joining me to do that is national correspondent peter alexander from the white house, along with ali velshi, who just finished up his show but was nice enough to stick around. what i found so interesting -- and peter, i want to start with you because you cover this white house. you watch how they try to justify their actions. in this statement, and it's a lengthy statement, what donald trump and the administration is doing is saying we can't punish saudi arabia for a couple of reasons. number one, we need an arms deal. we need to make sure our business interests are taken care of. they talk about a $450 billion arms deal. the problem with that is only $14.5 billion have come throug . so far. so that arms deal is far from actually happening. then they try to claim if they don't go through that arms deal, then saudi arabia will go to russia or china. it is not that simple. they've already bought arms from us. they can't just simply change their systems to chinese or russian systems all of a sudden. secondly, what they try to do is say that jamal khashoggi was not a good guy. they casual

peter alexander has the new details for us. what's the latest? >> lester, good evening to you. adult film star stormy out against the investigation saying she will hire a lawyer if it proves to be true, daniels calling the allegation very troubling but saying americans should reserve judgment unt t investigation is complete. tonight, there are still no specific details about what allegedly happened. it'sllthe alleged victim is. les lice say avenatti was arrested wednesday suspected of felony domestic violence. he's vigorously denied the allegation. his ex-wife and estranged wife rushed to his defense. avenatti of course one of the president's most vocal antagonist suggested the on twitter that the allegation is politically motivated. >> peter alexander, thanks. >>> there is late word the florida senate race is headed to a manuel recount. the votes will be counted by hand and the procedure required by state law because of how close the margin is between rick scott and bill nelson. >>> tonight, the fda says it's taking drastic action to stop the spread of a national epidemic. the

. >>> this is peter alexander in colombia, missouri. president trump tonight upping the ante trying to drive home immigration. as the defining issue of the midterms. the president announcing his plan to sign an executive order next week automatically denying asylum to migrants who try to enter the u.s. illegally between ports of entry. >> under this plan, the illegal aliens will no longer get a free pass into the country by lodging meritless claims in seeking asylum. >> reporter: that would violate u.s. and international law that allows anyone to claim asylum once they've entered the country, no matter how they got in. the president also delivering this jarring warning. >> anybody throwing stones, rocks, we'll consider that a firearm. >> reporter: it comes as the president is facing sharp condemnation for fear mongering and racism by promoting this web video trying to terrify republicans to vote. the video produced for the trump campaign features a twice deported mexican immigrant sentenced to death last spring for killing two californi

peter alexander has late details. >> reporter: tonight, the first dad defending his daughter, now under investigation for violating federal records rules by using her personal e-mail account to conduct government business last year. >> ivanka did some e-mails. they weren't classified like hillary clinton. they weren't deleted like hillary clinton. they're all in presidential records. there was no hiding. >> reporter: ivanka trump today also not hiding, front and center in the rose garden but publicly silent. a spokesperson for mrs. trump telling nbc news she sometimes used her private account, almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family. still, house democrats are demanding answers, vowing they'll investigate those hundreds of them that ms. trump sent to white house aides, cabinet officials, and her assistants. >> oh, ivanka can handle herself. ivanka can handle herself. >> reporter: but even a pair of the president's former aides concede it's problematic. she ertainly, i think it's ndt looks bad, for sure. >> reporter: especially given candidate trump's relentless

back to you. >> peter alexander for us in leesburg, virginia. more on the "today" show coming up in a few minutes, thanks. >> political science professor at howardrsity joins us to talk more about the impact of these races. professor, we are talking about the important races all across the country. in maryland we had a congressional candidate that spent millions of his own money. a very negative campaign the republican. how does this shake out. how does this appeal tovors? is this negative for the republicans or the democrats? >> most voters claim to dislike negative campaigning, but when you look at tesrch it can drive voters in one direction or another. they're always special in what's going on in thisdistrict. what you often see is its coming from somebody who may not have theor strongest rec and wants to divert attention from that. he has been a successful business person but doesn't mean he's the bestualified for the job. >> we watched ben jealous dig in to try tohe defeat incumbent in this race and the numbers haven't been trending h way p

