with more, here is tom costello. >> reporter: marriott says the hackers were inside the starwood hotel database for at least four years, dating back to 2014. starwood hotels include sheraton, westin and other brands. 500 million customers information stolen, names, addresses, dates of births, e-mails, phone numbers, and in some cases encrypted credit card information may have been compromised. >> it's not just your identity here. it is pattern of life information. where you go for work, where you vacation, and all types of information. >> reporter: marriott h owns the starwood chain says it was alerted to a hack in september but only recently determined the reservation database was targeted. marriott has a separate reservation database. >> i'll check my starwood account now. and probably my bank accounts, too. >> all the information these companies collect, you know, eventually it will get stolen. >> reporter: marriott's ceo apologizing, saying we're doing everything we can to support our guests and using lessons learned to be better moving forward. marriott is offering internet monito

nbc's tom costello was there. fire, gm's ceo mary barra making the rounds on capitol hill today, defending her decision to lay off thousands of workers and close plants in ohio, michigan, and maryland, but making no promises. would you consider using those plants for new production lines? >> it's incredibly difficult to make these types of discussions. our focus is on the gm team members that are impacted. >> reporter: gm is shifting truck and suv production in mexico, focusing on production of new vehicles and ending production on the chevy volt and cruz. >> we were really blindsided by this. we didn't expect it at all. >> reporter: it comes the same year that gm benefitted from president trump's corporate tax cut. congress now considering new laws that would remove corporate tax incentives for moving jobs overseas. >> we're asking for the opportunity to once again let our workforce shoha >> reporter: many analysts say gm's decision has provided some rare bipartisanship in washington. widespread condemnation with

tom costello, nbc news. >> reporter: this is richard engel. china is demanding the immediate release of one of the most powerful test executives. although huawei's ceo was detained in canada at u.s. request, allegedly for transferring american technology to iran in violation of u.s. sanctions, washington has broader concerns about her company and another chinese tech giant. >> as we've seen in the past, i.t. security threats. >> reporter: concerned echoed when i sat down for a wide ranging interview with the cia's top china analyst. he said china is trying to gain influence and intelligence through its tech companies. >> the chinese have laws within their own country that require companies, if called upon, to have to respond to the government's call for data for access that would create a vulnerability to anybody who has access to that. >> reporter: she was arrested the same day president trump met with china's president xi at the g20 summit to discuss resolving their trade war. today her company said it compiles with all u.s. laws and regulat

tom costello, nbc news. i >> am so in. > so cool.but so out of our budget. >> ten years from now it could be a lot cheaper. >> there's always groupon. >>t. that's ri >>> kfc is trying out a new tradition for the holidaysith a log they say smells like fried chicken. when lit, the log will smell like ts chain' famous fried chicken. kfc hopes it will result in a f craving fried chick. . it is available online at kfcfirelogs.com. it retails for $18. >>> just ahead one young boy's unique way to help dogs find a home. seriously, what is this? new listerine® ready! tabs™ aren't gum, mints, or marbles. if you guessed they're tabs that turn into liquid as you chew, so you can swish and clean your whole mouth instantly, then you were correct. and that was a really good guess. nice job. welcome to tide pods talk with gronk. i'm gronk! these are tide pods. this is not. even this entire bottle can't beat tide pods. to recap: ugh... tide pods. if it's clean, it's got to be tide. so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added s

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> the president lashing out on twitter today at michael cohen,mer attorney now cooperating with robert mueller's office while praising roger stone, who said he will refuse to testify. the president's critics asking could those tweets amount to witness tampering? here is nbc news chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. >> reporter: the president's message sent to 56 million followers but meant for one person, the judge sentencing michael cohen. the president pushing for a full and complete sentence for his former attorney, who, quote, makes up stories to get a great and already reduced deal for himself. cohen, who is coating with the special counss no prison time at his sentencing next week on multiple charges including 2016 campaign finance violations. democratic senator mark warner raising a red flag. >> the president of the united states using his public twitter account to try to influence witnesses or people who have pled guilty within the mueller probe. to me, smells pretty fishy. >> reporter: the fury with presidential praise to form

