tracie potts live for us on capitol hill.hank you. >>> 85-year-old supreme court justice ruth bader beginsbegins ready to get back into the gym. she broke t ribs last week. he insists ginsburg is a tough nails. >> 85 out planking all of them. >>> right now these are live pictures from florida where election workers a trying to finish recounting hundreds of thousand of ballots for the senate and governor's races deadline.morrow's yesterday workers started processing thousands of ballots throh tabulation machines but election officials in palm county, florida, said the old machines are over heating and that is causing the tallies to be off. they not early voting tallies were not matching up with any previous tallies. he recount must be finished by tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. the vote will determine who toes senate, governor rick scott or incumbent governor rick nelson and ron desantis and tallahassee mayor andrew gillum. >>> new thismorning, former first lady michelle obama kicker off ook tour in chicago. she was joined by oah winfre

tracie potts will have more on this coming . >> here are the other stories making headlines this morning, a majornt developme in the robert mueller stinveation. the special counsel office accusing paul manafort of lying to federal authorities in the russia probe. >> general motors executives were cutti 15,000 jobs across north america and that could mean 300 people nearalmore could be out of work. the cuts are part of a restructuring plan that focuses on electric and self-driving vehicles. >> the greater wasngton partnership is meeting today to discuss ways to ease yourco ute. one suggestion calls for you to pay a congestion tax to drive it s of downtown d.c. chris lawrence will be live with the otherst sugns to limit your traffic troubles. that's coming up at 5:00 a.m. >> thecaps are coming off a big night. they added another win to their streak at the expense of a coach that lead them to a stanley cup win. ings beforeed their the game. it's the first time the caps played the new york islanders and the caps dominated. washington won 4-1. that's better than they had all last season. and

tracie potts live on capitol hill. thank you. >>> 14 before the hour rightno lowering the voting age in d.c. could take a major step forward today. the d.c. counsel committee on the judiciary and publicwi safe vote on a bill today. that bill needs a majority of the committee's votes to move forward. tacoma park,reen belt, and hiattsville, maryland, also allow 16-year-olds to vote in local races. >>> also today, ope enrollment for health care opens in virginia today. one big change this year is the expansion medicaid in the state. it opens up coverage to hundreds of thousands of people who didn't have insurance options before. the age limit for medicaid is between the ages of 18 and 64. >>> this morning we hope to learn more about what led to al apartment fire in northeast d.c. firefighters found one man dead at a senior residence ft. lincoln drive yesterday. investigators are the trying to find out the cause. >>> prince william county leaders are working on a plan to get students out of portable classrooms. right now m

we will check in with tracie potts coming up in 15 minutes for more oni th >>> we have a update on the camp fire in northern california, and it is lly contained and that doesn't mean it's out, just they have control around it. it destroyed 13,000 homes and kild at least 85 people, and nely 300 people are still unaccounted for this morning, and the remains of some of the missing may never be recovered because of the severity of the fire. > family of a man shot and killed by alabama p is calling on the department to elease all videos of the shooting. bradford's family says the department accidentally shot. the hoover police department announced bradford was not the shooter but he may have been involved in some aspect of th altercation. the family learned bradford dien ocial media. this morning we are hearing from his parents. >> basically said he was walkint arou mall and waving a gun and tryingo escape, and that was not my child. >> you can hear more on the "today" ow after "news4 today." >>> and then a bond hearing for four local football players charged in a hazing case. theare being

>> all right, tracie potts in washington for us. tracie, thank you. >> a false alarm caused a panic at walter reed medical center. news of an active shooter at the d.c. area military hospital spread like wildfire and triggered a massive law enforcement response. patients and staff scrambled to get to safety as security teams cleared building 19 where they believed there was a shooter. while the fear was real, the alarm was a mistake. the navy gave the all-clear for the facility saying the alert system was inadvertently activated without including the words, exercise or drill. >> three u.s. service members were killed and three others wounded in afghanistan tuesday. the road side bombing which also injured an american contractor marks the deadliest attack on u.s. forces there in over a year. nbc pentagon correspondent hans nichols has the details. >> reporter: the attack near the embattled city of gozni a massive road side bomb killing three americans. the soldiers traveling in a heavily armored vehicle, taliban insurgents quickly cla

