if she doesn't want to do iten th, they'll move on on wednesday. >> tracie potts on capitol hill.nk you. >>> with more awareness about sports injuries, fewer kidsre turning out for football teams. today the virginia athletic department is wondering whether th could support it. >>> in so many sool districts is football itself getting sacked? >> a review of the kids. coaches say they worry there will be more cancellations in the future if this trendco inues. >> you're competing against the fact you can sit on the couch and engage? >> yeah, absolutely. why come out here. parents are split whetherfo ball leaves their kids too verb verbal. amy bartau has decided her kids won't be on the field. >> you can do basketball, baseball, track and field. you can do many things where it doesn't require you being knocked on yourbutt. but vanessa is fine with her son playing quarterback. >> ehry sport comes w a risk of concussion. i think so many people af not awaree fact of the training that these coaches have. >> tonight on news 4 at 0,11 the other big factor that is thinning out local ferreras-

but as of this morning, weav no idea. >> all right, tracie potts, live on capitol hill for us. tracie thank you. >>> 4:47 right now. on monday, bob woodward give his first live interview on the "today" show since parts of his book were leaked earlier this week. s interview will be at 7:00 a.m., following "news 4 today." >>> we're following breaking news in brazil. presidential front-runner is recovering after being stabbed at a rally. now, we're about to showou some video of the stabbing. we want to warn you, some of you could find this isturbing. th in the southern part of the country. we learned the attacker stabbed him from the front. he was able to be rushed away by some of his supporters. you can see the crowd there trying to push through and get him out of ttre into t car. but just overnight, he was able to post this photo to his twitter account. it shows him in the hospital giving a thumbs up. the man has posted ras on social media against him. >> chris laurnwrence at the liv desk, thank you. >>> new video thisorning of prince george's county police taking down a man, wan

news 4's tracie potts is on capitol hill following this story.his op-ed has the same themes that are detailed in bob woodward's new book. what is the president's reaction to this new book? >> that t"the new york times" should turn this person over to the government because it's a matter of national secuanty. he said this was him getting rid of bad apples in washington, draining the swamp and the swamp is now fighting back. sarah sanders says whatever it is, should resign. an administration officia doesn't necessarily work in the white house but is described in the article in the-e someone who works for the president. >> tracie potts on the hill this g.rn thank you. >>> to a story you're seeing first on news 4, a local district is considering additional safety measures following the death of a third grader. he was helping a teacher operate the motized partition when he wamehow became caught between it and the . we've learned that not long after the accident, fairfax county public schools started asking for more information about anddional safe aa

news 4's tracie potts is on capitol hill this mornin tracie, a lot of people have criticism with thesident's response. >> reporter: they certainly do. et's because of the track record here. president calls it acc s. new numbers show instead of 64 that died during the storm, it was 3,000. it took about a year to get island.ack on across the unsung success? the mayor of san juan s s anythibut. if the president thinks 3,000 people is an unsung success, god help us all. this new storm is barrelling down. the president said the federal government is already ready. fema working with some of the states down there. although in a new report latz night we tlaernd fema lost $10 billion. >> tracie potts for us on the hill. breaking it all down. much more ahead. thanks. >>> new overnight. in remembrance of a of the people who died in the 9/11 attacks.'s 17 years since the attack. the tribute will fadeaway at dawn this morning. after the unfurling of the american flag at pentagon, people from all over the area came to the memorial toay eir respects. there were quiet songs, loving hugs, and prayers

tracy potts, nbc news, washington. >> chris sanchez will join us in 30 minutes with more o the developing story. in the meantime, the allegations against supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. nbc bay area.com where you can find the latest there. florence may be weakening. people in the carolinas face dangerous conditions. a live look now. you see some of the debris there. a lot of flooding in many areas. florence now a tropical depression has dumped almost two and a half feet of rain in some places. >> the storm is responsible for the deaths of at least 17 people. at least a million people remain without power this morning. three days of relentless rain has caused dangerous flooding.g. >> when we opened the door we saw the water like, oh, my god. it was just water everywhere. >> the storm has never been more dangerous than it is right now. >> sadly in gaston county a rain-soaked tree fell on a mobile home killing a 3-month-old inside. with rain in the forecast through tomorrow the danger is far from over. >> it's 4:35 now. sexual abuse survivors from the bay area had a big goal in mind.