>> tom costello, thanks. >>> another privacy scandal for facebook. the social network admitting that it allowed other tech giants to see users' private messages. it says it only did so with users' permission. but do you remember giving it? here's nbc's ann thompson. >> reporter: tonight, more and more people deciding facebook is not their friend. #deletefacebook trending on twitter. people fed up after "the new york times" reported facebook allowed 150 companies, including microsoft, amazon and netflix, access to users' personal data. some partnerships gave companies the users' knowledge or consent. >> what's the driving force behind these partnerships? >> driving force is growth at all costs, growth at all costs, and selling your privacy to make money. >> reporter: today facebook admitted it gave partners like spotify access to users' private messages if they signed onto the sites using their facebook accounts. but denied they did it without user consent. spotify says it never accessed private messages. facebook, under fire over privacy and access t

tom costello, nbc news, bethesda, maryland. >>> we want to turn now to al roker out on the plaza. al, i don't think anyone likes of timing of this. what are we looking at? >> i hate to be the grinch, but here we go. as tom mentioned, we've got not just one, but a whole parade of storms waiting out in the pacific to drench the pacific northwest and parts of northern california. it's going to be really heavy rain. some areas could pick up 10 inches before it's all over by sunday. now, here's the east. storm system coming up out of the gulf. it's going to bring heavy rain to the southeast, airport delays from miami all the way up into atlanta and washington, d.c. and then we move thursday night into friday morning. we're looking at airport delays from washington, d.c., all the way to boston, back to cleveland with an icy mix. a risk for strong winds and isolated flooding. but the good news, lester, it's a quick mover. it's out by saturday. but by then, the damage most likely will be done on the roads and in the airports. lester. >> all right, al roker, thank you. >>> in north carolin

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> coming up, hang on, the shocking sight on the roadway. and then we'll tell you about a fiery rescue and a family saved from a burning home. >> jump, come on! >>> imagine se road. a teen clinging to a bus in washington, d.c. the person who shot this says he was going about 40 miles an hour. d.c. metro officials say they're thankful the hanger-on wasn't hurt but called that a reckless act. kind of an understatement. >>> caught on body cam. a harrowing rescue from a burning home in new jersey. one officer climbing up to drop a baby and a 5-year-old to safety. nbc's kristen dahlgren has more on the amazing save. >> reporter: with a quick-moving fire, a quick-thinking officer. >> come on, jump. >> reporter: body cam footage capturing the moment the officer joseph grosso scaled a burning apartment building to save a family of four. >> there was no time to think. when i noticed they were not going to jump, it was time to help them. >> reporter: with his fellow officers shouting his name from below -- >> joey, joey. >> reporter: he carefully drop

tom costello, nbc news. >>> they are calling it a miracle in west virginia tonight. three people rescued after becoming trapped for days in an underground mine. tonight our kevin tibbles is talking with those survivors about their harrowing ordeal. >> reporter: safe at last. cody beverly, kayla williams, and erica treadway out of that shuttered mine they had been trapped in for over four days. >> then you open your eyes and you still see nothing, you know, total darkness. >> reporter: the trio, along with a friend, got lost deep underground with no food or water. cody beverly was desperate. >> i didn't know what to think sometimes, but i just kept my faith in god. >> reporter: faced with low oxygen levels, erica treadway, a mother of three, thought she would pass out. what was the first thing you did when you saw your kids? >> i hugged them. >> reporter: rescuers went some 4,000 feet into the mine, desperate to make contact, and finally did. how do you feel about the people that went in there and got you out? >> i am so grateful. my gratitude, i can't even express th

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> authorities in newtown, connecticut, are investigating a bomb threat received today at sandy hook elementary school. the school was evacuated but authorities do not believe the threat was credible. the scare, sadly, happening on the sixth anniversary of the mass shooting of 26 students and teachers. >>> there is breaking news tonight in washington. president trump announcing a new acting chief of staff to replace the outgoing john kelly. it comes after another big name took himself out of the running. many wondering why it was seemingly so tough to fill one of the most powerful positions in america. our kristen welker has more. >> reporter: tonight, the president filling washington's biggest job opening, at least for now, tweeting that mick mulvaney will be the acting white house chief of staff, saying he's done an outstanding job while in the administration. mulvaney is the current budget director and a former member of congress with allies on both sides of the aisle. >> mick mulvaney has done a fantastic job. >> reporter: it caps what was a su