-mexico border. >> tracie potts is live on n capitol hi with more on the new rules.racy, good morning. >> good morning. good morning, everyone. president trump promised to stop those caravans at the border. this is one way his administration is trying to do it. homeland security and the justice department agreeing on a new rule that says if you're coming to this country, if you're trying to cross the border and claim asylum, you can ly do so at certain designated ports of entry. problem is, people cross illegally because those ports are backed up for days. you don't, if you cross at her ports, you can still claim asylum but now the bar is higher. there's more proof required than just fearing violence in your country. this rule makor it difficult than even international law that allows people to claim asylum where ever they cross the border. the aclu is already on it saying they'rng to sue. >> tracy, thank you. >> 11 before the hour now. we look at a viral video of a baltimore high school student punching a teacher in the face. this is cell phone video shot wednesday

let's go to tracie potts in washington. good morning. let's start with manafort. >> reporter: so it's a status hearing on his sentenclast summ eight counts of fraud. related to work that he did his entire decade before he worked for president trump and then to avoid another trial, he pleaded guilty on two counts of conspiracy. when will he go to jail? for how long will he go to jail? that's what this hearing is about. his lawyers will make the argument on bhiz half. now none of these charges have anything to do with the trump campaign. they were a decade before he ever worked for president trump as campaign chair but they can put the squeeze on him to tell special counsel robert mueller -- he is the w pleaded to lying to the fbi about trying to set up a meetbug tween the trump campaign and russians who claim to have information on hill mill. >> tracie potts for us this morning. thank you. >>> it's going to be a messy start. >> if you have school. i'm sure there's going to be delays and cancellations. central michigan and later on into to

tracie potts will explain why in a few >> this morning, a d.c. man is recovering after being attacke by pit bull. it happened yesterday morning. police detainedwihe dog before it ran off into another home. >> well, today the choice is peas or carrots. they're not side dishes thi time around, they're turkeys. >> both turkeys are up for prpaidential on. no, they're both up for he sidential pardon and white house is running a twitter poll about which should be the official thanksgiving turkey. with 50,000te it's still tied. happy trails to you. 5:36. coming up, a video that will make you look forward to the home cooked holid meal. we'll show you the carry out stowaway found i one woman's take out order. i can't even look. >> new details ino a fund me fraud case. the >>> we have new details on the go fund me the legal battle between a new jersey couple and philadelphia homeless man intensified yesterday. she released audio recordings of theconspiracy. she recorded a six minute conversation with her boyfriend. inhat conversation she maintains the alle

tracie potts, nbc7 washington. >>> coming up next on "today in the bay," flooding can happen anywheree important step to protect property which our consumer unit says almost no one in our state takes. >>> first happening now, the search for victims continues in butte county. yesterday no new bodies were discovered. the death toll for the camp fire stands at 88. searchers have now gone through 18,000 burned structures. the active search remains there -- for the remains, i should say, has concluded. some residents will be allowed back to many burnt areas early next week. more news after the break. ad lib over radar >>> 4:55 right now. taking a look at the radar and you can see how that storm is lingering over the bay area. kari will have a look at that coming up. >>> consumer investigator chris joins us. >> reporter: you're probably not covered for flooding. that is the bottom line here. everyday homeowners or renter's insurance does not pay for flood damage. when there's rising water involved, you're required to have a separate policy from the national flood insurance program which is

nbc's tracie potts is in washington with reaction from the winners and the losers. >> reporter: democrats won control of the house of representatives with a record number of women elected, and the blue wave swept through places like virginia. jennifer wexton becomes the first democrat to represent her district in four decades. >> we have the power to makes things better. >> reporter: republicans hold on with ted cruz's victory in texas. >> we want a future with more jobs and more security and more freedom. >> reporter: senate republicans took seats from democrats in indiana, north dakota, and missouri, where josh holley great claire mccaskill. >> i am not going away. i love this state. i will continue to serve. >> reporter: west virginia's joe manchin heads back to washington with this message for president trump. >> we've got to bring people together. mr. president, i want you to be president of the united states, not the divided states. >> reporter: tremendous success tonight, the president tweeted. the white house downplaying democrats taking over the house. >> the president's agenda i

for a look at what to expect, let's bring in nbc's tracie potts. good morning, tracie. >> reporter: hey, marlie and philip. good morning. so, right now, democrats are getting themselves organized, trying to figure out who's going to be in charge of what and what their priorities will be, what they'll start with first. congresswoman nancy pelosi has a vision for the new house of representatives controlled by democrats. >> a more open congress with accountability to the public. >> reporter: but she's expected to face competition for house speaker. so will other top democrats. >> i think we will have a new generation of leadership. >> reporter: fresh faces and some old ones. congressman elijah cummings expected to head oversight and government reform. that committee could subpoena president trump's tax records. >> we're going to do our part. i'm not going to be handing out subpoenas like somebody's handing out candy on halloween. >> reporter: adam schiff is expected to take over the intelligence committee. they'll look into hush money paid to women who

tracie potts on the hill this morning. thank you. >>> nancy pelosi is one step closer to once again having the speaker's gavel. yesterday she won her party's nomination to be the nex speaker of the house. her role has been anything but a done deal since the midtermel tions when democrats regained control of the house. some in herarty are still lling for fresh leadership. the entire house will vote in january to confirm pelosi. >>> an update this morning on the child hit by a pickup truck moffnts after getting her school bus in maryland. that 7-year-old is expected to survive, but she has a long road to recovery ahead of her. e was hit on tuesday night in bryantown, maryland. that's in charles county. the sheriff's officeays the school bus had activated its lights and stop sign. it's not clear what charges ter drho hit her is facing. a crowd funding page was kracred to help support her family. her m parents will have tos lork as she recovers at children's natioere in d.c. >>> new video this morning, the fairfax county polic

tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >>> 4:35 right now. this morning, a loss altos man behind bars accused of stalking an old classmate on facebook. -y multiple facebook files. he'd send the female victims sexually violent and threatening messages. >>> this morning, police hope you can recognize a man starting a fire in san francisco. this is surveillance video taken early sunday morningt tenderloi. the owners say the man walked to the back of the store, opened rolls of toilet paper, lit them on fire and took off. >> he did it once and again and again. this time nobody got killed, nobody got hurt. next time somebody might die or it might burn the whole building. >>,ers were able to quickly contain the fire. if you recognize the man, call san francisco police. >>> now to our decision 2018 coverage this morning, it appears san jose has a new councilwoman, maya esparza. tam nguyen the incumbent has called her to concede the distr. esparza has 53% of the vote. >>> coming up, a crackdown on facebook's and instagram's likes and profiles. >>> plu

news 4's tracie potts is live on capitol hill this morning tracking the latest updates. a lot of people are saying it's not quite a wave, a but there w ripple. talk about the house first and the big wins there. >> reporter: sure.no they wonh seats to regain control. nancy pelosi said in her victory remarks last night she will now yresumably be the house speaker. she said that the have got to work together. not only in her speech but also on the phone withum president when he called to cop grate two late her. also that blue wave that we've been talking about really wound up what some are calling a pink wave. we talked about jennifer wexton in virginia and others. ber ofare a record n women who have been elected to congress. democrats are in control because of that. >> tracie, let's look at the senate now. what sort of keyd races hel republicans hold on to power there? >> reporter: the senate is a different animal where democrats had hoped to make a couple o gains and gain control, but it was always an uphill battle. republicans did retain their majority there, in part beca

feeding information to the trump legal team while manafort was cooperating with the government. >> tracie potts on the hill for us this morning. tracie, thaew you. >>>details in that devastating overnight house fire that killed six people in indiana. we've learnedhe that father of some of the children killed was found dead in a separate location. according to the nbc affiliate there, police say they went tex the county to tell him about the deaths of his children,nd that's where they found him dead. right now it's not clear what killed him or whether heie before or after the fire. officials say the kids range in ages from 2 months old to 10 years old. two adults did make it out of the home. no word yet on what may have caused this fire. >>> right now in southern california, nearly a dozen mmunities have already been given mandatory evacuation orders ahead of some strong rain. this is in the los angeles county area that was just hit by a deadly wildfire. now the concern is mudslides. normally plants and soak up a lot of the rain, but the fire took away the vetation, which then increases the pote

news 4's tracie potts will have more on the midrms coming up. >>> it is the last day for aryland voters to cast their ballots without waiting in line. early voting there ends today. tomorrow io the last day vote early in d.c. and early voting ends on satuay for west virginia voters. if you're voting absentee in virginia, your ballot must be at the election office by tuesday or it will not be counted. >>> happening today, d.c. united has a chance i to makets postseason goals come true. tonight united will take on columbus crew fc for the knockout round in the playoffs. just a few months ago, united was the worst team in the league. when wayne rooney arrived, the season turned around. rooney is a finalist for the mls mvp. now his hard work and determination have led us to t playoffs. you can catch the game tnight at 8:00 a audi field. >>> 5:37 right now. still ahead this rning, casting ballots at 16? the local jurisdiction considering l lowering theal age to vote. >>> but first, a child charged with assaulting his classmates. what female sdents accuse him announcer: the follg will surpris

enjoy what sunshine you get >> tracie potts is on capitol hill for us this morning.ow does everyone plan to protect the >> a couple of things, first of all, they want to ps protection for his job. ve other words, it doesn't go through unlessone agrees or most lawmakers agree to protect his job or protect him from being fired. protect the investigation from being shutdown by the new acting attorney general, matt whitaker. also democrats sent a letter, democratic leadership sent a letter to the ethics officer at the justice thdepartment. want to know what advice did you give matt whitaker aboue whether or not should step back given theublic comments at he's made against him. >> tracie potts on the hill today. thank you. day in baltimore, the general assembly for the us. conference oflic bishops opens and thest firm will be high on the agenda. they have had to deal withf allegations abuse of clergy since june. just last month, pope francis accepted the resignation of cardinin ca donald wuerl. 5:46. today we honor our veterans across the country that deserved but many of

tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >>> now to our we iher. s another day to bundle up. we spotted a few extra layers out in georgetown yesterday. >> much needed. while the wind is not so bad, chuck says it's the feels-like weather out there. >> the stretch of colder weather will continue another couple of i'm optimistic about the second half of the weekend. right now your thursday coming up on noone time, below 40 degrees. an average high temperature is 53. this is well below average, 39 in washington, 37 in lorton, 36 in beautif loudoun county, virginia. and the northwest wind though nowhere near as strong as it was yesterday still out there. so we still have to factor that in. wind chills are in the upper 20s to around 30 degrees. definitely feels like winter afternoon high today peaking around 45. that's still 8 c degreesder than average. and there's also a chance for rain over t ekend. more on that coming up. >>> we're working to learn more about an ernight shooting in southeast d.c. police say a least one person was shot on 17th street, just a blocks from anacostia