tracie potts will have a live report from capitol hill in a fewminutes. >> 4:33 our time right now. a big fight over raising the minimum wage in d.c. today the d.c. council will hold a hearing. in june votersve app initiative 77 that would endhe credit for both workers. >> they are among the people that signed up ttestify in favor of initiative 77. it would boost hourly pay for pped workers from $3.30 an hour to minimum wage, $15 an hour by 2025. he is a valet. >> it would make my life easier that i won't feel like i have to live paycheck to paycheck. >>> d.c. voters passed the initiative in june but it could be overturn by the council. some question whether it would actually help those >> it's a real disappointment to hear members of the council try to actively supreme the vote of d.c. voters. >> critics say this initiative could actually hurt workers because some people might stop tipping them and there's a concern that this could increase costs for businesses that have to pay the higher wages. >> i sti feel it' going to hurt the workers. it's going to hurt the industry and more p

here is "today in the bay's" tracie potts with more. >> so i've spoken with -- >> reporter: president trump says washington is ready to help with what's expect toed to be massive damage and power outages from hurricane florence. >> we're totally prepared. we're ready. we're as ready as anybody's ever been. >> reporter: he's declared states of emergency from south carolina to washington, with more than 1 million people already evacuated, the federal emergency management agency is staging critical supplies now. mindful of what happened last year, hurricane maria, a new estimate shows nearly 3,000 people died in puerto rico. >> puerto rico was an incredible unsung success. >> if he thinks the death of 3,000 people is a success, he really doesn't know what this was all about. >> reporter: a report from the government accountability office shows fema was short staffed for maria. they didn't have enough people. that delayed the response, plus the report found more than half weren't qualified for their job. >> there's a lot of lessons we learned from 2017 and we are at the ready. >reporter:

tracie potts is on capitol hill with more what is in this book. acie, good morning. >> insult and dysfction, aaron and eun. good morning everyone. according to woodward's book,is ther lot going on inside that trump white house, including people who don't necessarily see eye to eye with present trump. hi chief of staff reportedly calling him an idiot. the defayse secretaryg he operates on a fifth and sixth grade level. president trump calling his j attorney generf sessions mentally retarded and a dumb southerner. quoting from the book here,he president deghing all of this -- denying all of this. saying they're disgruntled former employees who spoke to woodward. it's not just about the insults. it's about some of the extonme ac according to the book that aides are takingo ep things going with an impulsive president. swiping informationff his desk. ignoring orders that they think are completely out of order. bu again, big pushback from the president saying not only are they all lies, but also that woodward didn't contact him or he didn't get the messa

tracie potts joining us now from capitol hill with more on that and the week ahead. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. so, the psi this to be a quick confirmation process. he's hoping kavanaughl the tim supreme court gets under way in just four weeks. lawmakers have questions for supreme court nominee judge brett kavanaugh. >> this is a guy that says, one, a president should be able to declare a statute constitutional all by himself. >> reporter: will he throw out roe v. wade and obamacare? >> they are not popular with the american people. >> reporter: will he stand up to the trump administration, which has shielded 100,000 pages of his record from the bush white house? >> his skepticism on the power and authority of federal agencies is something that we need on the court. >> reporter: trade negotiations continue this week. reesident trump is congress has to approve that deal. >> unfortunately right now, the scale is weighted against him, because he's done more to hurt workers than to help workers. >> reporter: federal workers are bracing for a possible governm

for moreto let's gbc's tracie potts in washington. tracie, there is that list, especially from the democrats, calling for them to delay. >> exactly. and democrats, frances, knew about this back in jul when that anonymous letter, then anonymous letter came in. they said that the not want to come forward at that point but now of course has been identified by the "washington post." still, some republicans quite skeptical why nothing, nothing about this came out during the confirmation hearing. >> i'm shocked that the matter didn't come up in the nearly 32 hours of testimony that judge kavanaugh was before us in the open ssion or the nearly hour, hour and a half session that we had in a closed session. if this was material to the confirmation process, why on eah over theast four to six weeks hasn't it been discussed among the committee members? >> now, kavanaugh has categorically and unequivocally denied any of these allegations of groping ford when he was a teenager back in the '80s. that is her allegation. the white house reissuing that

tracie potts is live with reactiot. >> well,verybody agrees they did a great job in puerto rico with 3,000 dead there. the president now fighting that and queions about whether his administration is ready given a big chunk of money recently taken out of fema's budget. >> reporter: it's a mad rush to safety in the carolinas. i feel kind of scared. >> reporter: supplies are moving in and so is this storm. the outer bands of hurricane florence set to hitna north carooday. >> my message is clear. disaster is at the doorstep, and it's coming in. >> reporter: despite criticism of his response to hurricane maria last year, president trump is dending the federal government's reaness then and now. >> protection of life is the absolute highest priority. >> reporter: but can he pay for it? coirmed, $10 million shifted from emergency management to immigration enforcement just before hurricane season. >> significant amounts out ofns its res and recovery account and another significant amount out of preparedness and protection. >> that money has nothing to do with what you see behind us. >> report

news 4's tracie potts is live on capitol hill with more o what we can expect. e already got a preview of her opening statement, right? >> right, we've already seen the opening statements of judge calf gn -- kavanaugh, denyi all of this, and dr. ford detailing the sexual assault. she says t sheught that brett kavanaugh was going to kill her if she hadn't gotten away. kavanaugh will deny that and ano of theer allegations, including a couple new anonymous ones. he will deny that they ever happened. admitting he drankoo much sometimes in high school that, he did things that made him cringe, but they were juvenile o acts, nothinghe degree of what's being described at this point. so we'll see somethack and f with democrats asking their own questions, republicans their five minutes at a time to the attorney that they've hired to ask the questions for them. >> andtr ie, we've heard from president trump yesterday. now he says he's still h standi nominee. he did say he'd be watching closely. take a >> they're giving the women a major chance to speak. it's possible i'll h