here is tom costello. >> reporteirginia farmer john boyd has far more soybeans than he can sell aftering to slap tariffs he had to ile his harvest. >> i can't afford to wait another 90 days to find out what is going to happen with this truce. i need some answers, and i need some answers riw. >> reporter: but today, the white house says it's agreed to a 90-day truce with china thou china hasn't mentioned a timeline. the u.s. says it will negotiate on a range on issues ing property protections ucnd tariffs on u.s. prod including cars. both sides agreed china will buy more u.s.oods. >> the president has made very clear that there is a pause but if we don't have a al agreement, the tariffs will go, will increase. >> reporter: while president trump has called it an incredible deal, so far china has only said it will work to open its market and resolve trade issues, a pause in the tde r would leave in place tariffs on $250 billion on chinese goods but postpone additional tariffs. without a formal dea tonight there is greater uncertainty whether americans will continue to pay more for goods

tom costello, nbc news, capitol hill.>o the mystery ednvestigations just revey robert mueller, the special counsel recommding no rison time for michael flynn, president trump's former national security advisor and we're learning more tonight about why. here is nbc news justice corrpondent pete williams. >> reporter: newdoourt cuments say michael flynn who campaigned for donald trump, worked on the transition and served briefly as the first trump national security advor tually helped robert mueller with at least three investigations. one into russian election meddling and s two more, a second i a criminal investigation it's description blacked out and even the nature of the third investigation is totally blacked out. >> i think it's quite investigation into the obstruction of justice, which has never been confirmed by the special it counsel, noth standing lots of reports. withstanding lots of reports. >> reporter: mueller flynn cooperated extensively meeting with prosecutors 19 times likely encouraging other witnesses to c

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> we have new developments for you this morning.uthorities have found a body in the search for an american woman who disappeared in costa rica near the airbnb where she was supposed to return home last wednesday from vacation in san jose where she was celebrating hethorities have also found traces of blood inside the apartment, but are awaiting results of an autopsy to confirm the body. but this morning her family is still holding out hope, anxiously awaiting answers. >>> in baltimore, an act of kindness ends in tragedy. police say a woman was fatally stabbed after rolling down the won't of her car to give money to a panhandler. apparently a young mother in her 20s. the suspects are still on the loose. according to the woman's husband, his wife gave her donation, and that's when a man approached the vehicle, reached inside to grab a wallet, and then stabbed jaclyn smith in her torso before running away with a female panhandler. smith dies from her injuries. this morning the woman's husband says he is remorseful for stopping to help.

tom costello, nbc news washington. >> it is more common than you think.le times a problem pops up, people rush in to help. >> amazing how calm he kept helping her out. >>> one town looked like a real-life scene out of willie wonka chocolate enedt a chocola in west germany. in west germany. the chocolate solidifi. a great dishwasher needs a great detergent. so ge appliances tested finish on over 5000 dishes proving dish after sparking dish that it's not just clean, it's finished. switch to finish quantum. recommended by ge appliances. transamerica. it )s fogg >>> welcome to wednesday morning. taking a live look outside san francisco city by the bay. very picture-esque there. a little haze and fog out there. not as much as yesterday at least. clear in other parts of the bay area. we'll check the full forecast in moments. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. coming in i saw a mist of sprink wills. >> it's going to be humid as you get ready to head out the door. here's another look of the low clouds and fog. misting and d

with more on that, here's tom costello. >> reporter: it happened on a united express flight from st h to cincinnati. a young mother suddenly having seizure, shaking uncontrollably. rmer volunteer firefighter anthony moreno gave the woman, oxygen and tried to keep her awake. >> she started feeling these symptoms. i said, i just need you to relax. she's like, the teeizure is coming. >> rep roughly two dozen seizure over two hours as the plane continued on to cincinnati, alarming some passengers. but two doctors on board, the customer herself and doctors on the ground said there was no need to divert. >> at that time, it was the right move to continue through the flight, instead of landing the airplane, not knowing where we were or where the closest appropriate hospital is going to be for ts girl. >> reporter: republic airways, which operated the flight, said had it bee theup of the medical professionals that another course of action was needed, we would have followed that recommendatio immediately. once on the ground, the passenger was rushed to the l.ospi in-flight medical situations a

