tracie potts joins us live from washington, d.c. with the latest on his trip. >> reporter: we still don't know for sure if that visit will happen. but we got word from our colleagues on the plane with president obama that he made some comments about it on air force one. he's over africa headed to south africa from senegal, the president saying his message there will draw on the lessons he learned from mandela's life. we'll see what the situation is when we land, seemingly,9)úñ suggesting they have not yet made a decision on whether or not he'll visit mandela. he says i don't need a photo opinion, the last thing i want to do is be intrusive. he talks about wanting to make sure the family knows they appreciate the contributions that mandela has made to south africa. if, in fact, that visit will

from washington, i'm tracie potts. back to you. >> in the wake of the deadly attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, the president will get a new national security adviser. susan rice is expected to be announced later today. she was the ambassador to the united nations. she was in the running to become secretary of state, but dropped out in the wake of the benghazi controversy. , your maryland lottery numbers and another check of the insta-weather were cast. first, how wall street is performing at this hour. stay with us. >> and now your maryland lottery pick 3 and pick 4 numbers. >> ♪ the maryland lottery, let yourself play ♪ >> here i am with you on your beautiful wednesday. 3 four starters. 6 as printed on the ball. 2. 8-6-2. .ntroducing my lottery rewards you can turn eligible for words into scratch offs. now we are ready to go with numbers.4 here we go. we have an eight. five.ed by -- that's a for is dutch next number is that's an eight. the final number, we've got, that is a three. 5-8-3.umber 8- the maryland lottery, let yourself play. >> we will check in with tony one

nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington. tracie, what do we know about this briefing? >> reporter: the house gets a briefing today and all members of the house, all 435 of them, are allowed to attend. we don't know yet who those briefers are. the senate will get its briefing on thursday and also word the house intelligence committee may at some point this week be holding a hearing. that's what sources are telling us. we don't have further confirmation on when that might actually take place. we do know that lawmakers have some very different opinions here about what's been happening with the secret surveillance programs and with edward snowden. dianne feinstein called nim a traitor. others think he's a hero. we saw some protests in new york. the big question this morning, where is he? overnight he checked out of his hong kong hotel and authorities have been launching a worldwide man hunt for him. they've seen his mother. they've gon his mother's home, his father's home. the fbi trying to track him down. but there are those here who support edward snowden. in fact, as of

nbc's tracie potts is in washington with all of those details. good morning. >> reporter: alex, good morning. a lot has been put into getting this immigration reform effort on its feet and moving here on capitol hill. and while the entire effort may not be falling apart, there are some here on the hill who think it may be losing steam. >> i don't think there's any chance that comprehensive immigration would pass. >> reporter: lawmakers sound less optimistic today about immigration reform than they did a month ago. >> let's bring these people out of the shadows. >> reporter: that's senator marco rubio just after the gang of eight democrats and republicans announced a deal to put 11 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. now rubio says the bill he helped create can't pass the republican-controlled house. >> and i think it's going to struggle to pass in the senate. >> reporter: the senate takes up immigration next week, but rubio says unless lawmakers toughen up border patrol, they may not get 60 votes. the white house realizes another

tracie potts joins us now. good morning to you. >> richard, good morning. let's start with immigration. that's where the white house hopes to focus. president obama sitting down today with senate democrats to try to work out this immigration reform snag that they've hit. and just this morning we've learned that there could be a deal announced today that would double border patrols and add 700 miles of fencing along the borders. that expected to get some republican votes. all of this coming after the president's speech at the brandenberg gates in germany where he talked about other weighty issues he's dealing with here in washington, like how involved the u.s. should get in the civil war in syria. he's already decided to arm the rebels. can he get the allies to rally around? that was part of what he was trying to do at the g-8 summit. he talked about afghanistan now that we're backing off the security forces there, taking over. what will the u.s. role be? a support role, the president said. not to mention the nsa, the continuing questions into surveillance b

nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington. good morning to you, tracie. how much are we talking about? >> reporter: $50 million over the course of a couple years on conferences and training and $60,000 for videos. take a look. they have now surfaced and could be embarrassing to the agency. old spoofs of tv shows like "gilligan's island" and "star trek" and made by irs employees. and now congress wants to know, is this really the way we want taxpayer money used? it is part of what the new acting irs director is likely to be asked about when he heads to capitol hill this week. the first of three hearings happening today. that one by the appropriations committee focusing on the prior report that showed the irs was targeting these groups. some of those groups are coming to capitol hill tomorrow. some of those conservative groups to talk about what they went through. that new inspector general's report on the money that was spent, that's coming out tomorrow. but we got an advance on some of the information coming out of that. republicans saying that all of thi