. >> tracie potts is joining us olve now from capill with more on this. ld this lead to another government shutdown? it's possible. the thing they're trying to avoid, three weeks from today, budget deadline or we will see a partial government shutdown wrapped up in those negotiations. two things you mentioned, the border wall and how muchhe funding will be. the houseays one thingnd the senate has another idea but also protecting then charge of the russia investigation. democrats want to tack that on to the budget and now some republicans backing them either saying they think t's a good idea to protect robert mueller's job so the investigation can get wrapped up or that they s willnd in the way of that vote. >> tracie potts on the hill for us this morning. tracy, thank you. a good news to report fro developing story coming out of chicago. six people who were trapped for hours one of the tallest buildings in the country are now out. tourists from mexico became stuck inside what was once known as the handcock building for two hours. firefighters told our sist

. >> tracie potts joins us there's so many things i want to ask you. first i want to ask about turnout and expected turnout of this election. traditionally midterms don't garner a lot of people it seems this time around mob e mobilization is high and indications from pre-voting showing that mobilization is up from 150% to 200% already. >> exactly we have 35 million votes already cast, in many areas that's typical of what's in a midterm you're right these elections, off-year elections between the presidential elections often they don't drive out a lot of people that's different this year it could determine what we see today. president trump has been out campaigning a lot. he wrapped it up in missouri last night, even though, as you show, more than half of americans disapprove of his job performance. but he is still driving out huge crowds for republicans in hopes that they can retain power here. >> i want to ask you about some of the key spring states going on the latest polls, roughly prediction websites are estimates there is a 60% chance where we end

. >> tracie pott joins us from capitol hill now. president trump is defending the use of the tear >> he is. he says that the border patrol agents hadn't ud the tear gas since these people were rushing the border trying to get into the united states illegally. they were trying to apply for asylum legally. the president also blaming the parents at an event last night in mississippi saying they shouldn't have brought theirki into an area where they knew that tear gas would be used. he's calling lawless caravans with violent criminals trying to get into the united states. >> a new development in the mueller probe. paul manafort is accusedf lying. >> facing tax evasion and conspiracy charges unrelated to his work with president trump, now robert mueller's team the special counsel says he lied after he made a plea deal and that nullifies the deal and could land him in j ul for to ten years with a half million dollar fine. in a statement histtorneys say kn told the truth as best he utts b forwarhed. >> tracie potts on the hill this morning

letter overnight referring to nancy pelosi as a historic figure but calling for new leadership tracie potts is joining us now from washington. this seems like a moment of success for house members from the democratic side, yet here they are with infighting kicking off quite early on before they have taken their seats >> it's not a big surprise we heard that there would be a challenge if not more than one challenge to nancy pelosi. the 16 democrats who signed, one hasn't even been elected yet that election still in limbo but they're saying this election calls for change on the outside and inside when it comes to democratic leadership. 16 democrats could make a difference we know there are others who did not sign this letter who have said they will oppose her as house speaker. there are a couple who wanted to run against her who did not sign the letter so the actual number of people who might vote against nancy pelosi is still up in the air. she can afford to lose 14 based on the current makeup of the house if, in fact, no one votes present, which begins to change that number. she can afford

we'll check in with tracie potts for more on this in about 15 >minutes. oday there be a bond review hearing for four local high school football players carged in a hazing case. players are 15 years old and their students of da mass cas high school. they allegedly raped several teammates on the jv football daem. they say theysaulted thafr teammates with a broomstick in the locker room in a hazing ritual she haveen charged as adults with rape and a fifth stud debt has beenharged as a juvenile. >>> it's 5:34. president trump's former campaign foreign policyviser heading to prison. george papadopoulos begins a ilo-week science today. he pleaded g to lying to federal agents about his interactions with russia officials. th>>> many are mourning death of a police officer killed in the line of duty. hunter edwards crashedis cruiser saturday night. he was responding to a 911l c for a fight. virginia governor ralph northam lowered the flags to be lowered to half staff on the day the officer is buried. >>> a massive snowstocanceled hundreds of flights across the rock