nbc's tom costello has the latest. >> reporter: red down arrows on watreet and in americans' tirement and pension funds. the s&p 500 and nasdaq index both down 3%. investors focused on president g trump's war that if the 90-day trade war truce doesn't hold, he is a tariff man. at risk, billionsf dollars in u.s. exports to c from agricultural products to cars to construction equipment. while americans could pay more for household goods made in china. midday, the treasury secretary weighed in. >> i think the market is now in wait and see, and the market's trying to figure out is there going to be a real deal at the end of 90 days or not? >> you've got stocks plunging on ars of slowing economic growth. >> reporte among the hardest hit, bank stocks and big companies that do busin china, including boeing, caterpillar and apple. >> the markets dropped today on conc that the global economy may be slowing. growth in the united states is doing fine rightnow, but over in china, there's clearly a slowdown. >> reporter: while secretary mnuchin insists china has agreed to address more than 10heiss

tom costello, nbc news, bethesda, maryland. >> how about that holiday travel? let's go to bill karins. good morning, bill. >> good morning. it's going to be rain, not snow or sleet. but a lot of rain, maybe even a little severe weather. into wednesday when the rainstorm really begins in areas of east texas, sliding intosiang not anything too severe by time too we get to wednesday. on thursday the storm strengthens. storms will be rolling through florida. tampa, orlando, miami have the delays. and heavy rain from charleston to charlotte to raleigh. friday, the narrow band of heavy rain and gusty winds will be moving through the northeast. new york city early on the day on friday. boston friday afternoon and evening. on the:00 be a side windy with snow showers in areas of the ohio valley too. again, a lot of airport delays, es temperatures cold in northern new england, but pretty mild throughout the rest of the country. enjoy a pretty nice afternoon. let's take a look when we come back about the odds of a white christmas. i'll give you a long-range snow forecast.

the holidays, all eyes are on the skies as several powerful storms star country.c'ross the nb tom costello now on the big picture for your travel plans. >> reporter: it's already started. high surf and heavy rains poundi the pacific coast, the first of several storms this week. in notice that widespread rain starts to push during the evening commute. >> reporter: by midweek, just as 110 million americans start the holiday getaway, more rain will drench everything east of the mississippi.n potential rai delays expected atlanta's airport thursday and friday, along with just about every airport to the north, south, and east. on the highways, that heavy rain could make for a slow crawl on nearly allerhe as running east, west, and north-south, with snow expected in the upper midwest. volatile weather a top concern for the nation's shippers, nin an all-out push to deliver those holiday packages. to guarantee a christmas arrival, the big three say give it to them no later than friday. there are a lot of procrastinators. o 53 people are expected to wait until saturday to try to ship their christma

here's tom costello. >> reporter: it was a historic hack. 500 million names, e-mails, addresses, credit card numbers, even passport numbers from starwood hotel customers. the secretary of state suggests china is a top suspect. >> they're conducting espionage and influence operations here in the united states. >> the latest was the marriott, 500 million guests there have their security breached. >> reporter: china has been blamed for an escalating series of mega-hacks, including government personnel records, insurance companies, telecom giants, military contractors. >> what we're dealing with is really covert intelligence activity that's aimed at private companies. >> reporter: the goal, say intelligence veterans, to collect data and build a file on nearly every single american, identifying then spying on am corporations, the government, or military. >> your personal information that was stolen in this hack may not be of any value to the chinese right now, but it could be of value five or ten years down the line. >> reporter: meanwhile, tensions are still high as the clock ticks down on

>>re tom costello has more on t storms that could threaten your travel plan. >> is already started.rf and heavy rains sounding the pacific coast, the first of several s this week. >> notice that widespread rain starts to push in during the evening commute. >> just as 110 million americans start the holid getaway, more rain wl dilrench the eastern highways. onhe highways, heavy rain could make for a slow crawl on nearly all arteries running east, west, north and south with snow expected in the upper midwest. and now the nation's shippers in an all-out push toeliver those holiday packag. touarantee a christmas arrival, the big three say give it to them noater than friday. >> there are a lot of at procrasts. 53% of people are expected to wait until saturday to try to ship their christmas packages. in los angeles the crush is now. >> we hire bunch of people, we hire hundredur of people ding the holiday season just to compensate for that extra volume. >> huge volume and a home mother nature doehe't get in way. tom costello, nbc news, bethesda, maryland. >> we are constantly keeping an ey