news 4's tracie potts is following the latest from whcapitol hill. is the president saying about the accuser? >> president trump says he's dr. us to hear wha christine blasey ford has to ark say, although he is standing by his nam knominee, judge kavanau and says is hard to believe something like sexual assault happened 36 years ago. the president has not saidhe th ould contact the fbi to open an investigation, which is what dr. ford and her attorneys are asking for. he says t fbi is not interested and that they've already done a background check on judge kavanaugh. meantime, here on capitol hill, the senate judiciary committee is trying work out details of a possible hearing or interview on monday. they insist on monday but say that dr. ford can do it blicly, privately. they'll even send people to california to talk with her. no word o that so far. she now has a 10:00 a.m. deadline tomorrowo submit documents if she plans to testify on monday. r >> allht. tracie potts live for us on capitol hill. tracie, thank you. >>> it's 4:48. markcuban, the owner

>> tracie potts live for us in washington. trac, thank u. >>> president trump is preparing for his final day at the u.n. general assembly. with plans for a press conference this evening to discuss the trip, along with news of the day according to press secretary sarah sanders. but first he'll wield the gavel as he chairs the u.n. security council meeting today after again touting his "america first" agenda in his speech to the general assembly. here's nbc's chris polone.or >> rr: talking tough on trade and foreign policy, president trump addressed world leadersathered in newyork. >> we are standing up foram ica and for themerican people. and we are also standing up for the world. >> reporter: during his 35-minute speech the president highlighted his administration's handling of north korea, syria, and iran while also defending his use of tariffs which have angered china as well as allies er europe and canada. >> america will n apologize for protecting its >> reporter: on north korea president trump once again s to meethis open

deadline tomorrow to submit documents if she plans to testify on monday. >> and that was tracie potts from capitol hill. >>> mark cuban, the ownerasf the da mavericks, will donate $10 mlion to organizations supporting women's rights and domestic violence victims. that donation comes after a r scathieport exposed sexual harassment by several employees with the team t for more than decades. while cuban was not the subject of the allegations himself, the report concluded his disciplinary decisions showed errors in judgment. >>> today marks one year since hurricane mar slammed into puerto rico. a year after that devastating storm, the island is sti struggling to recover. some tourists have returned, but many residen have not. hundreds of homes are still vacant. full power wasn't orrestored 11 months, in part because of the island's crumbling infrastructure. the initial death toll was recently updated from 64 to more than 2,000. the figure includes deaths caused bys mari impact on fundamental needs like cler wa and electricity. the white house disagrees with the number but has offert' no p

tracie potts on the hill this morning. >>> reports say gymnastics terry merry was filled with criticism over the resignation h come today. she had no experience when she took the job in december. she was recapped after it came to light that he had abused dozens of women and girls. 6. >> one of the proudest moments of history is the budget of a new movie. the new "ffilm, irst n," and "neil man" and women walking on the roone. but the iconic moment when the america blnot getting the pym. >> the flag is shown standing on the luper surface, interesting to see why he maio those situ. >>> then governors rac maryland is a krooefry fun. theyere trying to one up support krit >> looking people in the eye, shaking their hand and hearing wh they're concerned about >> just getting a chance to take the hands of vots. look them in eye. and talk to them about the issues. reeken hogan with a double-digit lead statewide. >>> parts of louisiana and mississippi, under a merck. it's moving through the into the hat goir 1 hurricane by the end of the day. >> residents prepair for the g worm by stock up on sup

if that's the sse, theyd god help us all. >> tracie potts on the hill. thanks so much. >>> 5:47.opments in the crisis in the catholic church. cardinal donald wuerhle has a heavy assertionske will pope francis for guidance about hess future of archbishop of washington. chrisawrence has more. what are we learning? >> reporter: well, eun, we just gothold ofhis letter from cardinal wuerhle in which he says he'll fly back to the vatican to speak with the pope. he's been undire since the grand jury report came out of pennsylvania. it said when he was in charge of the diocese in pittsburgh at times he went out of his way to remove so-calledr preda priests but in some casese allowed one priest who gave alcohol to boys beforely alleg molesting them. there are 80,000 signatures demandg that he be removed from office. even some priests in his own dioces have publicly urged him to resign. in northwest d.c. it was at this church in which one woman turned her back on him during the homily andnother man jumped up and yelled shame on you. >> chris, thanks so much. >>> in other news thearents of

>> her attorney says she the hearing to be pushed further anto the week while kauavsgh news 4' tracie pottslive on capitol hill with more now. why later in the week? >> she is dealing with death threats and the security of her testimony to get the written testimony done and get to washington by monday so they're considering pushing it to thursday. u.s. marshals are also checking out threats against judge kavanaugh. he's eager andeady to testify he says to clear his name but the oer side is laying down some conditions for the testimony sting they w him to go first. not her. they don't want him in thhe roo whens testifying and they're trying to limit the number of queions but requiring the fbi investigation before her testimony as they had reported. it's not a deal breaker according to her attorney and she's also saying she done want o be questioned by a professional. republicans are thinking about bringing in outside council t female lawyer ask the questions instead of lawmakers. >> tracie potts on the hill for us, thank you. >> it's now 5:47. a group of alumni from dr. rd's high school is s