tracie potts in washington. thank you. the first storm of the atlantic hurricane season is making its way up the east coast. tropical storm andrea weakened considerably after making landfall thursday in florida. it's still expected to pack a punch of heavy rain through saturday. winds of up to 65 miles per hour thrashed the gulf coast flooding some communities. even a handful of tornadoes touched down. we're just one week into hurricane season. even andrea couldn't stop the nation's best known daredevil from doing a little rehearsal. nick wallenda practicing for his walk across the grand canyon. amongst all that weather. bill karins will be here shortly with more on this. >>> jury selection in george zimmerman's second-degree murder trial begins in three days, and three matters are taking center stage at pretrial hearings. zimmerman's lawyers say prosecutors are withholding photos of guns from trayvon martin's phone. the judge also rejected the defense's request to shield the identity of as many as seven witnesses. this af

tracie potts joins us from washington. do we know where the leaker edward snowden is? >> authorities, the fbi, believe he's still in hong kong because he's talk with reporters there. in a hong kong newspaper he says he has no intention of coming back to the united states. he will fight extradition and that he fears for his life and the lives of his family. his parents still here in the united states along with his girlfriend. now you also, talking about general alexander, the head of the nsa, here on capitol hill, he gave a strong defense of those surveillance programs saying they have actually prevented dozens of terror attacks. he's working to declassify more information so he can explain that more to the american people. he also says he has some concerns about the access that snowden may have had and that some of the claims he's made may not be true in terms of being able to wiretap anyone at any time. finally, we expect to hear more from general alexander, but today here on capitol hill, his briefing with lawmakers will be behind closed doors. richard? >> tracie po

nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with all the details. all right, explain it to us. >> reporter: we'll explain it the way the inspector general plans to explain it tomorrow. another report coming out detailing $50 million of tax dollars the irs says it used on conferences and training from 2010 to 2012. some of that money used on this, take a look, some videos that have come out that prove to be embarrassing for the irs. these are spoofs that were provided for training. they spent $60,000 on videos, something democrats and republicans on the hill are saying need not be spent. the new commissioner for the irs testifying on the hill today says their training and travel expenses are down since 2010 but on top of the most recent report says irs employees unfairly targeted conservative gripes, three different hearings on the hill this week on the irs, betty. >> we'll be watching very closely. thank you. >>> to london where sunday's premiere marked angelina jolie's first public appearance since undergoing a double mastectomy. she and brad pitt

tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. >> we want to go back to the breaking news. a possible carbon monoxide leak. >> kim dacey is on the scene. >> it is still a very active scene. we understand eight have been taken to the hospital. call:47, we received a from an unconscious subject at this address. a male subjects was found unconscious from an unknown cause. our paramedics their full critical care workout. he was transported to franklin square hospital. we had a second call an hour later to the same address. multiple persons were complaining about various signs and symptoms. several of them were unconscious. an advanced life support strike team, five paramedic units and some supervisory people were requested. they arrived on the scene and had the building evacuated right away. went in with monitoring equipment. the monitoring equipment went to the highest level possible. they evacuate the house. call for the hazardous materials team from baltimore county. we have been trying to ascertain exactly what the issue was. we got significant levels of carbon monoxide. po

tracie potts joins us live with more. good morning. >> good morning. the aclu is one group out there concern this could have a chilling effect. it wasn't just verizon, but several carriers. the obama administration is defending the program saying congress authorized it and that it's working. it thwarted several suspicious attacks. they said months ago they weren't doing mass surveillance. >> does the nsa collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? >> no, sir. >> now, we have also confirmed that completely separate from prism, the government is also in realtime monitoring some of the biggest internet service providers, looking at e-mails and posts as they happen trying to find any sort of possible terrorist activity. this is confirmed as a separate thing. facebook and google say the government is not tapping their computers on a regular basis. >> tracie potts in washington, thanks. >>> the first storm of the hurricane season is making its way up the east coast. tropical storm andrea weakened after making landfall. i

"today in the bay's" tracie potts live on capitol hill this morning. ing the senate could vote on immigration as early as today, correct? >> reporter: you're right, jon. we could see that vote in just a few hours. a final vote but only in the senate which is only half the story. you mentioned the house which is controlled by republicans. they don't plan to vote on that same plan at all. republican leaders saying they're working on their own immigration bill. that could hit a roadblock when it comes in from the senate if, in fact, it passes. it looks like this bill is gaining momentum on the senate side. they've added provisions about border security to apiece republicans who are skeptical about this plan. they're adding 20,000 new officers at the border, 700 miles offensing and other things like making sure the e verification system for employers kicks in before the country starts handing out more green cards. that got more republicans on board again on the senate side. house republicans not so keen on all of that. cost is another concern. by adding all