nbc tom costello has more. >> reporter: the photos suggest something hit the flight 770, the nose of plane crushed, the radar and communications equipment inside damaged. investigators are looking into whether a large bird or a drone crashed into the plane. possibly over the pacific ocean as the 737 was preparing to land in tijuana. air mexico said at no point was the safety of the plane or the passengers comprised. the flight landed and deplaned normally. with more than a million registered droves now in the skies, close calls with aircraft have risen dramatically. the faa reports 22,669 pilot drone sightings this year. up 74% since 2015. so far the only confirmed collision occurred in 2017 when a drone dented the rotor. it helicopter blades. >> a drone impacting an airplane could result in loss of the airplane and loss of life. this is is a serious threat. >> reporter: what may be the closest call yet. tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> now to a story of survival so incredible california highway patrol officers say they've never seen anything like it. this red ford fusion cras

i'm tom costello at reagan national airport. back to you. >> thanks, tom. >>> here's a live look at the golden gate bridge. you know the cost of crossing the bridge could rise to nearly $10 in the next five years. and that is more than 20% of an increase. directors at the golden gate highway and transportation district are contemplating five proposals to increase tolls. they say those tolls would help fill a $75 million budget deficit. so the directors will vote tomorrow on whether to start a month-long public discussion on proposals to raise the tolls beginning next july with the final increase 2023. >>> and one state lawmaker and long-time b.a.r.t. foe is calling b.a.r.t.'s recent election campaign fine a drop in the bucket. regulators reasonable fined b.a.r.t. $75 hub hundred00 for using public funds to pay for youtube videos. the videos kickstarted numerous improvements. b.a.r.t. claims the ads were meant to educate the public. state senator steve glazer today is calling on b.a.r.t. to receive a maximum fine. he has previous

tom costello, nbc news. >> we were just discussing how much of our shopping is done.. >> i have one more. >> i'm done. >> well, then you have time to get us the forecast. >> that's right. and, you know, if you're heading out there going shopping, have things to do, errands to run today, it is really nice out there. take a look at this live view in san francisco from at&t park, from the embacadero, looking towards the embacadero, we see all of the sunshine and just beautiful blue skies. a few clouds dotting the sky after that system that moved through earlier this morning brought us a lot of rain. and now as we take a live look outside, as you get out there, 880 and fremont looking good. sunshine. we're heading up to about 60 degrees. we'll see that high temperature at 3:00 today. and then partly cloudy skies into the evening, as well, as it cools off fast. let's talk about how much rain we measured with that system that moved through yesterday afternoon into the overnight hours. and we had some pretty significant rainfall totals, especially for some of our bay area hi

nbc's tom costello reports this is to prove the space ship is safe. >> reporter: dawn in california as from the mojave desert, climbing all the way to 50,000 feet. then release. >> 3, 2, 1! release! >> reporter: space ship 2's pilots in a sudden free-fall. before firing their rocket. then extreme acceleration. mac h1, 2 and nearly three times the speed of sound, soaring beyond what the faa calls the edge of space. >> space ship unity, welcome to space. >> a million-dollar view. >> reporter: the view, breathtaking. what 700 customers have already paid a quarter million dollars to experience for just four minutes. the curvature of the earth, the western u.s., canada, even mexico. then a perfect landing back on earth. >> it is beautiful. just been to space. it's ridiculous. >> reporter: richard branson's victory comes four years after virgin pilot michael alsbury died. branson hopes to fly within six months and start carrying customers who have already signed up, including leonardo dicaprio, justin bieber and tom hanks. >> there's thousands and thousands of people watching this program th

here is nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: heavy rain and a bumper to bumper as the holiday travel week shifts into high gear. getting drenched a spaghetti map of some of the nation's busiest highways heading east, west, north, south. i-95, 75, 55, 40, 70 and i-a on the west coast. in tampa a line of storms damaged 70 homes, one injured. nasty weather that michelle joyce and their family are preparing to brave starting a road trip in georgia to family in florida. >> survival mode. let's get there peacefully, safely and just, you know, have a happy, jolly good time. >> reporter: meanwhile, the rain complicating air travel. 150 cancellations and 4,000 delays. >> 19 still missing. >> reporter: at the brand-new american airlines control center in dallas, hd cameras provide a 180 view of every runway, ramp, caterer and gate. every plane arriving tracked by gps. >> what that gives us is a realtime information where that airport is on the field along with where it is in its in route phase. >> reporter: nationwide the tsa expects to screen a record number of travelers this holiday, close to 2.7