>> tracie potts, thank you very much >>> still ahead, keep calm and invest on.t your next guest says you should be doing right now. why he's giving you the all clear for your money for the next year and a half that's next. for your heart... your joints... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. >>>could it be a november to remember the dow on pace for its best week in months we're down right now but anything could happen. >>> crude alert. oil falling deeper into a bear market will it break below $60 a barrel gasoline prices could fall again. >>> and maybe a stealth way to bet on amazon's hq2 or two hq2s. we'll tell you what that is and how you can profit as "worldwide exchange" rolls on >>> welcome back happy friday i'm brian sullivan let's kick off the second half of the program with the top stories you need to know about with fran

tracie potts, nbc 10 ws. washington. >>> "saturday night live" is often memorable for kom day, but this weekend it was an aol ji that had et everyone talking. pete davidson caused controver m foing a joke about the appearance of a man running for congre m in texas. th was lieutenant commander dan crenshaw. he has to wear an eye patch because of an injury he sustained while serving in afghanistan. satuay night crenshaw was invited on to the show. >> this is pete davidson. he looks likif the meth from breaking bad was a person. >> not bad. soe'reeven. >> one more. he looks like a troll doll with a tapeworm. >> well done. crenshaw wasble to poke fun at davidson after davidson apologized to him on air. then crenshaw took a moment to talk about the importance of veterans day. >> never forget the sacrifices made by veterans past and present. nenr forget those we lost 9/11. heroes like pete's father. so i'll just say, pete, never forget. er forget. >> pete ondavi father was a new york city firefighter who died while

and women on the ballot, women at the ballot box will have an influence on this vote >> tracie potts,ig day today thank you very much. appreciate it. now a check on the other top headlines, phillip mena has that >>> good morning caes cesar sayoc will make his first court appearance in new york today. sayoc is facing charges for allegedly mailing more than a dozen explosive devices to prominent democrats, cnn and critics of president trump prosecutors will ask the judge to hold him without bail because they consider him dangerous. he could face up to 50 years in prison >>> if you have duncan heinz cake mix in your pantry the fda issued a voluntary recall due to a possible salmonella outbreak. four types of cake makes are affected check with the fda for specific details. >>> nasa reached a milestone in their mission to touch the sun the parker solar probe came within 15 million miles of the sun's surface, that's a new record for the closest solar approach the spacecraft is flying at about 3. 15 mile million miles >> phillip, thank you very much. >>> coming up, lego's big lawsuit. the to

. >> news 4's tracie potts is live on capitol hill this morning. , whathe newly elected lawmakers want to happen now? >> reporter: well they want to see a bit of a shakeup, at least some of them do, possibly at the top. democrats taking over the house in january. maybe or maybe notith nancy pelosi as house speaker. she's facingome challenges. they will vote on their leadership including house speaker ts week. republicans are voting, too.ea they'll from their candidates tonight before they vote. look, these members are all new. they're getting the lay of the land. they're finding out where their offices are but also making those decisions onhi leade because it's the leaders who decide which issues the parties will address. >> tracie potts on the hill this morning. thank you. >>> right now we areki l at live pictures from florida where election workers are busy finishing recounting hundreds of thousands oflots for the senate and governor's races before tomorrow's deadline. yesterday worke started processing thousands of ballots through tabulation mach

president trump stepping up his attack on federal reserve chairman jerome powell let's get to tracie pottsn washington with all the details on another powell put down >> exactly in fact the president tells the "washington post" that he's not even a little bit happy with jerome powell saying he's way off base on some things, blaming the fed for the volatility that we've seen in the markets and for what's happening at gm, for those plant closings president trump taking no personal responsibility for that saying he blames the federal reserve, their rates, their policies we could see another rate hike this month as a result of what's happening in the economy recession, president trump says he is not worried about that, but he's concerned about gm closing those plants, especially in ohio where he promised more jobs the president blaming gm's ceo for that saying he's disappointed that the united states bailed out general motors and now saying this is the thanks we're getting he is considering cutting some subsidies to gm, the government money supporting them may be going away >> big news there,

>> wow, tracie potts in d.c. with the big story not only politically but for the markets as well.hank you. >>> apple's slide in the pre market is knocking it out of the position as the world's most valuable company in extended hours trading microsoft has a larger market cap than apple microsoft, welcome back your rbi will talk about how much apple has lost. >>> let's bring in kai sasaki. it seems like every time you are on we have this volatility last time you were here dow futures were down. not down that much right now you just heard that report how big of a worry is the trade tariff spat to wells fargo and your clients >> to our clients it's causing a lot of buzz, absolutely. in fact we start to communicate to our clients to look at five key risks around the markets generally. one of them happens to be trade. >> where does that fall on the ranking? if it's not the most important thing or the thing they worry about the most, what is? >> it's probably very prominent. it's most prominent because it overlays into the second aspect around concerns around chinese growth, which then a