>> all right, tracie potts live in washington. thanks, tracie. >>> and then there were six. the jury is seated in george zimmerman's second-degree murder trial, and his fate, with opening statements beginning monday, is in the hands of six women. prosecutors say five of them are white, the sixth is black or hispanic, prosecutors say. four alternates, two men and two women, were also chosen. zimmerman's defense attorney says the process was fair and race-neutral and he says it led to a fair and impartial panel. >> while people can look at it and have this reaction, there's no blacks in the jury or there's no this or there's no that or there's no men on the jury, tell me that we did something wrong in the process and i'll agree with you. >> in response to jury selection, trayvon martin's family said in part, "equal justice under the law is not a black value or a white value. it's an american value. we expect the jury pool to do their duty and be fair and impartial." zimmerman has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense in the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. >>>

tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. >> 6:37. not all of us drink our coffee black. fans - hose girls got i'm not sure what that says. >> you can bring your favorite flavor to your morning cup of coffee. .hich cookie made the cut regardless of your age, when financial times get tough, are you more or less likely to use a credit card? you can share your response on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> now weather and traffic together on the 1's. about for yourk tuesday morning commute. 15 to 20 minute, delays. this is prior to reisterstown road on the west side of the beltway. there is an accident on the shoulder. this is a live picture at 175 show say little too late in the southbound direction. jessup.an accident in middle river road, an accident location. . lot to talk about that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. .> it is mostly dry a lot of clouds in place. 77 downtown. 68 in parkton. basically everybody getting into the low 80's. maybe some thunderstorms into the day. the coverage will become more widespread as we go into the aft

tracie potts joins me with all the details from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: let's start with immigration because that's what the president will deal with first off this morning. it's what the white house hopes to focus on. he's sitting down with senate democrats to see if they can move this bill that's on the table forward. republicans are calling it amnesty without enough border patrol but the hispanic caucus after meet with john boehner says they are encouraged so president obama will deal with that today. all of this comes after his speech at the branden berg gate in germany where he talked about international issues like how the allies will cooperate on syria, how involved they should get with syria with chemical weapons at stake. he talked about afghanistan, the u.s. now turning over security forces in afghanistan. security to the forces there. but the president said they still need and deserve u.s. support. so he'll be dealing with those issues, not only abroad but here on capitol hill as well. as his administration con

tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. unusual reasonan for missing her prom. she spent her teenage years held by an abductor.dr.by an >> she has waited years for this. >> i got the shoes. today.y course sides rsage today.course knowled >> she was held hostage for 10 years. .he is 31 now she never got to go to the prom. >> i'm excited to do something i never got to do. and to have aat nice time. an advertisement for a second chance prom. >> i got the ticket so as i could go to the prom. >> she got the white roses she loves. >> something so tragic and you can move on and try to live a normal life. >> she is incredibly together. >> time to get to your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> this morning we asked, do you agree with a high school decision to declare 29 valedictorians, or should they find a way to pick just one? [laughter] >> keep sending us those responses. 5:51. 54 degrees at the airport. >> time for traffic and weather together on the 1's. let's see how the trains are running this morning. >> we have no room delays to report. marc tra

nbc news's tracie potts is in washington with all the details. tracie, good morning. >> hi, mara. good morning, everyone. while this effort may not be completely falling apart, there are some here on capitol hill who now think it may be losing steam. >> i don't think there's even a chance that comprehensive immigration will pass. >> reporter: lawmakers sound less optimistic today about immigration reform than they did a month ago. >> let's bring these people out of the shadows. >> reporter: that was senate yormarko rubio just after the gang of eight democrats and republicans announced the deal to put 11 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. now, rubio says the bill he helped create can't pass the republican-controlled house. >> and i think it's going to struggle to pass in the senate. >> reporter: the senate takes up immigration next week, but rubio says unless lawmakers toughen up border patrols, they may not get 60 votes. the white house realizes another of president obama's key initiatives may be in jeopardy. >> his work is far from done. >> reporter: one house r

