wes welker playing football when we come back. >>> wes welker is coming out of retirement to once againy football. he signed with the st. louis rams and it is making some people so uncomfortable they are writing articles like this one on deadspin. wes welker is back and it feels terrible. the wide receiver has had at least six concussions. and because of all of the attention around football and brain injuries lately we all know the more concussions you have had, the more likely you are to get another. even though players players and fans say he hospital play pause he could be killing himself, an article asks if he should put them in the context of regular choices we make all the time. they say overall the question welker had to answer, should i do something that will offer me enjoyment today, but may bring negative consequences in the long run? >> it reminded me of the recent story that bacon and hot dogs cause cancer. everybody i knew said i don't care. i will never give them up. are we willing to ago -- sacrifice a few years at the end of our life to do what we enjoy today. i will pon

i'm kristen welker. for all of us here on nbc news, have a great night and a great halloween. >>> keeping halloween partiers under control. from san francisco to santa cruz the problems police are worried about tonight and what's being done to prevent those problems. good evening, everyone. i'm terry mcsweeney. peggy bunker has the night off. well, right now thousands of people are headed into san francisco for halloween. there is no official party in the castro district, as there was years ago. people are expected to go there anyway. they don't need it to be official. across town there's a party at at&t. nbc bay area's christie smith is joining us live to tell us what's going on in san fran. christie. >> terry, as the night goes on, we're seeing more and more costumes, and i have to tell you they are getting more creative. as you said, there's no more big street party in the castro but certainly it is a place that people love to come and celebrate in san francisco in some pretty creative costumes i migh

lester. >> kristen welker at the white house. thank you. >>> as we mentioned, it's black friday, the annual shopping rush after thanksgiving. retailers have it circled on their calendars every year, but many shoppers are saying the stores aren't quite as frenetic as we have seen in recent years. nbc's olivia sterns explains why. >> reporter: long before dawn -- and even late last night -- shoppers bursting through doors. >> 50% off the entire store. you can't really beat that. >> everything is half off. >> reporter: no shortage of deals this black friday, but not quite the same crowd. >> not too stressful. >> no long lines. >> right. >> it's pretty good. >> reporter: the reason -- the internet. >> they're at home, using their desktops and mobile devices to take advantage of the offers that the retailers are giving. >> reporter: adobe, which tracks those online el is as, said shoppers spent a record $2.7 billion just today. that's a 14% increase over last year. >> yeah. the deals are here. >> reporter: but for tens of millions, la

kristen welker has more on what the candidates are saying about putting a small number of troops on the ground. >> reporter: isis militants are moving closer to were capturing a key western city in syrian, under skrorg scoring the broader. 50 special ops troops will will be sent to syria. their mission, to train, advise, and assist but not engage in combat. >> how is that not a change in strategy? >> our tragedy has been on building local forces to fight fights against isil for themselves in their own country. >> a president who vowed to wind down the wars in the middle east. with more troops headed to the region he will pass it on to the next commander in chief. for democrats, a measured response. secretary clinton saying she sees merit in the plan. vermont senator bernie sanders more difficult. >> my nightmare is once again the united states gets caught up in a quagmire that never ends. >> i do applaud him for engagement with the special operators. but we can't get into a quagmire. there should be a real strategy to take out isis and to take out assad. >> i think it is an admission. i

key paper in new hampshire endorsed chris christie, signs that getting a real challenge. >> kristen welker at the white house. >>> the u.n. and turkey reached an agreement today. turkey of course has become the key point of departure for hundreds of thousands of people crossing into europe. many of them making their way to greece by sea. richard engel got a first-hand look at the greek coast guard. >> it's pitch black in the waters between greece and turkey when a greek coast guard cutter spots a small dinghy packed with refugees. >> you're in greece now. stop the engine. >> but the refugees signal they don't need any help crossing the narrow stretch. we ask where they're from. they're not saying much, just that they're serious. maybe they can't hear me or more likely they don't want to cooperate. people here are very nervous. under international law the officers can't stop the migrants and refugees for fear of endangering their lives. many make the crossing in these flimsy rubber rafts. but on an early morning patrol, greek coast guard captain spots a speedboat adrift in the water. the re