make a strong judgment about where we go from here until we hear from the special prosecutor. >> peter alexander, still standing by for us there in the east room. peter this was a news conference that was supposed to start roughly 17 minutes ago. any idea what's holding things up there? >> reporter: no idea. we're still waiting to hear from the president. his aides, a few of them in the room right now. we expect others will gather shortly. we have no indication exactly when this will start. i want to punctuate some of the points you were discussing with tom. it's obvious that the mueller investigation is on the president's mind. only an hour ago focussing on one of the statistics that cake out of the exit polls last night. about 46% of americans who were polled said they thought the mueller investigation was in fact, politically motivated, effectively saying more people thought it was politically motivated than thought it was justified at this point. the president realizes that this is an issue that he thinks that relitigation of it, the use of the word witch hunt repeatedly has benefitted him.

peter alexander has late details. >> reporter: tonight, the first dad defending his dedaughter, now unr investigation for violating federal records rules by using her personal e-mail account to conduct governmentusiness last year. >> ivanka did some e-mails. they weren't classifie hillary clinton. they weren't deleted like hillary clinton. they're all in presidential records. there was no hiding. >> reporter: ivanka trump also not hiding, gront and center in the roden, but silent. a spokesperson for mrs. trump saying she sometimes used her private count, almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family. still, house democrats are demanding answers, vowing they'll investigate those e-mails, reportedly hundredsthem, that miss trump sent to white house aides, assistants.als and >> ivanka can handle herself. >> reporter: former aideit though, con it's problematic. >> certainly i think it's hypocritical. even if ivanka if she was interviewed would have to say it was a mistake. >> it appears hypocritical and looks bad, for sure. >> reporter: candidate trump's relentless assaul

here is peter alexander. >> reporter: president trump arriving tonight in paris, hours after lashing when asked if he wants matt whittaker, his acting attorney general to reign in the russia investigation. >> what a stupid question that is. what a stupid question. but i watch you a lot, you ask a lot of stupid questions. >> reporter: whittaker sided with the president arguing the mueller investigation goes too far evegg ting ways to undermine it. mr. trump today insisting he hasn't spoken to whittaker about being involved with the probe. >> that's up to him. >> reporter: and trying to put distance between himself and the man running the justice department. >> i don'tw matt whittaker matt whittaker worked for jeff sessions and always extremely highly thought of and he still is but i didn't know matt whittaker. >> reporter: that's not what he told fox news a month ago. r > i can tell you matt whitta a great guy. >> reporter: with demonstrators rallying to be protecte they are calling on him to recuse himself. don't think we can expect matt whittaker can fairly oversee an investigation

peter alexander nbc news, the white house. >>> as all that plays out, the president has just touchedn in paris and is already taking a swing at his host. kristen welker is there. >> reporter: it is striking that president trump is lashing out against the french president this. suggested when macron suggested europe should build its own military. president trump upon landing fired back, tweeting that's very insulting. the two were once so close their relationship was described as bromance. now that's fizzling amid a range of policy differences. >> kristen welker in paris. >>> former first lady michelle obama is opening up like never before. in her candid new memoir mrs. obama reveals the things she will never forgive president trump for and her private battle that many families struggle with. here's andrea mitchell. >> our motto is when they go low, we go high. >> reporter: after fiercely guarding her privacy in the white house years now the most revealing memoir ever written by a former first lady ripping president trump's falls accusations about her husband's citizenship as dangerou

peter alexander, nbc ws, the white house. >> more woes on wall street thin g. stocks tanked again tuesdow with the d plunging over 500 points and wiping out any gain made in 2018. investors may get some relief, though. futures are pointing to a slight rebound at the open. nbc's ann thompson has more on the market meltdown.r: >> reporte two days before thanksgiving, investors lost their appetite for stocks. the dow plunging a stomach-churni 552 points, losing an almost 4% in two days. the nasdaq off 5%. the white housek dismissing t of a potential economic slow down. >> as a country we're doing great. our unemplo aent is a record low. i think youav tech stockse some problems but that will come back. >>r: apple, microsoft and ibm allosers. retail stocks selling off. after target profits. disappoi wiping out the maet's gains for the year. >> the thing that's driving prices down the most right now in the sck market is a fear that things will not grow nearly as fast in the future as they have over the past few years. >> reporter: wall street heading into the holiday