"today in the bay's" tracie potts is live in washington with the latest word on his whereabouts. tracie, what are you hearing? >> reporter: we're hearing from our producer who was on the flight that he was not on there. she didn't see him when they closed the doors and took off after some delay and confusion at the airport. is he in the wind at this point? is he in russia? did he find some other way out? is he not going via cuba, perhaps venezuela which we also heard? bottom line, edward snowden is nowhere to be found. we understand he's trying to get to ecuador. the foreign minister of ecuador say they are considering his application for asylum. they say he's being persecuted. they question whether or not treason is an appropriate way to describe what he's done, releasing this top secret information about government surveillance which they call a human rights abuse against the entire world. interestingly, though, the foreign minister also saying when it comes to snowden that they're in respectful contact and that's the way he described it, with russia. the u.s. has been leaning o

tracie potts has more. >> every time an american makes a phone call the government knows. they do not hear those conversations. the obama administration said the snooping has prevented specific attacks. >> it has but that is classified. kept/ long is ait willtrust the president explain to the american people what the administration considers this a critical tool. >> it doesn't bother me one bit to have mya phone number. they are trying to find out what terrorists we know about and who they are calling. nsa collected any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? >> no, sir. >> the director of national intelligence was talking about e-mail. now the government is monitoring that in real time, tapping into the servers of large internet providers looking for specific messages mostly to and from other countries. facebook and google said the government does not have blaet access to their computers. apple said they never heard of this program. tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. >> the news of the data collection could take some time for americans to digest.

and nbc's tracie potts is live in washington with all the numbers. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. here's the very interesting takeaway from this poll we got overnight. while these controversies do have americans worrying about the federal governmenter and the administration they don't seem to be sticking to president obama. take a look at the numbers. the president's favorability numbers, his job approval numbers virtually unchanged since a month ago now standing at 48% which is up 1%. statistically insignificant but essentially the same as last month. that's despite this most recent controversy with the irs targeting conservative groups those polls were asked is the president personally responsible. 32% just under a third said that the president is, but the vast majority said that he is not. so this does not seem to be sticking to him personally. now, the big issue prior to all of these controversies, irs, benghazi, the journalist phone records, prior to all that, of course, was the economy. poll recipients were asked is presiden

nbc's tracie potts is live on capitol hill to break down the numbers. >> good morning. he's taking a hit with independents but not overall. his approval and favorability numbers holding steady according to the new nbc/wall street journal poll that came out overnight. the administering, that's a different issue. these numbers don't seem to stick to the president but take a look at the irs scandal, for example. 55% of those polled say they question the honesty and integrity of the administration as a result of the irs targeting conservatives. 43% think it's not an isolated incident involving just a few employees. only 10% now say they're confident in the irs, yet 33%, only a third, personally blame president obama. the poll also takes a look at the military with a number of recent incidents, allegations and in some cases arrests involving sexual abuse. the military still holds the confidence of two-thirds of americans, but that's down nine points since last year. we're looking into that poll today. lots of interesting numbers as we take a look at the effect of these scand

tracie potts joins us live from washington now with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. like the aclu they say this can have a chilling effect on privacy and we learned since that guardian report it's not just verizon it's all major carers in the united states under orders like these. the obama administration is defending this. first of all congress authorized it and re-authorized it numerous times and it's working. the program is keeping terrorists from hurting our country. now, we are also learning that just a few months ago the president's director of national intelligence denied here on capitol hill any sort of mass surveillance. here's what he said. >> does the nsa collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? >> no, sir. >> reporter: there's a separate program separate from the phone calls that's tracking emails and posts online in real-time. the government able to tap into the servers of some of these providers, some of the largest internet providers to get that information, looking for s

tracie potts joins us live from washington now with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. like the aclu they say this can have a chilling effect on privacy and we learned since that guardian report it's not just verizon it's all major carers in the united states under orders like these. the obama administration is defending this. saying not only does it work, not only has it actually prevented terrorists from doing acts against the united states but also this program was authorized by congress. previously the administration had denied mass surveillance was going on. here's what the director of national intelligence told congress three months ago. >> does the nsa collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? >> no, sir. >> reporter: he denied that was happening. he said no. we now know that, in fact, not only phone calls but emails are being monitored as well, a completely separate program from prism reported as you said in "the washington post" now nbc has confirmed i want as well. in that program

. >> nbc's tracie potts has details, including what this means for homeowners. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. here's how you connect what's going on on wall street with the average american. when the fed says we're going to pull some of our support because the economy's doing better, that means interest rates may go up. if you're buying a car or sending a kid to college or, as you note, if you're buying a home. the housing market has been doing pretty well. take a look at the may numbers. 5 million homes sold in the month of may. that's up 4% from a month earlier. up almost 13% from a year earlier. the median home sale price right now for existing homes is $208,000. that's up 15% year over year. in fact, we've seen double-digit increases for six months in a row. so the market is correcting itself to help sellers. it had been a buyers' market for so long. what we're waiting to see this morning is what is going to happen on wall street. are we going to see what we've seen in europe so far this morning and with the nikkei? are they going to