we get more on this from chris tan welker. >> donald trump dismissing allegations that he distorted important facts. >> i have hundreds of people that agree with me. >> on "meet the press" trump was repeatedly challenged about his claim that thousands of muslims celebrated in the wake of 9/11 in new jersey. >> this didn't happen in new jersey. there were plenty of reports. >> chuck, it did happen in new jersey. i have hundreds of people that agree with me. >> you're running for president of the united states. your words matter. >> this is -- >> truthfulness matters. >> chuck, chuck. take it easy, chuck. just play cool. >> and on saturday trump denied marking a "the new york times" reporter who has a congenital joint condition. >> i would never mock a person that has difficulty. i would never do that. >> trump who lashed out at the reporter after the two clashed over his 9/11 claims repeated he doesn't remember cove les kovaleski. not true says this friend of kovaleski. >> you do not forget him. i'm sorry, he imitated imitated, he mocked him. there is just zero question. >> and rivals are ratc

lester. >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >>> as we mentioned, it's black friday, the annual shopping rush after thanksgiving. taileri have t it circled on their calendars every year, but many shoppers are saying the shops aren't quite as frenetic as inece.ent years. olivia stern explains why. >> long before dawn, and even late last night, shoppers bursting through doors. >> 50% off the entire store. you can't really beat that. >> everything is.alf off. >> no shortage of deals this black friday, but not quite the same crowd. >> not too stressful. >> nolong long lines. >> the reason, the internet. >> they're at home, using their desktops and mobile devices to take advantage of the offers >> odoeb adobe, which tracks tch sales, said shoppers spent $2.7 billion just today. that's a 14% increase over last year. >> the deals are here. >> for tens of millions last night and today, shopping still meant hitting the stores. >> electronics are still very popular. great response to xbox, cds. >> while there are deals everywhere this black friday, this year, you might have a tough

nbc white house correspondent kristen welker has details. >> reporter: video captures the chaotic moment. jumped over the white house fence today while the first family celebrated thanksgiving inside. >> i was he was climbing like may vi crazy. >> reporter: the jumper scaled the nearly 8 foot spiked fence, clenching papers in his mouth. tourists were scattering. prompting the white house to go into lockdown mode for hours, while secret service combed the grounds. it has happened before, but this is the first person to make it over the fence since spikes were added to the top this summer. it's one of the few times in recent history the entire first family was home during a fence jumping incident incident. >> any time someone successfully jumps the fence, there's no question, there is a level of danger to the first family. no question about that. >> reporter: this all comes as the agency tries to rebound after a series of security lapses. a year ago, a man with a knife jumped the fence and made it inside the executive mansion before he was tackled. earlier this year, two agents drove throu

. >> wes welker back in the nfl the patriots all-time leading receiver signed a deal with the st. louis rams for the rest of the season. welker back in action for an 11th nfl season. >>> celtics are in you milwaukee where they will face the bucks tomorrow. three straight on the sideline for marcus. hopefully he will get back in action on wednesday. day. dombrowski specifically requested that hanley ramirez come to boca raton so they could meet face to face. they want him to slim down. they say he's a little too big to be as mobile as he is at first place. what happens when you have someone month knows nothing about baseball official the picture for your team calendar this happens. the washington nationals 2016 calendar has a picture of national parks that is really fenway park? say what? i like to thank kevin for pointing this out. you sent this to us i appreciate it. >> to be fair the nationals were in the picture they played opening day at fenway park. >> it's like a southwest moment you want to get away. >> they are apparently going to recall them. >> what i would like to get a

nbc's kristen welker reports. >> reporter: donald trump on defense again dismissing allegations that he's distorted important facts. >> i have hundreds of people that agree with me. >> reporter: on "meet the press" trump was repeated by challenged about his claim thousands of muslims celebrated in the wake of 9/11 in new jersey. >> this didn't happen in new jersey. there were plenty of reports and you're feeding a stereotype. >> chuck it did happen in new jersey. i have hundreds of people that agree with me. >> you're running for president of the united states. your words matter. truthfulness matters, fact based stuff matters. >> take it easy, chuck, just play cool. >> reporter: on saturday trump denied mocking a new york times reporter who has a congenital joint condition. >> i would never mock a person that has difficulty. i would never do that. >> reporter: trump who lashed out at the reporter after the two clashed over his 9/11 claims repeated he doesn't remember kovaleski, not true says suzy parker. >> you do not forget serge and i'm sorry he imitated, mocked him. there's just z