here is a preview. >> reporter: good morning i'm looking at tom costello., power companies, nuclear plants, water companies, what are they doing to ensure that the lights stay on and the water is safe to drink in the event of a massive attack? we'll looking at all of that, coming up on "today." >> we certainly saw something like that at the met station. >>> after all the drone chaos at london's airport last weekend, an israeli tech company is getting a lot of attention. customers are buying up this anti-drone system called sky lock which detects drones in the sky and then disrupts their frequencies until the drones just drop to the ground. the manager says it's seen a 40% spike in interest since the disruption at gatwick. >>> enthusiasts and collectors are snatching up the iconic no entrance no chains after 1:00 a.m. signs, we checked with similar signs up onnie bay. the moscow metro started selling them yesterday. >>> 7-year-old coleman moya called norad blfr she went to bed monday to see if santa was scheduled to get to her house. >> instead of speaking t

tom costello breaks it down for us tonight. >> reporter: red down arrows on wall street and in americans' retirement and pension funds today, the s&p 500 and nasdaq both down 3%. investors focused on president trump's warning that if the 90-day trade war truce doesn't hold, he is a tariff man. at risk, billions in u.s. exports to china, from agricultural products to cars, to construction equipment. while americans could pay more for household goods made in china. midday, the treasury secretary weighed in. >> i think the market is now in a wait and see, and the market's trying to figure out is there going to be a real deal at the end of 90 days or not? >> you have stuff plunging on fears of slowing economic growth. >> reporter: among the hardest hit, bank stocks and companies that do business in china, including boeing, caterpillar and apple. >> the markets dropped on concerns that the global economy may be slowing. growth in the united states is doing fine right now, but over in china, there's clearly a slowdown. >> reporter: while treasury secretary mnuchin says china has agreed to addr

with more, here is nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: an end to a week of angst, volatility and heavy selling on wall street. the dow jones losing 1,436 over three trading sessions, for the week, the broader market index, the s&p 500 down more than 4% and now, negative for the year. >> worries over what is to come in this u.s. china trade truce. >> reporter: the uncertainty about a trade war with china a big factor as well as concern about the potential for a future recession. the housing market already slowing and opec moving to hike oil prices. still many average investors seem to be taking it all in stride. >> it's going to take a dip but we are in it for the long haul, you know. you've got to look at it in years of growth. >> reporter: with so much uncertainty, december is looking like a rough month on wall street. >> we may have to put santa claus' picture on a milk carton because so far it doesn't look like he's coming around too readily. >> reporter: so far, more grinch than santa. >>> among tech stocks taking a hit was apple facing criticism over the latest apple watch about a warning

nbc's tom costello now on when tourists will get to go. >> reporter: take off from the mohave desert. virgin galacti spaceship two was on its way, carried by its mother ship. at 50,000 feet, release. a sudden free fall, virgin's two pilots fired their rocket, accelerating to nearly three times the speed of sound, within seconds climbing to 51.4 miles beyond what the faa calls the edge of space. >> welcome to space. >> million dollar view. >> reporter: a stunning view that future space tourists may enjoy. then a perfect landing back on earth whrgin's richard branson promised the first of 700 customers who paid $250,000 could art flying in six months. >> i can't think of any experience thawill be more wonderful, extreme thagoing to spac >> reporter: fellow billionairez jeff and elon musk are also in the space tourism business as a new space race kes off. > they are calling it a miracle in west virginia tonight, three pple rescued after becoming tinpped for days an underground mine. onight, our kevin tibbles is talking with those survives about their harrowing ordeal. >> reporter: safe a