. >> tracie potts is live with more on this. what will happen between now and january?f things. there's a hard ddline with congress coming back today. they have to get a budget in place. one of the big hang ups could bu ing for the border wall. it's built in and different amounts and negotiating over how much for border security and specifically for the president's wall and another thing is protecting robert mueller. look for that to be the big issue between now and january. but specifically, between now and december 7th. >> what about the statestill der recount right now? >> we have florida and georgia. lo of questions about ballots in palm beach and broward county. two that have had problems before. in georgia it hasn't triggered a recount but they a still counting ballots and it's a razor thin margin between the lead that the republican has and what is required to trigger a recount. >> we're learning muscles details about the murder of a marine. she was found dead on november 3rd. her husband, a fellow marine, ie ch with her murder. the star newspaper reports he call

let's get to tracie potts in washington with the latest >> this was a long time coming there was ptension and friction between the two for months over the russia investigation, now the question is without sessions, without rod rosenstein in charge of that investigation, will it continue after months of bad blood with his boss the first senator to support candidate trump -- >> this is a movement. >> reporter: -- has been asked to turn in his resignation as attorney joengeneral. president trump made it clear he never thought sessions should step down from overseeing the russia investigation protesters at the white house last night making it clear they're not happy about this replacing sessions for now is his chief of staff, matthew whitaker who has been critical of robert mueller's investigation. >> if mueller needs to do something or seek additional authority or get permission to charge, mueller has to go through whitaker >> protecting mueller and his investigation is paramount >> reporter: president trump says he won't shut it down but threatened democrats who may reopen their own investi

tracie potts will join us to explain why in a few minutes. >> right now police are looking for this car. d thver sexually assaulted a passenger early saturday morning. this happened just offbi cola road in northwest d.c. officers have not said if the car may have been operating as an uber or lyft. >> there's new efforts to help with safety. ne speed limit signs have been posted. it's part of a city initiative ming to reduce fatal crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists. there's been a number of complaints about the streetcar rails as well since a cyclist was stuck in the tracks and ended up being killed by a b ba in june. v-dot is still looking into possible tsimprovem to the rails. >> and today, the choice is peas or carrots, not side dishes, rather turkey. >> both turkeys are up for this mony. peas or carrots. the white house is running a twitter poll about which turkey should be the official national thanksgiving turkey. with 50,000 votes it's still tied. bore will be s after the pardoning peas and carrots will live there for the rest of their lovely lives. >> watch out there. i d

tracie potts is live in d.c.ll left to be done aside from turkey pardoning. >> a lot is left to be done. one of those is dealing with the situation at the border. there was a new judge's order overnight saying the trump administration cannot automatically reject asylum claims based on where people enter the u.s. >> reporter: it couldn't be clearer a federal judge says, migrants must be allowed to request asylum no matter where they enter the u.s. striking down president trump's order banning claims from those who cross the border illegally >> he doesn't understand that behind every one of them there's a family, they have aspirations, they made sacrifices, they're separated. >> reporter: the decision comes as caravans from central america begin to pile up at the border the government closed one of the busiest ports of entry to install new barriers now troops president trump sent to meet those caravans are being sent home beginning this week. >> he sent the troops to the border to influence the midterms >> reporter

. >> tracie potts joins me now from washington, d.c in the immediate term, the short-term, what are thel world implications for the mueller investigation? >> the man who is temporarily replacing sessions is his own, as you said, his own chief of staff. whitaker has been critical of that investigation publicly saying not long ago that he thought the investigation was going too far. he said instead of firing the man in charge, robert mueller, you could drain mueller's budget and bring this investigation to a screeching halt. keeping in mind now matthew whitaker is the person mueller will have to go to if he wants more authority and if he wants to expand the investigation, if he wants to bring charges in the investigation. whitaker may have to approve that as well having someone critical of the investigation in charge of making decisions about it is raising those questions with democrats about whether or not, as they put it, this is the beginning of obstruction of justice. >>> am i right in thinking we're not heard a huge amount from the mueller investigation in recent weeks. is that becau

tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> 5:04. >>> new thistate working homelessness among students. over 13% of students have been forced to live on the streets in the last year. according to the sjsu homeless alliance, out of 33,000 students, this means 4,300 impacted by that issue. the group is now calling on the university's president to take action. they're requesting the college add more beds to dorms for students to stay at no cost and add more safe parking lots. >>> over at stanford university, the university wants to grow by 2 million square feet over the next two decades or so, but a boom in stanford's population ublic also mean a populatio schools. today, palo alto unified will consider how to get stanford to pitch in and actually share toward educating. kris sanchez joins us from palo alto the district wants. >> reporter: a lot of students, too little for stanford, perhaps as many as 1,400 that could end up in palo alto public schools. this is something they're trying wha kind of developments the c allows. the county is right now figuring out the details of the general pl