. >> news 4's tracie potts i following the latest on capitol hill. trump saying about this? >> reporter: president trump says the fbi doesn't want to get involved and he'sy the o one that can order that investigation. he's standing by hisnominee, judge cakavanaugh who says he didn't assault this woman. wasnar at the she references. he says he's ready to testify at any time.ov night, new development. her attorneys now say a couple of things and she is facing death threats and had to move out of her homend that it's not fair for her to face questions from lawmakers before fthey have thets and so she wants an fbies igation before she testifies but the senate republicans in charge ofs this committ that's not happening before monday. monday is her opportunity to tell her story and if she chooses not to do so, then they will go ahead with that vote next wednesday, a week from today. >> we'll see what happens. tracie potts live fors on capitol hill. thank you. >>> 14 before the hour. th te will be notimony in the d.c. mansion murder trial. that trial will r

tracie potts, live on capitol hill.nk you so much. >>> hearings for brett are set to begin this week. kavanaugh has met with a number of lawmakers on capitol hill in the last few weeks. republicans are hopingo confirm him before the start of the high court's next session and midterm eltions. democrats have criticized the gop for not allowing enoughime or documents to properly vet kavanaugh. >> it's not normal because we are not00 able to see 100 documents that the archivist -- because the adnistration said we can't see them. their execive power. 148,000 documents that i've seen, that you cannot see. >> the confirmations will begin tomorrow. >>> a man and a woman are dead when an suv hit their motorcycle. the suv was traveling the wronge way on r 50 early sunday morning when it crashed into the motorcycle. that driver has beearrested. maryland state police have identified the victims as donald tyner and janelle mcdougle. both ofm live in baltimore. >>> good news as far as commutes are concerned. the 45-day project on met

let's go to news 4's tracie potts. >> what we know is there's going to be a vote this morning. in the senate judicry committee. it gives us the tperature of ere this may be going. 11 republicans, one of them, f senator jefke of arizona still undecided. he said after the hearing last night. so he's deciding whether or not ed can vote without an fbi investigation b on the testimony he has heardis in fav of nomination. >> what happens after the senators vote this morning? >> so whether or not they recommend this, whether they do a recommendation, that the full nate can vote. they already put a plan in place to start this process on saturday. 30 hours of debate on monday with the plan and goal of a final vote on tuesday. there are still lots of calls. overnight the american bar sociation saying that there needs to be an fbi investigation before a vote but there's no indication that's going to happen. >> doet't seem like at this point. thank you, tracy. >> now to our continuingf coverage the d.c. mansion murders trial. she told jurors that dna matching the suspect was found on a piz

jay gray, nbc news, wilmington, north carolina >> well, nbc news's tracie potts also joins us now fromon, d.c., this morning tracie, how is federal government helping state officials in that part of the united states with the response to florence? >> reporter: so, willem, they're providing more people and resources to help with some of those water rescues. they're focused search and rescue trying to get people out of dangerous situations with rising flood waters and get them into shelters. a lot of that or some of that has been translating president trump briefed on this sunday praised fema tweeting that they are kicking into an even higher gear and they are very professional. interesting interestingly, fema's administrator is defending president trump's controversial tweet about puerto rico questioning whether 3,000 people that was some of the leadup to this saying the numbers on the study were all over the place and noticing that they are very much focused on, as you saw, water res skaus happening. that will remain relatively low. tracie potts, thank you so much. >>> and another terr

tracy potts is live on capitol hill now. this is going to delay the confirmation vote.resident trump saying about that. >> president trump says that's okay for he was eager to get someone on the bench. to get kavanaugh on the bench but now he says it's better to weig wait. >> tracie potts live on capitol hill. thank you. >> now kavanaugh's accuser was a student at the private school bethesda. we'll have more to the local ties coming up in our next hourn poli investigating a homicide that happene around 2:15 this morning. a man had been shot and was later taken to the hospital where he died. >> new cell phone video this morning of chaos dicing a p shooting yesterday. take a look there. >> oh my god. there was a gunshot. get down. ge>> down. olice say two of those shots were fired by the suspect jose alvarez. an officer spotted him trying to brea into a c in temple hills. alvarez then ran to hide in a ladry room. authorities say he pulled a gun ouring the struggle shooting one officer that triedover the barrel with his hands. mosterday an assistant gave an emotional testi

coming up, tracie potts will have details from capitol hill. >>> this morning, a woman is out of the hospital app just barelyg escaping a burar. this is surveillance video from wednesday. a poweline fell on that woman's car. reshe jumped out when the started. and people nearby rushed to help drag her away from the flames.pe o is investigating what happened here.ow if a line ever falls on your car, pepco says it's important to stay in your vehicle and call for help. if a fire starts, you should jump out s your best not to touch your car as you jump ety. and you need to shuffle your feet, don't take full steps, asw you ru because the ground my be energized. >>> tonight, a historic game for the washington mystics. it will take on the in the first wnba finals. the mystics tweeted this. the storm may look strong after securing their spot in the finals earlier in the week. but the mystics are riding high after taking down the atlanta dream in the semifinals. game one tips off in seattle at 9:00. >> this could be the third championship for teams in washington. >> crossing our fingers.> rf t