nbc's tom costello takes a closer look at what's moving markets. tom, good morning. >> reporter: frances, good morning. all eyes this morning are on wall street's futures after that incredible action yesterday on wall street. one of the biggest rebounds in recent history, and now we're set for today. day two of wild volatility on wall street as trade tensions with china spooked investors. reaction to the arrest in canada of meng wanzhou, cfo of a telecom giant. the us in the midst of a trade war truce. >> more trade tensions with china and growing fears of a slowing u.s. economy. >> reporter: at its worst, the dow jones industrials were down 784 points. then a stunning rebound. the market coming back 700 points to close down just 79. the whiplash weighing on americans' 401(k)s, pension funds and savings plan. >> if you look at it every day you're going to be really crazy. need a therapist and maybe some alcohol. >> i think we have to be careful going too far down the tariff road and going too much with tariffs. >> reporter: but market pros urge inve

tom costello, nbc wews, maryland. >>> t to turn to al roker. i don't think anybody likes the timing of this. what are we looking >> i hate to be the grinch. here we go. as tom mentioned, us we got not jone but a whole parade of storms waiting out in the pacific to drench the pacific northwest parts of northern california. it's going to be really heavy rain. some areas could pick up ten inches before it's all over by sunday. here is the east. storm system coming up out of the gulf will bring heavy rain to the sout airport delays from miami up into atlanta and e ashington d.c. and thenve thursday night into friday morning, we're looking at airport delays from washington d.c. all the way to boston, back to cleveland with an icy mix. a risk for strong winds and isolated flooding but the good news, lester, it's a quick mover and out by saturday but by then the damage will be done on the roads and in the airports. lester? >> al roker, thank you. >>> in north carolina a woman is facing charges of driving while impaired after a crash with a schoos at se

nbc's tom costello has more on the tra's spat impact on americans. >> reporter: virginia farmer johnoyd has got far more soybeans he can sell after china slapped tariffs on u.s. farm exports, he's had to stockpile his harvest. >> i can't afford to wait another 90 days to find out what's going to hapith this truce. i need some answers, and i need some answers right now. r: but the white house says it's agreed to a 90 day truce with cha, though china hasn't mentioned a time line. the u.s. says it will negotiate on a range of issues including u intellecal property protections and tariffs on u.s. products, including cars. both sides hav agreed china will buy more u.s. goods. >> the president has made very clear that there is a pause, but if we don't have a real agreement, the tariffs will increase. >> reporter: while president trump has called it an far china deal, so has only said it will work to open its market and resolve trade issues. pause in the trade war would leave in place tariffs on $250 billion in chinese goods, but postpone additional ctarif. thertinues to be great uncertaint

here's nbc's tom costello to tell us why and what those higher rates mean for you. >> reporter: amid compelling evidence of a strong economy the federal reserve ignored president trump's criticisms and raised interest rates again. the ninth rate hike since 2015. chairman jerome powell insisting the fed is independent and dedicated to prefrk a strong economy. >> political considerations play no role whatsoever in our discussions. >> reporter: in recent weeks mr. trump has accused the fed of hurting the economy and stock market by raising rates. >> i think the rate's too high. i think we have much more of a fed problem than we have a problem with anyone else. >> reporter: the decision and talk of more rate hikes next year sent stocks into a nose dive. the dow up 300 points before the announcement did a nose dive closing down 352. down 5% for the year. in new jersey investor michael gibb ni is telling clients not to panic. >> we build clients' portfolios to weather storms like this. this is something that's not unexpected. >> reporter: the rate hike means higher interest rates for stude

tom costello has been looking into it. good morning. >> reporter: good morning.rid were to go down. no more power in your home, hospitals, banks, atms, satellites, telecoms, the list is endless. u.s. security hackers are insid grid, with thousands of probes and attacks every day. >> power is still not everywhere. lights out not operating. >> reporter: blackout 2003, millions without power for days. stifling heat for infants and seniors. hospitals relying on backup generators for risky operations. >> it's taking so long to get the electricity back up. >> reporter: the cause, falling trees, a software bug and a series of cascading failures. 14 years later, cyber security experts warn a massive cyber attack could shut off electricity for weeks or months. and much of the power grid has been penetrated by russian intelligence. cyber security form fireeye. >> we're seeing a targeting of utilities in the united states. why it's disconcerting, it's showing intent. >> reporter: it's happened. russia is widely expected to shutting off power to 230,000 people in ukraine in