. >> we turn to tracie potts live on capitol hill. tracie, what's ahead? >> reporter: well, first of all, at that contentious news conference that scott was telling us about, the president seemed to take credit for republican wins and kind of skip over the republican losses. now here at the capitol, we have two parties that will be calling the shots. but the question is, can they really work together and get anything done? washington's new normal. democrats in charge of the house of representatives. republicans controlling the senate. president trump says republicans defied expectations with his help. >> as an example of the 11 candidates we campaigned with during the last week, nine won. >> reporter: as reporters turn to immigration and the russia investigation, the president engaged in a testy exchange. >> on the russia investigation, are you concerned that you may have -- >> i'm not concerned about anything with russia's investigation, because it's a hoax. that's enough. put down the mic. >> reporter: back on capitol hill, a record number of women are h

we'll have more on the president's comments coming up in a leport from tracie potts. >> coming up, it's a picassois masterpieceng for years. now a woman says she tracked it down in a bizarre hiding spot. >> ps from d.c. to baltimore in 15 minutes. the new details on the high speed train that's >> that startedescue operations that lasted two days before she was reunited with her owner. look how happy she in new jersey, firefighters were worried that a wall of an old building above that hole would o llapse. crews began digging again yesterday. and look, they're finally able to free her. glad that d a happy ending. >> a stolen picasso painting may have turpd in an unlikely played. buried in eastern europe. >> the 1971 painting snatched from a museum in the netherlands in 2012 along with six other mast masterpieces, a fiction writer found it based on an anonymous tip. some alrdy raised skepticism. she is a fiction writer. >> i'm going to start digging in rock creek park and i'm going to find my picasso. >> you're going to get arrested digging in roc creek park. >> by the looks of that pictu

tracie potts is tracking it live om washington. good morning, tracie. >> hi there, good morning. good morning, everyone. remember george papadopoulos, a former trump campaign aide who admitted he had ties to russia and admitted he lied to the fbi t o this prison sentence and the judge said not happening. former trump campaign aide geor papadopoulos reports to prison today. he'll spend 14 days behind bars for lying to the fbi about trying to set up a meeting between the trump campaign and two russians who claimed to have damaging information about hillary clinton. also paul manafort asks a judge to go light on his sentence. manafort was convicted on eight counts of fraud and pleaded guilty to conspiracy, not related to the trump campaign, but the special counsel could use that to find out what manafort may know about any connections between trump and russia. >> he's going to lay out the facts. leave it to congress to decide whether that rises to the level of impeachable offense. >> there is sufficient evidence this president violated the constitution. >> reporter: the senate is st

much more on that development coming up in a liv report from tracy potts. >> new this morning, the skins have a harder road to the playoffs. the saints are one of the best teams in the ague. the cowboys, they're do better this season. they have a one game lead in the division now. the race for the nfc east titis ot over yet. the skins prepare for another division rival, the philadelphia eagl eagles. >> unbelievable. >> yeah. >> sorry. sohile thekins prepare on the field, the team is also preparing young local women for success. yesterday, the skins charitable foundation launched year two of thei aspiring show. >> this helps to inspire young women. a day these young women won't forget and will definitely learn fr t. >> everythy said before is true. you're at an age when you don't really know how to fit in. so many changes areng happe physically andon emoly and sometime you need a little push. >> they also heard from women from a variety of career paths. >> rolling stones fans, this morning at 10:00 a.m. is your chance to grab tickets for the upcoming show at fedex field. the no filter tou

. >> tracie potts, a lot is at stake. >> a lot is at stake, about half the states have polls that are already open, about a dozen more opening this hour. some at this moment and yes, there's a lot at stake in governors races in two-thirds of our states. we're watching those. two-thirds of the senate up for grabs, and as you noted, every single house seat with just a few of them poised to tip the balance of power here. >> we are going to win this race. >> reporter: from texas -- >> we have this chance to do something amazing. >> reporter: -- to arizona. >> we are what's at stake. >> reporter: -- to florida. >> folks are going to come up. they are fired up. >> i want the committee to know they're not going to be feree o health care, right? >> she has voted against border funding. >> reporter: issues the next congress will decide, 23 seats e house of representatives. polls favor democrats, but record early voting makes those polls unpredictable. >> it's impossible to tell in advance which ones are right and which ones are wrong. >> reporter: georgia's governor's race taking a nasty turn

news 4's tracie potts explains why. >> reporter: no sit-down interview, just paper headed from the white house to the justice department some tim this week. >> they're writing what i tell them to write. >> reporter: president trump tells fox he's now done answering questions for the russia investigation. >> the questions were asked and answered. it wasn't a big deal. >> repter: questions about collusion, but not obstruction of justice. the president's lawyer said that's off-limits. his awers in writing, with no face-to-face interview likely to ever happen. >> i think we've wasted enough time on this witch hunt. and the answer is probably. we're finished. >> reporter: t question now, will mr. trump new acting torney general, matt whitaker, try to shut down robert mueller's investigation? >> if he takes any action to curb what mueller does, we're going to find out about it and expose it. ll democrats are pushingor a law to protect m from being fired, adding that to the budget could force a partial government shutdown. >> they're in charge. and there's a shutdown, it's a shutdown.n >> i thi