news 4's tracie potts will have that in a report just ahead. >>> m unexpectedent at the united nationst even caught president trump a little off ar as the president boasted about his accomplishments yesterday, laughter could be heard in the chamber. >> in less than two years my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the our country. america's -- so true. didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay. >> in a major contrast to last year, there was no talk of rocket man. instead, president trump tanked the north korean leader kim jong-un and called him, quote, ser rifk. this morning he'll mee with benjamin netanyahu. >>> t recent rash of violence continues. two men shot on benng road northeast. they were sitting inside a car outside a carry out restaurant when another man walked up and sh them. they both survived. d.c. mayor murielowser is very concerned about what's happening. >> dramatic, outrageous and it happened in different places across the city, all non-random acts. all people likely who knew each other. >> as of this morning there have been at leas

tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> tracie, thank you. >>> the ashes of one of the victims killed in the "capital gazette" shooting are now at national park. the widow placed his ashes in a planter of about again toias on saturday. he covered news and sports at the capital ga did he tell in annapolis. one of the five killed when a gunman broke in and opened fire last summer. the baseball park was a sacred place f john. >>> another call for unity amid grief. ronbe eve the, ttibbetts, the f mollie tibbetts, allegedlyed murdy an undocumented immigrants pleading not to exploit his daughter's death. >> reporter: in ia a father in anguish pleads for empathy. writing in the des moines register he asks pundits not to exploit mollie's soul. the act greivously describes the crime that stole her from their family. her body was found in a corn field august 21 about month fter she dispardon while jogging. a mexican living in america illegally was charged with her murder. the tibbetts' loss has become a rallying cry for anti-immigration supporters. tibbetts column was published only one day aft

. >> news 4'ss tracie potts live on capitol hill. what else did he say during that interview? he had no, he did nothing to these women. the first accuser and second accuser or now a thi who is yet to be identified but her attorney says she is coming forwd in the next 48 hours before that hearing. kavanaugh wants t clear his name and he wants a fair hearing. he's not giving up. he will fht for this nomination. republicans say he will get an up or down vote. they are accusing democrats are pushing fegse aions as has the president. while democrats are still tpushing fort fbi investigation which it doesn't look like is going to happen before thursday's hearing. >> tracie potts on the hill this morning. we continue our team coverage of the kavanaughcontroversy. >> justin finch is on capitol hill as well this morning. he has moren the protest that interrupted one member of congress's dinner.ju in. >> that's right. we're talking about texas senator ted cruz that came face to f with demonstrators last night at a d.c. restaurant and that confrontation was caught on camera. >> we believ

tracie potts, nbc ns, shington. >>. >>> president trump has ordered the declassification of documents related to the russia investigation. democrats say he's only doing it to make himlf looketter. the documents include a surveillance warrant and former bi director james comey's text messages. critics say it could expose u.s. intelligence method for nths, the president claimed the russia investigation is a hoax and a witch hunt. >>> the d.c. council isg consider overturning the will of d.c. voters that would raise wages for tips workers. hundreds of peopl packed the council hearing room. a majority of members areri spon a bill to repeal initiative 77. ow, the bill would give tips workers a higher-based pay. it nents of the bill say could cause job losses and higher prices. others say the council should respect what the voters approved. an we talk about voter suppression anywhere in the country, we're going to suppress the vote here in washington, d.c. because it didn't come out the way the restaurant association wantede it to c out and politicians wanted it to come out. >> $15 per hour

. >> she wants then ch fbi to investigate first, but as nbc's bay area reports tracie potts senators in charge insist they won't wait. >> reporter: there's now a deadline, 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, for dr. christine blasey ford to submit documents if she plans to testify monday. >> either in an open session or a closed session or a public or a private interview. >> reporter: even in california where she lives, but ford's attorney insists before she talks about the alleged assault denied by judge brett kavanaugh, the fbi needs to investigate, plus she wants more witnesses. the rush to a hearing is unnecessary and contrary to the committee discovering the truth. her attorney says in a new statement to nbc. >> they are trying to set up a he said she said scenario and bully her into testifying on monday and not being heard at all. >> reporter: some lawmakers are is against a private interview. >> you can't put the genie back in the bottle, and the american people are entitled to hear from both of them. >> reporter: president trump still reluctant to the about asks. he's the only one who can.