. >> reporter: this is peter alexander in miami tonight. barack obama looking to lift democrats to victory casting tuesday's primaries as the most important election of our lifetimes. >> the stakes are really that high. the consequences of any of us staying home really are more dangerous because america is at a crossroads. >> reporter: mr. obama delivering a blistering attack on president trump for sending thousands of service members to the southern border to combat refugees still hundreds of miles from the u.s. >> they are even taking our brave troops away fromir families for a political stunt. >> reporter: the former president not pulling any punches. >> they promised to take on corruption. instead, they have racked up enough indictments to field a football team. >> reporter: brushing off several hecklers. >> why is it that the folks that won the last election are so mad all the time? >> reporter: the man who brought us obamacare, insisting the future of health care is on the line. >> when you vote, you have the power to make sure a fami

back to you. >> peter alexander in leesburg, virginia. ter, thanks. >>> one of thelmecor is that a sign for what we could see at the polls today? nbc's morgan radford is near st. louis. she is checking out the mood of voters. they have a hot senate race there. morgan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. polls in missouri are just now opening. this is ahead of one of the closest races in the country. truth be told, savannah, this is one of many state where's people are lining up outside because enthusiasm around this midterm is higher than we've ever seen before. this morning, it's voting day. >> let's go vote and win this thing. >> reporter: as millions of americans prepare to cast their ballots. while voter enthusiasm in midterm elections is usually down, this time, it's different. 70% of voters both democrats and republicans telling nbc news, they're extremely interested in. one, two, three. and democrat? one, two. do you think people are more riled up about this election than you've seen in the past? you do. and for young people, l

peter alexander has jumped back in front of a camera for us. all developing in the past couple of minutes. >> reporter: that's right, hallie, the official announcement coming from the treasury department, secretary minneapolis mnuchin adds the government of saudi arabia must take steps to end the targeting of political dissidents or journalists. after six weeks after khashoggi's death, the saudi arabian top prosecutor said he would be seeking the death penalty for five suspects, announced 11 saudis had been indicted. three key points from this news statement we are receiving from the treasury department with a hat tip to my friend ayman mohyeld mohyeldin, reading through this right now. saying he doesn't do anything without the approval of the crown prince directly. this means he is very much in the inner circle. it is interesting to see that the u.s. is willing to draw a firewall between he and mbs. saying so far they don't believe there say connection to mohammed bin salman. and the deputy head of intelligence is not among the 17 names of tho

let's start with nbc white house correspondent peter alexander. o you. from here in northern virginia, democrats are counting on wins in districts like this one to regain control of the house of representatives. today culminates the most polarizing midterm in decades. president trump has cleared his hedule. he is going to focus solely on the first nationwide test of his presidency. after barnstorming in the ritical states of ohio and indiana, president trump overnight closing out the 2018 campaign in missouri. >> go out and vote for republicans, cgress for publican senate. >> reporter: bringing out a high-profile lineup of conservative stars, including his daughter ivanka, rad host rush limbaugh, and fox news anchors jeanine pirro and sean hannity. >> i had no idea you wer going invite me up here. those people in the back are fake news.r: >> repor hannity saying earlier he would not appear on stage to campaign with the president. mr. trump warning democratic control of congress could lead to an economic down rn. >> we have got to stop cryin' chuck

has more. >> reporter: this is peter alexander in missouri. president trump upping the ante, trying to drive home immigration as the defining issue of the midte midterms the president announcing his plans to sign an executive order next week denying asylum to migrants who try to enter the u.s. illegally between ports of entry. >> under this plan, the illegal aliens will no longer get a free pass into the country by lodging meritless claims in seeking asylum. >> reporter: that would violate u.s. and international law that allows anyone to claim asylum once they've entered the country, no matter how they got in the president also delivering this jarring warning. >> anybody throwing stones, rocks, we'll consider that a firearm. >> reporter: it comes as the president is facing sharp condemnation for fear mongering and racism by promoting this web video trying to terrify republicans to vote. the video produced for the trump campaign features a twice deported mexican immigrant sentenced to death last spring for killing two california deputies. >> i