"today in the bay's" tracie potts is live on capitol hill this morning for us. tracie, prosecutors are alleging manafort lied on a variety of subjects. what's next? >> right, well, what's next is finding out what they think he lied about. that was not detailed in court yesterday. the justice department says in subsequent filings, they will detail what they think he lied about. what they're telling a judge is that he had a plea deal he was supposed to be working with the russia investigation and tell what, if anything, he knows, if anything about ties between russia and the trump campaign, all of this stemming from charges that had nothing to do with the campaign or his work with president trump at all. it had to do with what he did a decade earlier, tax fraud and other charges he was convicted of, others he pleaded to, to get this deal. he's 69 years old. his attorneys are trying to keep him out of jail at least for a long them, but now, if he lied after making that deal, robert mueller's team may bring the hammer down, at least ask a judge to, when it comes to s

tracie potts, nbc news, washington.>> and here is a map battleground states. it seems that severe weather might affect some of those polling places. meteorologist kari hall has been tracking that weather and kari, what are those areas that will see some of that unpleasant weather? >> it's a battleground of the air masses as the cold front moves off to the east. we've seen the severe weather threat diminish but still rain moving through key states in big cities like atlanta and also watching virginia. as of now, just some rain coming through, and it will taper off as we go throughout the day. laura and marcus? >> thanks so much, kari. >>> in the california state senate race, kevin deleon will cast his vote an elementary school, and his opponent senator dianne feinstein cast her vote in san francisco yesterday. back in july, deleon won the endorsement of the state democratic party, but that failed to translate into major financial support. recent polls show feinstein in the lead. >>> today voters will be faced with decisions on several ballot measures. one of th

coming up, tracie potts will continue our coverage with a look across the rnation. >>ide share services are making sure that you can get more affordable rides to the polls. lyft i providing 50% off and they're als offering free rides to underserved communities. uber is offering $10 off a single ride to the polls on the lowest cilt option ale in your city. they're also offering three 30 minute trips f d.c. residents to get to and from the polling stations. >> the county government generally closes on election day and democrats argue that if other services such as the golf course are open, buses should runs well. they noted they will be available today. >> the news 4 i--team will be on voter patrol tracking any problems at the polls. if you see any issues, you can send the team a tip or sendn e-mail. >> we'll get you the latest as the polls begin to close. tune in for our election special. re's a look at our other top stories this morning. all trains will be back to normal. it crashed into a tractor-trailer no one was hurt. >> two people are dead after bad crash in wo

for more let's get to nbc's tracie potts in d.c. good morning, tracie. >> reporter: hi, marlie. good morning, everyone. the answers the president is giving in the russia investigation are written. he's talking about collusion, which he has repeatedly said never happened with russia and his campaign. but he is not answering questions about obstruction of justice. those questions, those responses should be on robert mueller's desk by thanksgiving. president trump, in a weekend interview with fox, said it was no big deal. he dictated. his lawyers took down the answers, but he does not to do a face-to-face interview. >> is that your final position, that there is going to be no sit-down interview and nothing written or in person on obstruction? >> i would say probably. probably. i mean, i can change my mind, but probably. i think -- >> no -- >> i think we've wasted enough time on this witch-hunt and the answer is probably. we're finished. >> reporter: as for matt whitaker, the acting attorney general, questions here on capitol hill about whether he'll try to shutdown the investigatio

nbc bay area's tracie potts has the latest from capitol hill. good morning, tracie. >> hi there, laura, good morning. good morning, everyone. as we see districts around the country counting votes to see who will be the next congress, this congress is facing a hard deadline and they're running out of time to keep the government open. congress is back today with a hard deadline, december 7th, pass a budget or shut down the government. >> we can collaborate if the president wants to come to the table and do deals. >> reporter: lawmakers are promising to work together to improve infrastructure, but two things could derail a budget deal, money for the president's border wall and protecting the job of the russia special counsel, robert mueller. republicans are already accusing democrats of what they call presidential harassment. >> i think it's going to backfire on them, like what happened with the kavanaugh hearing. >> reporter: outside washington, election officials are still counting votes. week after the polls closed, nearly a dozen house races are

. >> tracie potts live for us onp l hill, thank you. >> 4:47 right now, a budget short fall may fce a in prince george's county to close it's doors. the school h s a figure deficit to overcome. our county bureau chief explai s why theool is having problems and how other people can help. >> for more than 60 years this ivate school has been an institution in prince george's coun, but now it's looking at the possibility of closing it's doors if it doesn't get the money it needs. >> holy family catholic school is facing a $200,000 deficit. the school is part of the archdiocese of washington and while it helps to supplement funding, it's not enough. oorents are actively working to save the s and it's more than 130 students. >> there's been plenty of sleepless nights trying to figure o what aree going to do because we're at the point now that if we don't have this money by fruary 15th, we need to start looking at alternative schools for our children. >> holy family has until february 15th to raise the $200,000 they need. they're well underway but definitely need more tlp. goo nbc washington