tom costello has been looking into this. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning.a starwood hotel chain ranks up there with other hacks. if you're a small business, even just a mom and pop operation, a cyber attack can threaten everything that you have. >> it's taken two years for liz ross to come back from the cyber hack that nearly killed her startup business. what's it feel like to have somebody come in and try to take all of this from you? >> it's very painful. it was the worst week of my life. >> reporter: just before cyber monday, 2016, as her southern fried chicks clothing business was exploding with internet orders, hackers crashed the company facebook page, locked her out and began posting offensive material. >> a lot of pornography. even cartoon pornography. child pornography. very sexual content. >> reporter: as liz struggled to remain control of her facebook page, her customers were outraged and offended. >> we literally laid there and sat there crying and just responding to people for days and days and days. it felt like an eternity. >> she was in a pa

tom costello is at reagan national airport. how is it looking, tom? >> reporter: we have clear skies here. but it probably will be the last good travel day. all of the d.c. airports are expected to be hit by this rain and that can affect travel. let's look at the airports we're watching on thursday and friday, as well. we're looking at everything to the south and then we'll go north. in florida, miami, orlando, tampa, in atlanta, up to charlotte, the d.c. airports, philly and new york will be affected on thursday. this is the misery map right now. the good news is, as it's a clear day right now, not a lot of misery. a lot of green, especially along the east coast airports. but watch those turn red over the course of the next two days as the delays and the cancellations are expected to mount. to the highway watch. as for the highways affected by heavy rain, we're going to look at most of the major interstates east of the mississippi. i-95. i-75. florida up to michigan. we could see snow and ice on i-95. rain on its way from new orleans to chicago, that

tom costello, nbc news. >> you going >> organizatih, yeah, next week. >> epi was just checking, you knowe all have the cash to do that. >> today we're getting a first look at the royals. >> the first one shows the duke and duchess of cambridge, william and kate wit their children. the photo was taken at their vacation home in norfolk, england. it's probablyorfolk there, not like our norfolk. and this is the duke and duchess of sussex. their first i child due in the spring. >> what do you think about that? >> i like that one. >> i want to see their faces. >> it ve's very tistic. >> reporter: kids are making all sorts of robots fords liz mclaughlin goes over the hot holiday robots that will be under trees this holiday season. >> reporter: last year, the craze was finger robots. this year they're prehistoric monsters. >> reporter: it's a budget buy at $17. for a steeper $250, you can trainau a dinwith mattels inju jurassic world's blue. >> reporter: it can learn to mimic movements, react and protect its trainer. >> it almost feels like you're playing a video game. >> reporter: this might be

tom costello takes a look at the deadlines to make sure the gifts get there on time. >> rorter: yep, those holiday shipping deadlines are fast approaching. if you're hoping to get the tholiday giftso their destination by christmas, there is still time. here's the owlo for online shoppers, popular retailers like walmart, target and best buy, they guarantee delivery by christmas day but t you haveo place your order by thursday, december 20th. meanwhile, amazon is offering free shipping on all purchases made by tomorrow. amazon prime members have thery luf waiting until christmas eve to place orders on select last-minute gifts with free next day delivery. >> for those shopping at brick and mortar stores, thatay take extra time and money but you can get packages shipped andd deliverey christmas. >> i still need to ship some. >> while the postal service, ups and festival are recovering from a record cyber monday, they say they are ready for the christmas delivery rush. they all recommend sending packages by friday, december 21st. >> i need to mail santa. >> reporter: you can ship as late

. >> tom costello, thank you. >>> the state of north carolina will not certify the results from one housece. we've got new details breaking just this morning on the growing pile of proof that could point to election fraud there. stick around for that. >>> plus, republicans in wisconsin pulling an all-nighter, moving to strip away power from the democrats that will be taking their place. what, if anything, democrats can do to stop it. senator tommy baldwin joins me live next. into winter we go, the heavier i get. and while your pants struggle to support the heavier you, your roof struggles to support the heavier me. crash! and your cut-rate insurance might not pay for this. so get allstate, you could save money and be better protected from mayhem like me. mayhem is everywhere. so get an allstate agent. are you in good hands? discover.o. i like your card, but i'm absolutely not paying an annual fee. discover has no annual fees. really? yeah. we just don't believe in them. oh nice. you would not believe how long i've been rehearsing that. no annual fee on any card. only from discover. figuri