but first, peter alexander, with aoo

peter alexander for us at the white house. nk you very much. >>> joining me now to talk more about this is barbara mcquaid, a former u.s. attorney and msnbc contributor. so much to talk about here, barbara. first of all, the president has made it very, very clear that loyalty, fealty, whatever you want to call it, seems to be more important than necessarily having the right person for the job. there are lots of qualified people to be attorney general in the united states, but he has picked somebody who has written and spoken extensively about the mueller investigation and his disdain for it and how the president can actually starve of it funds. but that doesn't actually disqualify him from the job. >> well, not necessarily. i think you're right to have concerns about why he was chosen. you know, ordinarily, the line of succession, when an attorney general leaves is that his deputy attorney general would take over, rod rosenstein. that is sort of the expectation. but there is this vacancies reform act, which does permit a presid

peter alexander at the white house. peter, thank you. >>> from television to phone, social media, there's never been a bigger push to reach voters ahead of an election. will the information get people to the polls? kasie hunt is on the road in milwaukee this morning with that part of the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. as we do go across the country in this final midterm push, there is one thing that is absolutely impossible to escape. that is those political ads. they are also in your social media feeds, and even on your phone. the road to tuesday's midterms is not only the most expensive ever. but it's taken on an incredibly dark tone. >> undefended open boarders, immediate tax increases. >> she cozied up to trump and his disastrous agenda. >> reporter: the number of negative attack ads up 61% since the 2010 midterms, and with so many close races this election cycle, voters nationwide have been bombarded with campaign ads, inundated with robo calls, flyers, tv commercials, even text messages. >>

coming up right now, more news with peter alexander. happy thanksgiving. >>> thanks to everybody at home for joining us this thanksgiving eve. i'm in for halle johnson. new details about the president testing the limits of his power. a new report saying president trump wanted his administration to go after two political opponents. toying with ordering the justice department to prosecute james comey and hillary clinton. why that didn't happen and the west wing conversations about abuse of power as the president submits his questions for robert mueller. >>> on capitol hill it's not over for ivanka trump. republicans turning up the heat over her use of personal e-mails. the information republican lawmakers want and the deadline that's now being set. >>> fight night in mississippi. the matchup that's become unpredictable. cindy hyde-smith apologizes in part for joking about public hangings but will it be enough to stop the damage to her campaign? >> i don't know what's in your heart but we all know what came out of your mouth. >> my comment

and now joining us is peter alexander and ben wallace. and peter, let's talk about the dissonance and we saw the bilateral with the prime minister of japan abe shinzo, and they are saying that they hope they can work it out with vladimir putin, and where does that stand? >> andrea, an interesting point. be clear here the man representing the united states at this global summit the g20 is individual one, and that tweet from the president, and the fir first the thing that he communicated on twit ther morning reinforced that point that the challenge for any leader, any american leader is to not allow domestic troubles impact some tof the foreign policy interests here, but that is the backdrop for this. as we heard from the president a short time ago trying to insist that the reason for the las last-minute cancellation of the scheduled sit down and the marquee meeting of the summit for vladimir putin saturday was because of russia's aggression toward ukraine and the seizure of the ship and the sailors and the last point to the reinforce here i

we'll go back to peter aleck zand -- alexander. >> health care was on the ballot. and health care won. yesterday americans elected diverse democracy candidates. members elected who reflect their district and embody the bountiful diversity of our nation. women led the way to victory with at least 30 new women coming to the congress. is that not exciting? and there's still come races that are not finalized yet. there could be more. democrats also secured big wins in the governorships across the country. while it is my responsibility to win house for the democrats, winning the governorships is essential, essential for good policy in our country and open elections and the rest. so victories in wisconsin, illinois, kansas, maine, michigan, new mexico, and nevada. we're proud of new mexico that our colleague, michelle is now the governor. in colorado jarod polis is now the governor, even though that's replacing a democratic governor, a great governor. that wasn't a pick up, but it is a democratic member there. jim in minnesota, our colleague, again, winning in minnesota.