. >> tracie potts johns us live on capitol hill with that development. plus two more accusers? >> reporter: yes works more accusers. but we will not hear from them tomorrow. one yet unnamed, expected to go public today. the other, who was in "the new yorker," we do know that her attorney has tried to get in touch with the committee, but they say the committee is not interested or has not made it easy to even set up a phone call. what we will see tomorrow is rachel mitchell. she is a veteran sex crimes prosecutor out of maricopa county, arizona, the phoenix area. she spent decades doing this type of work. republicans are bringing her in to question dr. ford. remember, there are 11 men on the republican side of this panel. no women. and so optics. they did want to avoid the image of all men questioning a woman about her sexual assault, alleged sexual assault, bringing up images of what happened years ago in the anita hill hearing. so they are bringing in this prosecutor to do the job. democrats criticizing that as a lack of an investigation here. judge kavanaugh will also testify

. >> tracie potts is live in washington for us.agine the favorite parlor game is guessing who wrote this piece. what is the reaction from the administration to it >> so the president, as you just heard there says this is gutless. he is also demanding that the "new york times" turn over the name of this person to the government he says it is a matter of national security and then tweeted this is payback for getting rid of bad apples in washington the white house is insisting whoever this is resign and keeping in mind this is not necessarily someone who works in the white house. they could work in any part of the government i work for the president is the way that op-ed opens which could be any senior administration official familiar with these decisions. what is notable here also is this official confirms that early on there was talk about the 25th amendment and removing the president from office because of some of the decisions that he was making that apparently this official and perhaps others felt were not in the best interest of

tracie potts, nbc news, shington. >>> a group of alumni from dr. ford's school is standing behind her. they have been visiting lawmaker's offices delivering letter of support f dr. ford and they also believe an fbi investigation should move forward. >> dr. blasey ford isur fellow alumni and she's asked for an fbi investigation into herself. not really something that one generally asks for. so we are just echoing her ask. >> on the website the al lump-- claim she has a right to testify. >>> and we're learnin more about the death of the maryland football player who collapsed at practice over the summer and died about two wee later are. he was 19 years old and today the university m ofyland board of regents is announced to expect the results of an investigation into jordan's death. espn reports that the school hire a sports medicine consultant to see if the football staff followed propero prot when mcnair collapsed, but according to espn, jordan's parents say that they weren't told those findings would be released today until the media reported it. te

tracie potts has more. >> now there's a negotiation going on about whether or not and when dr.hristine blasey ford will testify here it looks like they're pushing that for monday. she says she can't make that date, to possibly next thursday. in an e-mail obtained overnight by nbc news, attorneys for christine blasey ford say she is too busy dealing with death threats to prepare for the hearing on monday. written testimony before this morning's ted line wondeadline h everything else they say is negotiable, including an fbi investigation. >> let them give us an impartial report what is so difficult to do that? stop the playing games >> ford is asking that kavanaugh not be in the room when she testifies, and she wants him to go first they're asking the senate judiciary committee to limit cameras and she wants the committee to subpoena kavanaugh's friend, mark judge, who she claims witnessed the assault. sources say they did agree to guarantee her security. >> let it play out i think everything will be just fine this is a high-quality person. >> president trump in las vegas last ni

let's get more from tracie potts. >>> today the president is going to chair the u.n.ecurity counc council, first time for him, the second u.s. president to do so in that meeting they're supposed to focus on weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons. big question will the president target iran? he did so in his speech yesterday saying that iran's leaders have pushed chaos, death and destruction. he's trying to isolate iran even though our european allies want to continue to work with them, trade with them and do business with them as part of that nuclear agreement that the u.s. pulled out of. iran's president, president rouhani, expected to hold a news conference later today after that security council meeting. he called the meeting preposterous and abnormal. this has been a big split between the u.s. and european allies on how to deal with iran and how to deal with this nuclear deal that president trump just wasn't working that could come up today as he wraps up his time in new york. >> rouhani part of opec which is ripping off the world according to our preside

. >> tracie potts on the hill this morning. tracie, thank you. >>> new details this morning about the bicyclist killed a hit-and-run outside of the natural historyto museum. hollow well was a museum employee who biked to work every day from virginia. he was sit along constitution avenue on his way to work. the driver who hit him ran the red light and fled tscene. his wife has a message. >> i hope and pray there was a real significant reason for why he had to go so fast and he had to disregard the traffic light. i mean, i can only imagine that there might be a reason. >> right now police are only saying the car that hit hollowwell was a dark sedan. his wife sai she will spend the rest of her life trying to make the roa safer for bicyclists. >>> this morning crews will be out looking for survivors of a senior apartment building in southeast d.c. this comes after an injured senior citizen was discovered fi days later. news4's mark seagraves will explain. >> reporter: they're sure everyone is accounted for. this after a 74-year-old

tracie potts has more on that.lus another former trump aide speaking out. >> i've never seen an instance when the president is so detached from the reality of what's going on. >> reporter: bob woodward tells the "today" show he was meticulous and careful interviewing more than 100 people for his book, "fear," detailing the chaos inside the trump white house. >> this has not been treated seriously enough. some of the things trump did and does jeopardize the real national security. >> reporter: president trump tweets this morning, the book is a joke that the white house is a smooth-running machine. chief of staff, jon kelley and defense secretary, jim mattis, deny they insulted the president. >> they are not telling the truth. >> reporter: backing woodward's claims, and those in an anonymous "new york times" editorial, former white house aide, omarosa mangold. >> whenever he did something that was so insane and crazy and unhinged. when he would split positions from one hour to the next, we just hash tag it tfa. >> tf