. >> i'm craig melvin alongside kristen welker and dillonylan dreyer. maybe it was not a streak in the sky but it was al roker. he's in spokane, washington, day three of rokerthon. has a huge crowd with him. we'll check in with him in a bit. >> let's get to the top story. donald trump on "saturday night live." it was an electric scene here in the 30 rock overnight, as presidential front runner donald trump took to the stage. protesters took to the streets outside the famed studio. that's where nbc's kristen dahlgren is this morning. >> between 250 and 300 protesters joined in the march last yesterday. one group offered $5,000 to any audience member who would disrupt the show. the show went off with any problems. it didn't ignore the protest. >> reporter: surrounded by trump impersonators, donald trump played the bounty for laughs. >> we're going to have a lot of fun together. >> trump's is racist. >> it's larry david. what are you doing, larry? >> i heard if i yelled that, they'd give me $5,000. >> as a businessman, i can fully respect that. >> racism h

as for welker, he's not going to look for contact on the field, but said, he is not thinking about it either adding you start second-guessing yourself you start getting in trouble. >> we hope he's okay. >>> so much more ahead. new details in that murder mystery. an urgent manhunt for the killer who shot a young pastor's pregnant wife. a community and police searching for answers right now. >>> and caught on camera. a convenience store clerk rescuing the victim of a -- a kidnapper. how he knew she was in trouble the moment they walked in the door. that's all coming up right here on "gma." the wolf was huffing and puffing. like you do sometimes, grandpa? well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said... symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should

. >> welker makes the catch. >> reporter: a 5'9" dynamo going from undrafted to one of the mostominant pass catchers of his era. >> he runs the route. >> reporter: a prime target for tom brady and peyton nning known for making the big play at a big price. >> he's had i history of concussion concussions. >> reporter: but this morning after nearly a year away from the game, wes welker returning to the nfl despite suffering multiple concussionsver his 12 years in the league. >> this is one you watch in my opinion with your eyes clos. i am scacared for him. >> reporter: the five-time po bowler signing with the rams sunday, once suffering three concussions in lesshan a year from hits l like this. >> official is all over it. >> reporter: that's not stopping the 34-yr-old from playing the game he loves. >> wide open is welker. >> reporter: telling espn in june. >> can't say i'm really worried about it. i mean i know a l of people think i should be more t than i i'll cross that road when i get there. >> repetitive head trauma chokes the brain. >> reporter: the up coming movie highlighting. dr.

julian bales played by alec baldwin say players like welker could place themselves at risk. >> i think everyone in his style of play has to be concerned. you really have to weigh the risk benefit of further participation. >> reporter: some imploring welker to hang up his cleats. >> i don't want him to play because of these concussions. this thing is no joke. >> reporter: but the nfl star telling "the st. louis post-dispatch" he's not at all worried hoping to suit up on sunday. the raps telling abc news their deers medically cleared him. he won't look for contact on the field, he says but not thinking about it either adding you start second-guessing yourself you start getting in trouble. >> we hope he's okay. >>> so much more ahead. new details in that murder mystery. an urgent manhunt for the killer who shot a young pastor's pregnant wife. a community and police searching for answers right now. >>> and caught on camera. a convenience store clerk rescuing the victim of a -- a kidnapper. how he shoe she was in trouble the moment they walked in the door. look, the wolf was huffing and puf

we have the kristen welker as well in iowa. kristen? >> reporter: secretary clinton increasing her lead in the democratic primary against her top challenger, vermont senator bernie sanders. let's take a look at some more of those numbers which you first started to map out at the top of the show. she now leads sanders 62% to 31%. that's a greater increase than october, when she led him by 25 points, and she's starting to turn the page on the e-mail controversy. 42% of americans now say it's an important factor, down from 47% in october. however, the benghazi issue still a big issue for her. 30% of americans say that yes, she has addressed this satisfactorily but 27% back in october say she's addressed this in a satisfactory way and only 38% say she hasn't. so this is still a big issue that continues to dog her. meanwhile, today, one of the big topics she's going to be talking about, gun safety. she's releasing a new ad that focuses on gun safety. just last night in chicago she met with some of the mothers and family members of those who

want to bring in nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. that announcement is supposed to be made 30 minutes from now, kristen. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: well, we know that the president will be joined by secretary of state john kerry, as well as vice president joe biden, and it is expected that he will announce the administration has rejected a request to build the keystone pipeline. this has been a politically thorny issue, frances. you have a number of democrats expressing concerns that the pipeline would have environmental causes and ultimately have a big environmental impact. you have a number of republicans who have argued that, look, this will create jobs, potentially thousands of jobs. the administration has always said that that number, thousands of jobs, has been overstated, that really, it is far fewer. the state department has been reviewing a request for this pipeline since 2008. it was anticipated that there would be an answer before now. but again, this has been highly politically charged. you'll recall that for