nbc's peter alexander has details. >> reporter: this morning, playing both sides? the "new york times" reporting overnight that paul manafort's lawyer repeatedly briefed president trump's lawyers about his client's discussions with mueller's team after the former trump campaign chairman already agreed to cooperate with the special counsel. the president's lawyer, rudy guiliani, "the times" reports acknowledging the arrangement and defending it as a source of valuable insight into the special counsel's inquiry. according to "the times," those conversations inflamed tensions with mueller's prosecutors when they discovered them. the president seeming to hint on twitter at some knowledge of the investigation's inner workings. on tuesday, wait until it comes out how horribly and viciously they're treating people, refusing to lie. democrats pouncing. >> i suspected dangling in front of manafort, but the president should understand, dangling a pardon in front of a witness like manafort is dangerously close to obstruction of justice. >> reporter: president trump announcing

then he goes to peter alexander with whom he's had, you know, back and forth.yan, knowing she's going to yell back. it looked to me like a guy who wanted to be seen having a fight with the media. >> yamiche if he wants to make the press look like his enemy, he did a pretty good job. it does seem like he lost the argument, lost the house of representatives for the rest of his term here. he lost the big argument in the popular vote last night. clearly the popular vote of this country went against him, but he wants to somehow start another way of judging the way things are. what do you think of you and everybody else today, going head to head with him in the press conference? >> i think two things. i think first the president does feel wounded by the fact republicans lost control of the house. this was a president who campaigned, even though he's saying that he focused on senate races, he called a lot of house candidates up on stage with him and was barnstorming across the country making sure republicans held onto the house and senate. and he lost one of the big c

here's nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: this morning, split decision. democrats taking back control of the house for the first time in eight years. >> thanks to you, tomorrow will be a new day in america. >> reporter: that momentum fueled by a rebuke of president trump in cities and suburbs. for those democratic gains didn't extend to the senate where republicans padded their advances. still with the house in their hands, democrats are poised to flex their muscles, taking over committees, including house intelligence and oversight with the power to launch investigations into the president and subpoena top administration officials and documents. president trump undeterred. overnight tweeting, tremendous success. focusing solely on the senate. republicans ousting democratic incumbents in red states, with president trump's campaign trail warnings about illegal immigration hoping mobilize his core supporters. in florida, governor rick scott, a trump ally, edging out bill nelson. though a recount is possible. >> i'm not going to win a popularity contest. i'm

. >> nbc's peter alexander is at the white house this morning. igration seems to be one of the most controversial topics with this president. >> reporter: yeah,ood morning. that's exactly right. it's one heil hopesrile up his base in these waning days before tuesday's midterms. the presidenterving as his own megaphone, holding ten rallies in eight states. the democrats also rolling out their biggest names as well. oprah winfrey among them hitting the trail today. it's all teeing up titanic clash at the polls on tuesday. the presidt, as you showed, in florida last night emphasizing the issue of immigration, stoking more fears about that caravan of migrants and refugees still about 900 miles away from the u.s. borde thresident earlier suggesting something you highlighted, but it's important we focus on this. that he would double or perhaps triple the n tber ofops deployed to that border. that would be more at the mexicanha border there are in afghanistan right now. he's also standing by his call to end birthright citizenship for babies born in the u

. >> we have two reports, beginning with peter alexander. peter, good morning. >> good morning to you. president trump is serving as his own megaphone. over the next five days holding ten rallies in what is a total of eight statra. the dem rolling out their biggest names as well. among them oprah winfrey hti the trail today. all tv teeing up a titanic clash at the polls on tuesday. overnight president trump launching his closing campaign florida. the mainat topic ion. >> a vote for democrats is a vote to liquidate america's borders. >> reporter: from the caravan. >> and there are a lot of rough people inhose caravans, they are not angels. >> reporter: the constitution. >> congress has never passed al requiring birthright citizenship for illegal aliens and the constitution does not,yi sa that to the media, does not quire it. read it. >> well, you obviously cannot do that. >> reporter: the president's position causing a rift in his own party,it specifically paul ryan. the president tweeting paul ryan should be focusing on holeng majority rather