. >> tracie potts joinse us l from capitol hill with more. tracie, howoon can we expect a final answer here? >> reporter: we don't know. we know thathe president said he will take a good, hard look at this. he will study it again over the weekend, after announcing no pay raise in january for federal workers. while he says the economy is doing well, he says economy cannot afford a pay raise for federals. work he got a lot of pushback on that. not just from the democrats, as you might expect, but from republicans, especially t who represent northern virginia where there are a lot of federal workers. criticsaying it the president's big tax cuts and promptingill that are this squeeze on the federal paycheck. >> all right, tracie. a lot of people were counting on that raise. thank you very much. >>> hearings for controversial supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh are set to begin this week. kavanaugh has met with lawmakers on capitol hilln the last few weeks. republicans are hoping to confirm him before the start o the hig court's next session and

the white house also says he will focus on the global drug war in that speech today >> tracie potts in., thank you. >>> let's check the other top headlines outside the world of money and business including the latest on the brett kavanaugh situation and the fight for the supreme court. frances rivera has me on that. >> reporter: brett kavanaugh saying he will not go anywhere amid sexual misconduct allegations against him in an interview on fox news last night kavanaugh denied the accusations including those from his first accuser, dr. christine blasey ford who said kavanaugh assaulted her at a high school party. they are expected to testify on thursday. >>> rod rosenstein is keeping his job, at least for now. with his employment still on the line, rosenstein is now scheduled to meet with president trump on thursday, same day as the kavanaugh hearings this after conflicting reports about whether rosenstein would resign or be fired at a meeting at the white house yesterday. >>> also reports setting off concern about the russia probe which rosenstein currently overseas >>> bill cosby is d

tracie potts has the latest. day one of these hearings, what can we expect?> a lot of frustrated democrats on this judiciary committee they are upset they did not get all of the background information from the white house that they think they need to start this questioning and this confirmation hearing today president trump's supreme court nominee faces a room full of skeptical democrats today, already rallying against him >> kavanaugh's views on the 2nd amendment are out of the gun lobby playbook >> reporter: they're worried on how kavanaugh would vote on healthcare, abortion and whether the president can be prosecuted. >> he's even argued that sitting presidents should not face criminal investigation no investigation of a president. is it any wonder that president trump chose kavanaugh? >> the trump team released hundreds of thousands of documents from judge kavanaugh's time from the bush administration, more than the past five nominees combined they argue. but the white house is claiming executive privilege on 100,000 pages. that's not right it raises the

tracy potts has more.te >> rep 20 pages, what did the government tell a judge to get that surveillanced? appro 20 pages unredacted, nothingbl ked out is what the president wants released. alsoext message between james comey, the former deputy director and other officials with the fbi, including a couple of agents that t says were out to get him. now this came somewhat by surprise. the president's request to release though information still unknown. will it be challenged here on capitol hill. some lawmakers are already calling it political. >> i thinkst it's f and fomost a waiy of donald trump helping his own team. he's conferred with hiss, lawy what information would be useful to you. >> this is really full transparency for the american people. this will be all the information i thinkcahe ame people will need to see. >> reporter: the justice department and office of the director of national intelligence both say what happens here is when the president makes thi request, it sparks a review to see if reasing this information could threaten national security. and so they will start that pr

news 4's tracie potts has reaction from capitol hill. eg reporter: judge brett kavanaugh cically and unequivocally denies groping a young woman at a hou party in the '80s. that claimal from aornia professor "the washington post" identifies as christine blasey ford. >> she was pushed into a bedroom. she says that brett kavanaugh aheld her down on bed. she says she tried to call out for help and that kavanaugh then put his hand over her mouth. >> she clearly considers this an attempted rape. she believes if iwere not for the severe intoxication of brett kavaugh, she would have been raped. >> nbc has not verified those claims. her story only revealed once before during therapy, six years asago. critics why now? >> you had your opportunity to come forward and you failed to do that year after year after year. >> she had a civic duty to tell it. >> reporter: democrats first learned about this injuly, but say the accuser did not want to come forward. now, they want the fbi to investigate. >> why on earth over the past four to six weeks hasn't i

tracie potts has more on the hearing that got everybody's attention yesterday. >> reporter: after thatng and the testimony, a lot of people wondering what will happen today we learned overnight that four key senators who have been undecided about this sat down to talk about what they saw and heard in that hearing late last night. they were kind of tight-lipped about that conversation after a full day of emotional testimony. >> i am terrified. >> reporter: after a day filled with emotion -- >> i thought that brett was accidentally going to kill me. >> reporter: and explosions of anger. >> i am predominant of this charge >> this is the most unethical sham since i've been in politics >> reporter: this morning lawmakers are ready to move forward with a decision on judge brett kavanaugh. >> it is time to vote. >> reporter: this morning the senate judiciary committee decides whether to recommend kavanaugh to sit on the u.s. supreme court. some freshly convinced of his innocence. >> i thought both were compelling but i just didn't feel like that the allegations were corroborated >> reporter:

with tracie potts who is live in washington >>> good morning those preparations involve advanced workh the states affected by this storm as this massive storm barrels towards the east coast now, it's also being overshadowed by some new information about how the trump administration dealt with the last big storm >> so, i've spoken with -- >> reporter: president trump says washington is ready to help with what's expected to be massive damage and power outages from hurricane florence. >> we are totally prepared we're ready. we're as ready as anybody has ever been. >> reporter: he declared states of emergency from south carolina to washington. with more than 1 million people already evacuated, the federal emergency management agency is staging critical supplies now mindful of what happened last year hurricane maria. a new estimate shows nearly 3,000 people died in puerto rico >> puerto rico was an incredible unsung success >> if he thinks the death of 3,000 people is a success, he really doesn't know what this was all about. >> reporter: a report from the government accountability office

news4's tracie potts has reaction now from capitol hi. >> reporter: "the new york time headline reads i am part of the resistance inside the trump administration. an anonymous op-ed from someone the pap describes as a senior administration official. >> anonymous. meaning gutless. a gutless editorial. we're doing a great job. the poll numbers a through the roof. >> reporter: but from the inside, this official calls president trump amoral, making half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions, confirming early talk among aides of invoking the 25th amendment to remove him fro office. as they work to frustrate the president's agenda. >> people around this president have been sounding the alarm almost like a paul revere moment, coming out and saying such dramatic things. >> reporter: president trump calls it treason. the white hou is demanding the author resign. >> you want to answer to a higher calling, you want to do something in service to the nation, you haveo come forward and sign your name to this. >> reporter: we fully recognize what is happening and we are trying to d

tracie potts has the very latest from capitol hill. . >> reporter: in an e-mail obtained overnight bynbc news, attorneys for christine blassy ford say she is too busy dealing with death threats to prepare for the hearing monday. written testimony by this morning's deadline won't happen. everything else they say is negotiable, including her desire for the fbi to investigate her sexual assault claim against supreme court nominee, judge brett kavanaugh. >> let them give us an impartial report. what is so difficult to do that? stop the playing games. >> reporter: ford is asking kavanaugh not be in the room when she testifies, and she wants him to go first. they're asking the senate judiciary committee to limit cameras and she wants the committee to subpoena the judge who witnessed the assault. that's reportedly been denied. sources say they did agree to guarantee her security. >> we'll let it play out. and i think everything is going to be just fine. this is a high-quality person. >> reporter: president trump in las vegas last night, standing by his nominee. as dozens are arrested on capi

tracie potts is on capitol hill now for more. why does she want to testify ter in the week. >> her attorneys in a long phone call and follow up e ail said she just can't get here on monday because she's dealing with death threa and trying to secure her family. the committee is considering that and alshere's other conditions. she doesn't wanto testify before kavanaugh. she wants him to go first.an she doesn'tt a professional questioner. republicans were considering bringing in a woman, outsideo council conduct the questioning. her lawyers said no. a number of different things but interestingly not laying down the gauntlet when it comes to the fbi investigation. still strongly recommending that but not saying it's a deal breaker for her testimony. thank you. >> a group of alumni from dr. ford's school is standing behind her. the students have been visiting lawmakers officers delivering letters of support for dr. ford. they believe an fb investigation should move forward. >> dr. blasey for is a fellow alumni and she asked for an fbi

nbc's tracie potts joins us. >> reporter: good morning. some lawmakers are wondering how forthcoming will judge cavanaugh be about his views on things liker obamacare. will he be willing to roll those back and say that before the hearings get underway this week. as you noted, they are sring n his background. >> it's not normal because we are not able to see 100,000 documents that the archivist has just -- because the administration has said we can't see them. you have a nominee who has had one of the most expansive views of presidential power that we've seen in history. >> reporter: and there are another 148,000 documents that lawmakers have seen but can't talk about publicly. nafta negotiations continue as president trump tries to revamp the free trade agreement with mexico and canada. some people wondering if the focus will only be mexico. will canada be looped in here. congress will have to eventually approve that. finally, the >> tracie, thank you. >>> the fight for the texas senate is hitting the highway. president trump is planning a

tracie potts unwashington. >> reporter: good morning everyone. so any hypotheticals, he declined to answer. that's not unusual for someone hoping to become a supreme court justice. side the president be forcesed to answer a subpoena that can come to bear in the russiaings have. and what about the president's ability to pardon himself? neither of these questions would kavanaugh answer. >> president trump claims he has an absolute right to pardon himself. does he? >> the question of self pardons is something i've never analyzed. it's a question i rr not written about, a hypothetical question i can't begin to answer as a nominee to the supreme court. >> reporter: side stepping some key questions but again not unusual for someone hoping to be on the supreme court. as for his vetting, he said he was never asked his opinion on row v wade. the ruling on abortion and whether or not he would try to overturn it. he has promised to put someone in office who would do just that. meantime we have seen a record number of protests so far. >> so many sparks for s