no question that this issue transcends politics him and his tracie potts reports, many are choosing which size their on with another republican setting with president obama. >> former vice president dick cheney says that he is no fan of president obama but wishes the government had the nsa database of phone and internet records 12 years ago. >> we might well have been able to prevent nine -- 9/11. >> theres growing angst on capitol hill for the fbi defined edward snowden and make them pay for exposing secret surveillance. >> he has optimized and you should be held accountable. look at american jury in the eye and explain why he has disclosed sources and methods that are going to put american lives in danger. >> but there is still disagreement on whether collecting the information violates privacy. >> just phone numbers? it is like a phone book without any names and addresses. >> does the president feel he has violated the privacy of any american? >> he does not. >> you have a law that has been interpreted secretly by a secret court that it -- the issues secret orders to generate a secret

poll is out this morning on everything from the president's approval to the race in 2016 and abc's tracy potts has the numbers. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, the president's poll numbers are holding steady despite these controversies, the poll does show americans are concerned about some of the people working under him. despite a significant drop in support amongmentins, president obama's job approval an favorability numbers essential lip haven't changed, still hovering just under 50%. >> these controversies have hit the president. they've nicked him up a bit, but they haven't damaged his standing just yet. >> reporter: but americans are questioning the honesty and integrity of his administration. vacate% have concerns about the deadly attack in benghazi and the justice department seizing reporters phone records. 55% are worried about the irs targeting grupts. >> i felt betrayed. >> reporter: hostile of those think they are justified. in each case the majority don't hold the president personally responsible. there is a huge partisan split. most democrats don't blame the president. m

tracie potts live on capitol hill this morning. tracy, announcements and rulings like this usually take a pretty long time. what kind of time frame are you sensing we could expect before hearing a decision on prop 8? >> it is possible it could come this week or even today but more likely, these more controversial decisions tend to come at the very end of the term. we might have to wait until the last monday or the very end of the month until we hear more. what this court says typically it could have a big effect on what other states do now that there are other states that have started to legalize same-sex marriage as well. there was another case that was linked to this, the defensive marriage act. california looking at state laws. the defensive marriage act looking at the federal government, one man, one woman marriage act and how that affects federal benefits, the person suing got a huge bill from the irs after her partner died and their marriage in new york was not recognized. so we wait to see what the court is going to say on b

"today in the bay's" tracie potts live on capitol hill with more details on this on going and very strange investigation. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hi, jon, good morning. the fbi still thinks he's in hong kong because he's talking to reporters in hong kong. in a newspaper there he says he has no intentions of coming back home, that he will likely fight any attempt at expedition, and he talks about the u.s. snooping on the chinese, via hacking their computers. in terms of some of the allegations he's made, the head of the nsa testified here that some of the things he said, like being able to wear tap people directly from his desk, they have no idea how he would be able to do that, but they are reviewing his access. tlas groundswell of support for edward snowden in hong kong at the u.s. consulate there. we've seen demonstrations of people supporting him. he said he went there because he thought it would be a safe haven. he didn't want to be anywhere in or near the u.s. where he might get arrested. >> tracie potts, we appreciate the update, thank you very much. >>> 5:44. in a matter

nbc's tracie potts has all the numbers. good morning. we're interested in this. >> we've been digging into those numbers. and what we're finding is the president's numbers, approval numbers, favorability numbers seem to be holding pretty steady, but the public is concerned about parts of his administration. >> reporter: despite a significant drop in support among independents, president obama's job approval and favorability numbers essentially haven't changed. still hovering just under 50%. >> these controversies have hit the president. they've nicked him up a little bit, but they really haven't damaged his political standing just yet. >> reporter: but americans are questioning the honesty and integrity of his administration. 58% have concerns about the state department investigating the deadly attack in benghazi. and the justice department seizing reporters' phone records. 55% are disturbed by the irs targeting conservative groups. >> i felt betrayed, absolutely betrayed. >> reporter: half of those polled think republicans' investigatio