nbc's peter alexander has more on kennedy and his legacy. >> reporter: it was a sunny fall day in dallasowds eagerly welcoming the young president and first lady hoping to catch a glimpse of camelot. that sense of hope in the air shattered in an instant. >> it appears as though something happened in the group. >> here's a flash from the associated press. date line dallas, two priests with president kennedy say he is dead of bullet wounds. >> it's like the film broke in the lives. broke from one era of glamour and excitement and hope. the future looked very bright and then it was over in a flash. >> reporter: more than half a century later the poignant images endure as clear as yesterday. a president laid to rest but the mystery surrounding his death just beginning. over the decades, multiple federal investigations pegged lee harvey oswald and the lone assassin. >> he's been shot. he's been shot. >> reporter: his own murder days after being arrested, only fueling more conspiracy theories. among them, that oswald actually worked for the cia. the soviet union or even that the mafia had the

n nbc's peter alexander has more. >> the early reviews call it surprisingly candid as she takes her statust black woman to serve as first lady and weaves it into the narrative of our nation's history. in her much anticipated memoir, michelle obama opens up about her years in the white house. according to excerpts from the book obtained by "the washington post" and the associated press, the former first lady writes about everything from growing up in chicago to confronting racism in public life, to her amazement at becoming the country's first black first lady. but the book scheduled to be released on tuesday is also getting attention for mrs. obama's criticism of her husband's successor, president trump. denouncing donald trump's birther campaign, questioning her husband's citizenship. mrs. obama blasts mr. trump writing the whole thing was crazy and mean spirited of course. it's underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed. it was also dangerous deliberately meant to stir up the wing nut. what if someone went looking for our girls. donald trump with his loud and reckless innuendos w

peter alexander in cleveland, where the president is talking. why is the president visiting these three states one day out from the election? i want to bring in our national political correspondent steve kornacki, who is at that remarkable board that can give us all the answers. the president is going to friendly places, but he's really trying to preserve his popularity in those places because he's told people the media is going to call in a referendum on his performance over the last two years. >> yeah, and i think the idea there, the key there is the idea of trying to put some wins up on the board, trying to go to places -- let's see -- that didn't quite work. oh, my god, there it is. the governor's race obviously in ohio, this is shaping up as one that is a winnable race for republicans. it is a competitive race. if republicans do end up posting a win, trump, you know, after being there is in position to try to take some credit for that. indiana, obviously trump won the state by 20 points a couple years ago. mike pence, his vice president, th

our peter alexander was in the room. >> reporter: hours after republicans lost control of the house and expanded their majority in the sena, a defiant president trump framed the voters' verdict as a tremendous success for himself. >> i thought it was a very close to complete victory. >> reporter: the president mocking eight defeated members of his own party who refused to embrace him. >> carlos curbelo, mike coffman, too bad, mike. mia love gave me no love, and she lost. too bad. sorry about that, mia. >> reporter: taking a swipe at outgoing arizona senator jeff flake too. >> i retired him. i'm very proud of it. i did the country a great service. >> reporter: in a combative 87-minute news conference, the president appeared willing to reset his relationship with democrats, first praising nancy pelosi. >> it really could be a beautiful bipartisan type of situation. we have a lot of things in common on infrastructure. we want to do something on health care. they want to do something on health care. there are a lot of great things we could do together. >> reporter: but later threatening to

nbc white housespondent peter alexander is traveling with the president. ning to you. president trump eying this globalsummit, the g20 as an opportunity to showcase his deal making skills ahort time ago, participating in a signing ceremony. a new trade deal that replaces nafta. alongside hispa counts from canada and mexico. congress needs tot ratify t deal still. there is a glaring hole on the u president's 48trip here. that scheduled sitdown with ladimir putin has now been canceled. it was supposed to be the marquee meeting of this visit. president trump making the announcement thursday after boarding air force one, an hour after saying it was a good time for the meeting. the white hou says he consulted with some of his top aides, including his secretary of state, and that they it because of russia's aggression against three ukrainian ships earlierwe this . the timesing was notable because the president had been briefed on that several days ae announcn three hours after the president's long-time former lawyer michael cohen's guilty plea became public.si a

