrorists. six. and the democrats aren't going down without a with house speaker nancy pelosi and senate denority l chuck schumer demanding equal air time to address the nation aft the president's address. tracie potts joining us with the latest from d.c.mo gooding. i think the big question on everyone's mind is will the president use this speech tonight to declare some sort of national emergency? >> repter: exactly. he has said he can do that, but will he do it? if so

i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. 20 days into the shutdown showdown, and president trump is heading to the epicenter of this impasse. the president planning to tour the u.s.-mexico border near mcallen, texas, today. the trip comes on the heels of his threat to declare a national emergency to pay for the border wall if congress doesn't reach a deal themselves. and after the president reportedly walked out on negotiations with top congressional leaders, a compromise seems further out of reach than ever before. >> meanwhile, lawmakers are working to ease the pain from the shutdown. democrats have introduced legislation to protect furloughed federal workers in danger of defaulting on their bills. and later today, the house will vote to reopenelp t farmers and who rely on food stamps. it comes a day after democrats and a handful of republicans in the house passed a bill to reopen the irs. for the latest on the debate, let's go to nbc's tracie potts in d.c. tracie, some republicans are starting to break rank here. >> reporter: well, they are, and it's telling about where this s

i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. much of the country is bracing for life-threatening temperatures. more than 1,100 flights were canceled at chicago's o'hare international airport on monday due to heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. the average delay was around an hour. today and tomorrow could be among chicago's coldest days ever with low temperatures forecast to reach 21 below zero. michigan's governor is set to declare a state of emergency this morning. some areas of the state have already been buried in over seven inches of snow. >> the governor of wisconsin declared a state of emergency yesterday. the great lakes area could see temperatures in the negative 20s and 30s, which will feel much colder. one man in whitefish bay, wisconsin, was making the most of the chilly situation, being called dad yaefrt for going out to clear the snow while dressed as a pink and purple unicorn and also staying warm. it's actually a great idea.us >> good morning. you were just talking about numbers and you don't think it could

i'm frances rivera. >> i'm phillip mena. the brutal cold is sweeping the country and it's been blamed for at least seven fatalities. officials believe the death of an iowa university student is weather related. he was found unresponsive behind a building just before 3:00 a.m. wednesday morning by campus police. chicago is using city buses as warming shelters to offer protection in areas popular with the homeless. temperatures have dipped to as low as negative 27 there. local media reports that chicago is literally right now. they're referring to hell, michigan. hell has frozen over. thitwednesday. >> and the northeast is feeling the arctic cold. the new york state police responded to this crash involving more than 20 vehicles. governor cuomo directed non-essential state employees in this area to stay home today. and the u.s. postal service is suspending service today in michigan, indiana, illinois, ohio, and pennsylvania. to see if your zip code is affected by the service and the disruption there, you can view the alerts on

frances rivera has those details. >>> good morning we start off with cold war tensions heating back up between the united states and russia after a marine corps veteran was arrested last week in moscow on spy charges. paul whelan was last seen giving a tour of the kremlin. the 48-year-old brother's twin spoke out insisting he's innocent if found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison. >>> incoming utah senator mitt romney is not pulling punches with president trump in a new op-ed in the "washington post" the former republican presidential nominee argued the current president has not risen to the mantle of the office pointing to the glowing political divide in the country >>> and tensions flair along the u.s. mexico border u.s. customs and border attention say they launched the gas to stop dozens from crossing into the united states they also say some in the group were violent and throwing rocks. no reports of any serious injuries those are your news headlines. >> thank you very much for those headlines. >>> we are all over this early morning selloff in stocks. a full global mar

. >>> let's check on the other top headlines outside the world of business frances rivera has those >d morning we start with a tragic story near houston three young children were killed in a shooting in texas city. authorities say when they arrived at apartment, officers found three young children and a woman with a gunshot wound to her hoead. a man has been taken into custody and is a person of interest in the shooting. >>> the death toll rises to seven after a fiery crash in gainesville, florida the crash involved two tractor trailers, a mid-sized sedan and a van carrying children. many people were hospitalized with critical injuries emergency crews said they were treating the crash as a homicide investigation. >>> and incalifornia, a u.s. aviation company has become the first after flying two 12 packs close together pilots can fly at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour pulling off close proximity maneuvers. the company says they hope to officially set up jet pack races this year. i imagine they need more than that helmet and suit to protect them >> reminds me of the jetsons cartoons

frances rivera is live with the latest >> good morning to you we start off with this tragic crash inexas that left a single mother dead houston police say three unidentified teens were throwing eggs out of an suv when the teens say a driver flashed a gun and started chasing them while trying to escape the 14-year-old driver ran a red light at 60 miles per hour plowing into the car the 45-year-old mother was killed the teen behind the wheel was charged with murder. investigators say he was driving his father's suv without permission. >>> school buses were used to send a powerful message in georgia. they were trying to raise awareness of child sex trafficking. 72 buses represented a total of 3,600 children in georgia who are sold into sex sl slavery ea year. >>> the tsa is looking to employ more floppy-eared dogs for airport screenings because the dogs with pointy ears "scare kids." the agency says they're making a conscious effort to train breeds like labs, pointers and golden retrievers because they're less intimidating dom, back to you >> frances, as the owner of two floppy-eared do

i'm frances rivera in for alex witt. now continuing coverage with kendis gibson. >> good to see you in the day light, frances. and hello, everyone. i'm kendis gibson. today's headlines, cave man, stall for the wall, president pointless. president trump ending the government shutdown but getting no wall in return. he's still demanding that wall and he's giving lawmakers three weeks to make it happen and roger that. the president's long time friend and adviser roger stone is now facing criminal charges. he's accused of lying, obstruction and witness tampering. will there be others >>> and #winning. it was president trump versus speaker pelosi. who came out on top? >> you've got to call it as it is. this president said it was going to be conditional, border security, building that wall and he just reversed himself. that's a victory for nancy pelosi. it will be perceived as such on every television monitor and screen in the country. >> let's begin with the fallout from the government shutdown, the longest in american history.

up next, frances rivera has the latest. >> thank you so much good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york, 9:00 out west welcome to "weekends with alex witt." three big headlines this hour, a temporary solution to the shutdown but a bigger battle looms. new reaction moments ago from roger stone about his indictment plus, michael cohen and threats he says made him postpone his house testimony. >>> the secrets of mar-a-lago and how president trump bought it for less than $3,000. how did that happen? the author of a new book about the president's gilded palace explains in minutes. but first, new this hour, long time trump friend roger stone emerging from his home in fort lauderdale one day after the special counsel charged him. he spoke with nbc news just moments ago. >> this was egregious overreach by mr. mueller, the fbi director who had to have approved this raid should be fired over it because it was unwarranted i guess it's an effort to intimidate me, but i am not intimidated. the allegation that two campaign officials instructed me or inquired of me about wikileaks is false i

up next, frances rivera has the latest. >> thank you so much good day from msnbc world headquarters inig headlines this hour, a temporary solution to the shutdown but a bigger battle looms. new reaction moments ago from roger stone about his indictment plus, michael cohen and threats he says made him postpone his house testimony. >>> the secrets of mar-a-lago and how president trump bought it for less than $3,000. how did that happen? the author of a new book about the president's gilded palace explains in minutes. but first, new this hour, long time trump friend roger stone emerging fro