kristen welker joins us with more on this. >> reporter: richard, good morning to you. it's not leer the gunman was specifically targeting planned parenthood. they have been at the center of a fear political fire. and violent attacks over the years. >> the deadly shooting at a colorado springs planned parenthood comes against the backdrop of heated political battle. this summer an activist group released videos which made it seem as though planned parenthood was selling that fetal tissue for profit. the organization's president says the tapes were heavily edited and vehemently denied the claims when she was questioned on capitol hill. >> the threats against planned parenthood based on -- >> reporter: the controversy fueled republicans' efforts to try to defund the organize which provides reproductive health screenings and abortions. the issue has become fodder on the campaign trail, republicans lashing out. >> i dare him clinton and barack obama to watch these tapes. >> these planneded parenthood videos are horrifying. >> reporter: hillary clinton tweeting friday night,

and the mini-wes welker... makes a play...that led to a regina field goal... and the regals are going back to the championship game... they win, 31-14... to the two-a semifinals... defending champion north fayette valley and spirit lake... first quarter... tiger hawks down seven... but they give it to jessie mackey... he bursts through the hole and sees nothing but daylight... 65 yards for mackey on their first offensive play of the night... it's a 7-6 game... but the tiger hawks were battling back most of the night... here's kedrick bemis with a touchdown toss to andrew roys... but north fayette valley couldn't keep up with the indians... the tigerhawks go down 49 to 34... in the other two-a matchup... mount vernon trying to upset top-ranked albia... and the mustangs had no fear early on... first quarter... they hand it to jack cochrane... he gets some blocks... breaks some tackles... scoots in for six points.... mount vernon goes up 7-0... then later in the half... time to air it out... drew adams feels the rush... chucks it downfield... and connorr hermann

erica, back to you. >> kristen welker, thank you. >>> turning overseas now. belgium is on virtual lockdown again today as authorities there hunt for one of the paris attackers who just might be wearing a suicide vest. nbc's bill neely is in brussels. good morning. >> good morning, craig. isis struck paris directly, but the mere possibility of another attack here has paralyzed this city. american tourists and americans living here have been told by the u.s. embassy to stay indoors. for a second day, brussels is in virtual lockdown. >> reporter: armed troops on the streets, tension in the air. [ sirens ]. >> reporter: armored vehicles and 1,000 soldiers are guarding the capital of belgium this morning. they're on the lookout for a potential suicide bomber, which is why authorities are telling people to avoid crowds. >> i think that when terrorists want something to happen, they can do it with or without the army here. doesn't make any change. >> i am afraid, but i think it shouldn't keep us from doing the things we do usually. >> reporter: metro stations are st

thanks to with and welker who is in your all afternoon. we have been talking about the health exchange and open enrollment season. we will keep the lines open for another 15 minutes. 703-236-9220. they have been very busy this afternoon. still open for another 15 minutes. 703-236-9220. back to you guys. please.ow tipping, that's the extremity chose crab shack is trying to 18 of its locations. is the first major restaurant chain to make a moveaureen:. customers have some very strong opinions about this. reporter: if they don't outright customers arey confused by the no tipping policy being tested by joe's crab shack. >>.it's generally up to the customer decide if they want to pay that or not reporter: at select restaurants, servers are making a higher hourly wage, paid for by higher prices on the menu. according to the chain, the price hike is typically less of the average 20% tip. the company ceo says we believe that consistently great service should always be included in the menu price. we are taking the responsibility for paying the serv

kristen welker is joining me. what can we expect from the president at these talks?lace with heightened security. given those protests and the recent attacks. what's at stake? the president has been laying the ground work for striking a major climate agreement for quite some time. and you might remember that back in november, the president announced he's opposing the keystone xl pipeline citing environmental concerns and the u.s. increased jobs and gas prices without the pipeline. it's not necessary. administration officials also tell me that decision was in part aimed at sending a message to other countries ahead of this summit, that's the united states is serious about tackling climate change. the president recently announced that the epa will reduce carbon dioxide emissions at power plans by 20% at 2030. that's gotten challenged in court. still the administration secured an agreement with china to cut carbon emissions drastically. it's against all of that backdrop that president obama will try to forge this broader international deal. meetings with two leaders of

kristin welker is at the white house.rts weren't so rosy to begin with and he's gotten a look at those reports and he actually called them dire, but still it wouldn't sit well, obviously if it turned out that were changes to the assessments that the president was getting. >> reporter: it wouldn't sit well at all. this admip stragdz has been heavily criticized for underestimating the threat from isis. the president has spent the past week during his diplomatic trip to asia defending his strategy and his approach. as you point out, he's clearly taking them quite differently and he doesn't want to weigh in until he knows the results of the investigation, but he did during his press conference in malaysia before he left making it very clear that he told his top advisers to never hold back on information. take a listen to what he had to say when he was asked about that report in "the new york times". >> one of the things i insisted on the day i walked into the oval office was that i don't want intelligence shaded by politics.