peter alexander is traveling with the president. o you. president trump is eyeing this global summit, the g20, as an opportunity to showcase his dealmaking skills. a short time ago, participating in a signing ceremony. a new trade deal that replaces nafta, along with his counterparts in canada and mexico. congress still needs to ratify that deal. there's a glaring hole on the president's 48-hour trip here. the scheduled sitdown with vladimir putin is now canceled. it was supposed to be the marquee meeting of this visit. the president saying it right after boarding air force one. he consulted with his top aides and his secretary of state, and they canceled it because of russia's aggression at three ukrainian ships this week. the president had been briefed about what was going on several days ago. and the announcement, by twitter, came less than three hours after the president's long-time former lawyer, michael cohen's, guilty plea became public. a russian spokesperson saying this morning, the president's decision, the true reason behi

she's also the sister of nbc news white house correspondent peter alexander. >>> and still ahead on news 4 today, we're working for you. y your car's headlights may not be working as well as they should be. >>> plus, a murder mystery nearly 50 years in the making. a serial killer who claims to have killed nearly 100 people now taking responsibility for a cold case in prince george. coun details when news 4 today continues. >>> good morning, everybody. 5:00 a.m. now on this thursday. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. if you're a fan of cold weather, why? >> what is wrong with you? >> seriously. see, we thought the same thing. >> no, more power to you. >> i just don't understand. but you know what, we're here for you. >> and this week has been a good one for you too. freezing yesterday. we're looking for another day inst like that today. melissa is stag by with a check on the roads and. rai let's start with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. you like the cold, right, chuck? >> i'd rather be cold than hot. i can always get under a blanket. sometimes you run out of layers to take

nicole and i are thrilled to be here as our stepdad, then an hour dinner date peter alexand alexandere are so grateful that you'e provided us this extraordinary platform to remember and honor our father, david bloom, and we feel fortunate to have been a part of this special evening. the work that every person in this room does is beyond impressive. the david bloom award recognizes those who demonstrat demonstrato encourage and bravery on the job. our dad had a love for news and storytelling just like all of you. he rode across the desert with an intensity and passion and with a strong respect to the stories he was sharing. he also often had a huge smile on his face despite the dust storms that came from being embedded. he was directed to the world's attention for mattered most at the time. the true stories in difficult conditions of the war. the recount from tallahassee, so some things are okay but it is evident throughout his career he starts to get the most accurate story. story. indians times more now than ever it is a noble profession that needs to be protected at all costs. tonig

peter alexander is here with us in new york tonight. peter, what's the president saying? >> lester, good evening to you. this does mark a new milestone in the mueller investigation. president trump saying he's finished writing his answers to rob urt mueller's questions after 18 months of complaining about the russia investigation. the president insisted that mueller's questions weren't difficult, that he answered them without the help of his lawyers. he says he has not submitted them yet. he also said you have to be careful about answering questions with people who probably have bad intentions. just yesterday on twitter the president slammed the mueller investigation as a total mess that he says has gone absolutely nuts. today he claimed he's heard the investigation is ending but there is no evidence that's true. mueller, lester, has not announced any timeline. >> peter, thank you. >>> the trump administratieilionod a plan a year in the making to overhaul rules of how sexual misconduct is investigated in our nation's schools. but in the era of me too the proposal has spar

joining me, nbc news national correspondent peter alexander, politico's senior writer, jake sherman, "boston herald" white house bureau chief, kimberly atkins, the director of progressive programming for sirius xm, zerlina maxwell and republican strategist rick wilson, the author of the book "everything donald trump touches dies." peter, i want to start with you. listen, him getting into it with cnn, him getting into it with reporters, telling them to sit down, he's been doing this now for three years. it was markedly more out of control today than it has ever been admittedly, but i was struck, peter, by what he did at the very beginning of that news conference when he singled out individual republicans and said they did not win because they did not embrace him. and he said the retiring republicans, had they not retired, they would have been fine. they retired, peter, because they couldn't win in a primary against a donald trump supporting candidate. >> yeah, katy, you make an important point here. that struck me as much as anything, that the president right out of the gates mocked t