"today in the bay's" tracie potts is live on capitol hill with more details on this growing syrian conflict>> reporter: good morning everyone. now that the white house says it has conclusive evidence, sources close to those talks say the president is authorizing the united states, sending weapons to the syrian webls. we don't know how many, what type or how soon, but we have reaction from the syrian government, the foreign minister saying this is a caravan of lies and a flagrant double standard in how the u.s. is dealing with terrorists. lots of violence still under way, even as of yesterday there with warring factions in and around damascus. we're also getting reaction today from the free syrian army, one of those rebel groups saying this was long overdue. and great britain says it will be working with the united states on this and also this morning from the united nations saying what syria has done, the use of chemical weapons is a flagrant violation of international law. lots of reaction pouring in as the u.s. now gets ready to head to the g8 next week, president obama sitting down with

nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the latest. tracie, good morning. >> hi, marra. today general alexander will be back here doing closed door briefings with lawmakers. those details that they say the public can't know. but he was on record before the cameras for the first time yesterday talking about the surveillance programs and the fact that one of his contractors essentially has made them very public. he says that edward snowden could not have possibly been wire tapping access that he claims. he questions the access that snowden did have. they want to find out more about that. he thinks america and its allies are more at risk. he also claimed that dozens of terror attacks were thwarted because of the government surveillance of phone records and e-mails. also we're learning this morning that snowden is still in hiding believed to be in hong kong. he's talking to a hong kong newspaper saying he has no intention of coming home. he'll fight to stay there because he fears for his life gentleman as congress tries to stop the fallout from the leaks, supporters of the m

today's tracie potts live in capitol hill with more details of this on going investigation. >> reportergood morning. he's telling a hong kong newspaper he has no intent at all of coming back to the u.s. he'll fight expedition if we try to get him back. he also says the u.s. has been hacking china's commuters. no response yet from the white house on that. men time the chief of the national security agency says they're not quite sure he's telling the whole story when edward snowden says he can sit at his desk and wiretap anyone he wants to. they don't see he had that type of access. they do want to look into what access he did have. meantime the chief of the nsa here has been defending the program and over in hong kong, there have been demonstrations in support of edward show den as he open this is new case about whether the government should have been spying on americans' phone records and our internet activities. today nsa chief back here on capitol hill giving the closed door briefings to lawmakers as they ask more and more questions about how ha surveillance works. jon? >> no doubt a

"today in the bay's" tracie potts live on capitol hill. ollowing the president's trip very closely. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jon. we've been following developments on the ground today, too. we're getting conflicting reports out of south africa on whether or not this meeting may happen. the president is in the air on his way to south africa after visiting senegal. he spent a couple days there. yesterday a big highlight of his trip was his visit to gory island which was sentries was believed to have been the center of slave trade. he visited there with the first family. this morning he had an event on what's called food security, essentially talking to farmers about how they use technology to feed millions of people in africa despite the bad droughts they have in west africa. the focus of the trip, trade and economy. the first african-american president and the first black president in south africa will get a chance once again to shake hands. nelson mandela in critical condition in the hospital. his family, his ex-wife

"today in the bay's" tracie potts live on capitol hill. racie, we're hearing that senate vote on immigration could come as early as today. >> reporter: it could. they have said they want to get it done before the july 4th break. we could see it happen today. that's key because the senate is actually making pretty good progress in getting democrats and republicans together to agree on one immigration plan. the key to that was adding more border security. that passed by 69 votes yesterday. so they're doubling the number of agents at the border. they're doubling the amount offensing and other things like e verify for employers that would have to be fully implemented before the country started handing out more green cards to immigrants on a path to citizenship. that got more republicans on board. it's very likely to pass. but it is not likely to get anywhere in the republican-controlled house. speaker boehner has already said they're not going to vote on the plan, republicans are coming up with their own. that is not likely to happen any time w

"today in the bay's" tracie potts joins us live from washington, d.c. tracie, edward snowden was booked on a flight to cuba, but that plane is already in the arnd there was no sign of him on board. >> reporter: pro producer who was on the flight said she didn't see him before the doors closed and it took off. we believe best guess he's still in russia, partly due to the fact that ecuador's foreign minister came forward saying they're considering whether to grant him asylum. so to map this whole thing, he left hong kong. he's believed to still be in russia, did not, we believe, get on that flight to cuba or venezuela to try to get to ecuador. this has been quite a challenge to keep up with where he is. the bottom line, he's trying to get out of russia, trying to get to an area he thinks will be a lot more friendly. the ecuadorian foreign minister said this morning in considering his application he's been persecuted. he questions whether or not treason is appropriate here. the u.s. miffed about the fact that hong kong let him go. sources with reuters this

tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. bea girl found dead will laid to rest this week. body offound kami ring's last monday in a field across from the port deposit home where she had been staying. police arrested that couple's son and charged him with kami's murder. >> an officer is accused of killing christopher brown. police say they got into a confrontation and in some point brown became unconscious. he faces manslaughter charges. vote on al is set to bill to ban styrofoam containers from carryout restaurants. cab rides in the city. a bill was proposed to eliminate the use of a styrofoam cups and containers at restaurants that have carry out. >> president obama is in northern ireland the is mor ning for a summit. tolie jackson joins us live explain. good morning. >> good morning. president obama speaking out in northern ireland, telling people that their peace serves as a guide to try to solve conflicts around the world. syria is expected to be part of the discussion at the group of eight summit. the u.s. and its allies want russia to take a harder line against syria

tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. >> time to get to your answers to our water cooler question of the day. this morning we asked, would you consider buying groceries from an online retail site such as amazon instead of going to a grocery store? >> that is the same answer tony give us. >> will you do my shopping? 5:51. latest winning streak stops at two games. >> the trains are running well at this hour. everything is on time. northbound 295 at the beltway, but we are tracking a new beltway. no sign of delays leading up to 295. we have a car fire northbound 95 at 100. southbound traffic going away from us. 11 minutes on the north side. 12 minutes on the west side. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> good morning. a dry start on this thursday. there could be a few showers developing this afternoon. temperatures in the upper 50's and low 60's. we will talk about the tropics in just a few minutes. here is a look at last night's winning maryland lottery numbers. stay with us. >> good morning. you do not win many games in the first couple of innings. the orioles lost 11-7. six home runs.

tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >>> now to shocking allegations of misconduct by state department personnel, including at least one ambassador and reports that high-level officials interfered with the ensuing investigations. nbc news has obtained documents revealing members of the state department and an unnamed ambassador were accused of improper, and in many cases, illegal conduct, including engaging prostitutes, pedophilia, sexual assault, unexplained fatal shootings, participation in an underground drug ring and unauthorized information leaks. the documents also allege top state department officials interfered with the investigations. former state department investigator turned whistleblower, aurilia f edenson says the investigations are not thorough because of officials with "undue influence" and she wants them to review the allegations. the state department denies any complaints of ignoring the conduct. >> they would be fully investigated. i will not talk about specific cases, but i can say broadly the notion that we would not vigorously pursue criminal misconduct in any cas

"today in the bay's" tracie potts is live in washington, d.c. with the latest on the international search. this one is nothing short of a mysterious and strange search. what are you hearing? >> it's stim a mystery. we're hearing the u.s. government doesn't know exactly where he is. that denial that you talked about from the foreign minister this morning, a very strongly worded statement, essentially denying that yaush had anything to do with this. he said russia didn't know what his travel plans were until they saw it in the media. we do know and the airport in moscow has confirmed that he did touch down in moscow at that airport with a traveling companion on sunday. then the russian foreign minister said he's never been within our borders. so does that mean he just passed through the airport, he somehow found safe haven or he's somewhere else? we just don't know this morning. >> tracie, thank you very much. >>> 5:45, new details following an attack on temperatural palace in afghanistan. an nbc reporter on the ground says he was just outside the

tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. >> 6:37. b.w.i..es at >> some pictures may come out blurry. is reporting a rare new addition. the panda gave birth to a couple this week. born half of all cubs in captivity die within a few days. blind andre born deaf. the zoo is minimizing stress on the animals. blurry chimp took pictures, that could be a different story. these pictures are blurring and not framed very well. mickey the chimp took these photographs. >> now weather and traffic together on the 1's. look at yourke a morning commute. we have a problem of northbound 95 near 175. this was a car fire that is on the side of the road. a disabled vehicle on northbound 895 just past the harbor tunnel. this is 95 at the fort mchenry. there is a slow spot on 295. running slow on the west side beginning of just past 795 at liberty. no problems on the north side and the major roads leading up to the beltway. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. off to wait fine start weather-wise. to movet some showers in this afternoon. not a bad idea to take an umbrella. shooting for a high of 78 this a

tracie potts live on capitol hill with more. >> reporter: good morning. it's rare we get democrats and republicans agreeing here on capitol hill or in washington in general. but you mentioned former vice president dick cheney. over the weekend, we heard him talking about the president's program the surveillance programs run by the nsa the national security agency. while he's not a big fan of president obama, he thinks that the programs work and they are necessary. they could have prevented 9/11. he's not alone. he's not the only republican defending these programs. listen to what we heard over the weekend from senator saxby chambliss. >> and the way he utilized the tools that we have to figure out what they're doing, what they're planning. and we're able to disrupt them. we've done that time and time again. i hope we can give the american public more examples of those interruptions over the next several days. we've done that as a result of utilizing these tools. >> reporter: terror plots were foiled in the u.s. and 20 other countries as a result of the su