she's also the sister of nbc ne white house correspondent peter alexander. >>> amelia's back with morebout our weather. not just uncomfortable, but dangerous when it comes to fire. >> yeah. >> absolutely. that's the last thing you want when you're tackling a fe is those gusty winds. and unfortunately, that's what firefighrs were dealing wit tonight. now, the winds are going to continue to subside overnight tonight and tn throughout the day tomorrow, they're not an issue on friday, but as the nds diminish, well, our rain chances increase, ununfoely. take a look at your weather headlines. it's breezy and chilly tomorrow. the winds aren't going to be as strong as they wer today, b you're still going to notice them, especially during the morning and midday durs. start to warm up. our average high this time of year, about 53gr s. we're going to be below normal tomorrow and friday and then as we move on nto theweekend, well, our temperatures warm up in a big way. i'll be sure to point thathe ou on ten-day forecast. with that warmup comes rain chances for the weekend. it's not a washout, but

the best part of that clip is peter alexander trying to defend him and says trump, i'm not a big fanr. [laughter] here's what the media constantly screws up with the trump i grew up in queens and we don't have the money the manhattan kids have. we don't have prestige but were never assumed to be tough like the brooklyn and bronx kids. trump the queen. and you have to do everything big and hyperbolic and everything is tremendous and huge and the media will never get us. anyone in this audience is from queens you know what i'm talking about. that is donald trump. [applause] greg: morgan, apparently we have a lot of people from queens in our audience. do you think that banning acosta was a good idea? they did not really been in but took his past. >> i don't feel bad for him. let me tell you who i do feel bad. that poor girl. you're in college and you're so excited you get to go to the white house and be an intern and now she's a viral internet. greg: look at it this way, that's the intern story under trump. [laughter] greg: nevermind ago to a different microphone joke later. >> but othe

nbc's peter alexander stood up for acosta moments later. >> in jim's defense, i've traveled with him and watched him. he's a diligent reporter. >> well, i'm not a big fan of yours either. >> i understand. ss the white house correspondents'iation released a statement condemning thpresident's behavior and the actions by the white house. >>> it's now 4:08. montgomery county has had enough. it says too many drivers are ignoring safety res when driving around buses. you'll begin to see new signs hanging ate these f areas, reminding drivers of the laws protecting students and the buses they ride. the county says since 2016 50,000 citations have been issued as a result of violations caught on camera. many of them happen in these areas. so we're told the majority of the time cars just drive around the bus stop arms evenil while chen are getting on and offe bus. the countyoa school b president says campaigns have not insy red the change the were hoping to see, and he's hopeful the new signage will help. >> pretty disappointed that we haven't gotten a bteresponse from the driving public. so wi

but nicole and i are glad to be , andwith our stepdad dan our dinner date, peter alexander.applause] rtcae so grateful that the has provided us with this extra new platform to remember and father.r we feel incredibly fortunate to have been a part of the special evening for the past 15 years. the work that every person in this room does is beyond impressive. the david bloom award recognizes those who demonstrate harrowing courage and bravery on the job. our dad had a real love for news and storytelling, just like all of you. he rode across the desert with an intensity coming passion, a bitter child let enthusiasm, and respect for the stories he was sharing. he also often had a huge smile on his face, despise the dust storms and ours conditions that came with being embedded with the third infantry division. >> our dad always love that he was doing. he was determined to direct the world's attention to what mattered most at the time. 'n iraq, it was the troops stories as well as the difficult conditions of the war. he brought americans sitting at home to the front lines. prior t

peter alexander is in cleveland this morning with the latest. ll day of campaigning before americans head to the polls nationwide in these 2018 midterms. president trump hitting three more states today. he'll end up in missouri. before that indiana. the first stop here in cleveland. it boils down to three things, immigration, health care and the president himself. here is the president yesterday. >> as we speak, democrats are openly encouraging millions of illegal aliens to break our laws, violate our borders and destroy our nation in so many different ways. >> unlike some people i don't just make stuff up when i'm talking. i've got facts to back me up. >> reporter: tomorrow we'll learn whether this surge of democratic energy translated into votes and whether president trump can motivate his base of fierce supporters even when his name is not on the ballot. we're seeing extraordinary numbers in early voting. this year it has gone up by an extraordinary amount. more than 34 million americans voted early or absentee. that's double from 2016. >>> in