"today in the bay's" tracie potts is live on capitol hill with the latest in this developing story. acie. >> reporter: good morning everyone. "the guardian" is publishing two new documents from edward snowden, the self-proclaimed leaker that say there are top secret rules that govern how they collect information. ear learning more about how they store that information. according to these documents, sometimes these communications, the phone kaunlsd e-mails can be kept indefinitely if the government thinks there's information about foreign intelligence or evidence of a crime in some cases even though they're targeting foreigners, if the foreigners contact american citizens, then the american citizens' information will be kept, even in some cases if it's determined by an attorney -- covered by attorney-client privilege. these are exceptions, not the rule. and the nsa has said for the most part they don't search, they don't store this information. today's "guardian" report id indicates there are exceptions to that rule. the government hasn't responded. nothing from the nsa at this point.

tracy potts with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. we can hear more about that. capitol hill, rumblings about public hearings on the surveillance programs and whether they went to far. right now the focus on finding edward snowden and whether or not he's in hong kong, we don't know. a hong kong paper is reporting that he apparently did try to contact human rights attorneys to get some sense of what he should do next. the nsa, national security agency, and the fbi, they're tracking him. they want to know, first of all, what more does he know? does he have other documents? is there more that could come to light? and was there anyone helping him or did he act alone? all of that part of the investigation. meantime, here on capitol hill, lawmakers getting secret briefings off and on throughout the week. a couple of things coming out after the briefings. some lawmakers say they had no idea how big some of the programs got. the other thing is, some lawmakers think the fisa court should release its opinion so americans can see what the thinking was about keeping them und

. >> "today in the bay's" tracie potts live in washington, d.c.body is wondering what do these new numbers in the reports say about our supposed economic recovery. >> the numbers themselves are, as you said, pretty flat. 7.6% is the new unemployment rate. it had been 7.5. it went up a little. that's not significant. 175,000. it is a littlebca more than la month. but bottom line, this is a very similar report to what we saw last month. the thing that stands out about this new information is is what happened prior. they go back to do revisions to make sure they didn't overcount or undercount. they undercounted or overcounted the number of jobs by 12,000. they went back and did those revisions. that is not a great piece of news this morning. the bottom line, this is fairly flat, sort of what economists predicted. what it is not doing is moving this recovery forward at a faster pace, which is what the government would tlik see aliked the obama administration would like to see. >>> the businesses that saw the most gains in terms of employment were pro

"today in the bay's" tracie potts joins us live on capitol hill with what's on the president's agendatoday. >> reporter: good morning, laura. today he's dealing with immigration, talking with senate democrats about how they can get this ball rolling. as of this morning, new information that there's yet another compromise in the works. could see an announcement on that one today. that would double the number of border patrol agents and add 17 miles offensing, trying to appeal to republicans who have been opposing the bill so far. a number of things on the president's agenda including dealing with syria. he's decided to arm the rebels but can he get the allies to go along. that was part of the g8 summit that he just came back from from overnight. as of this week, we turned over control of secure, what's the u.s. role? we're there until 2013. what is the u.s. doing in these final months in afghanistan. final the nsa, controversy washington can't seem to get away from, we have another hearing on contractors here on capitol hill. another briefing on how that is proceeding. >> thank you, tr

for details, let's check in with tracie potts who is live this morning in washington, d.c. ext, tracie. >> reporter: what's next is probably an investigation where we're getting word that the nsa that oversaw these programs is asking the justice department to look into it. >> i think that the public is owed an explanation -- >> reporter: nbc hasn't confirmed it, but edward snowden says he's the man who leaked classified information about the government's secret surveillance program. the 29-year-old analyst worked for a defense contractor in hawaii. he used to work for the cia. snowden says he risked his life& going public because he believes the government surveillance of phone calls and e-mails went too far. >> i sitting at my desk certainly had the authority to wiretap anyone from you or your accountant to a federal judge, even the president if i had a personal e-mail. >> reporter: snowden reveals his identity to britain's "guardian" newspaper. they broke the story. e. >> every time there's a whistle-blower, the tactic of the government is to try and demonize themóy+ as a

"today in the bay's" tracie potts joins us from capitol hill. >> reporter: high, laura.esident said he was waiting on conclusive evidence as of thursday. the white house says they got it. discussions say the president is authorizing the u.s. to send weapons to syria's rebels in that civil war. what we don't know is how soon or how many or what type of weapons may be sent. you can see this civil war is becoming more and more dangerous by the day. new video of some of the violence in and around damascus. now we also have word this morning from damascus that syria's foreign minister calls this is a caravan of lies and a flagrant double standard by the united states saying that the u.s. is treatingñ%i syria differently than other areas that have dealt with terrorist groups. the free syrian army, one of the rebel groups, say this is long overdue. we wait to find out more details about where the obama administration is heading next. >> very interesting. thank you very much, tracie. >>> new this morning, a convicted child molester in san francisco county jail this morning await