a new start. a deal has been reached to close the taj mahal casino in atlantic city. we're live. under fire, attorney general's jeff sessions ties to russia. and the anti-semitic acts in philadelphia and across the country. 5:30. good morning. welcome to "nbc 10 news today." i'm tracy davidson. and i'm vai sikahema. when you get out the door, it's gusty out there you may need that windbreaker with you. let's start with meteorologist bill henley with the most accurate weather forecast. >> the winds that are blog and bringing in colder air you're going to need to bundle at some

point during the day. right now, it's the winds, you probably heard them howling through the area overnight. topping 30 miles an hour in philadelphia, coatesville and allentown. wilmington, closer to 40-mile-per-hour winds. above 40 miles an hour for dover an millville. and close to 50-mile-per-hour wind gusts right now in toms river. that's cold air just starting to move in. the coldest air isn't here just yet. the winds, though they won't be as strong this afternoon, they'll still be with us. that will be the colder air that keeps coming in during the day that's going to lead to temperatures pretty much going nowhere. 47 degrees in lehigh valley. the temperatures will be coming down in the short term. 8:00 with some clouds blowing through. 41 degrees. and then down to 40 degrees, in spite of more sunshine later in the morning. it's the wind that's really going to hold the temperatures back. 50 degrees right now in philadelphia. in midnight, it was in the low 60s. winds out of the west at 24

miles an hour. down to 45 at 8:00, at 11:00 this morning, philadelphia, 44, those winds will still be present and sunshine will be nice and bright but not looking for a big warmup this afternoon. in fact, much of the area will be cooler than where it is right now. sunshine, windy, 49 degrees in philadelphia. 40s across the board including the jersey shore. the wind will be dying down and older air moving in. i'll show you where to expect that in your neighborhood when i'm back in ten minutes but first jessica boyington has the "first alert" traffic. >> we're starting on it's vine street expressway. we've skipped right over that construction project as well so we're all clear we don't have to worry about any lane restriction restriction. the camera is clear, the camera looks like it's shaking around. bordentown township, watch for a ground tree, 295 southbound. trying to clear that on 206 on the right-hand shoulder partially blocking that. right around exit 56, the

traffic is getting by the scene. hammonton, another downed tree southbound. ashton road. the once iconic atlantic city casino, a deal has been reached to buy the now closed taj mahal. the knicks 10's matt delucia joins us live from atlantic city. matt, this could potentially change the future of the boardwalk. telling us how. >> reporter: right, and people here in atlantic city, those who live here, those who are in the government here, they are very hopeful by this new announcement, that hopefully, this will be the start of better things to chéó8come. it's now 3,000 jobs are expected to be brought into atlantic city with the new casino here. here you see the taj mahal, it is shuttered behind me. it closed in october after being in business for 26 years. but now there is new hope with that hard rock buy. hard rock international bought the vacant property from carl icahn and through a partnership with other investors they say

they're going to put in $300 million roughly to renovate and rebrand this casino here. there's been a hard rock cafe on the boardwalk for are 20 years. the taj shut down, you might recall after icahn and union workers, they could not agree on a new contract and health insurance and pension benefits have been the latest in a series of closing in atlantic city. governor chris christie, he's called this great news. he hopes this is the beginning of more comebacks in the city. and atlantic city mayor don guardian says this is great news as well. >> i think it's a highly competitive property and a reason to come to the city. >> it's something, hopefully, it brings entertainment to everyone. especially in the summer. >> it's something to go and explore. >> reporter: as we take a look here live on the boardwalk, you can see the hard rock cafe here

on the boardwalk. and you can see as we pan over just how close it is to the old taj mahal. connected really. hard rock cafe will have a hard rock hotel and casino here in atlantic city. now you see for the taj mahal, the lights remain off. the plan is to open next year. the company says it is 100% convinced that this casino will be a success. live on the boardwalk in ac, i'm matt delucia. this morning, attorney general jeff sessions is facing growing criticism that he had two conversations with the russian ambassador and did not disclose them. a spokesman for sessions told nbc news that he did meet with the ambassador twice last year while a senator and armed services committee. this morning, house democratics

leader nancy pelosi, maryland congressman elijah cummings and massachusetts senator elizabeth warren are calling for sessions to resign. in a statement late last night, sessions said i never met with any russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. i have no idea what this allegation is about. it is false." the white house ethics office says presidential counselor kellyanne conway acted snad v e inadvertently when he urged people to buy ivanka trump's clothing line. and said it's highly unlikely conway would the same thing again. happening today, religious leaders, lawmakers and citizens will gather at independence mall for a stand against rahate rall. meantime, the reward

continues to climb in the philadelphia jewish cemetery vandalism case. $69,000 is now being offered for information leading to an arrest. hundreds of headstones at mt. caramel cemetery were damaged. the fbi opened a civil rights investigation. >> the naacp claims racism played a role in two african-american workers punished in the atlantic city build collapse. griffin campbell and sean benef benshop were sentenced for their roles in the building collapse that killed six people. they argue that other people in the case who were white weren't charged. the district attorney's office has yet to comment. a bucks county man accused of raping a teenage girl who was allegedly difficulted to him by her parents can get funds due to the sale of his house.

a judge approved the housefeite set aside for sale and to pay legal fees. teacher is sending a message to mayor kenney saying that the city doesn't value public school teachers. >> the fact that we were able to raise that much money so quickly just shows the teachers in the city, the school advocates the parents, i'm a parent in the city, too, we're all fed up. >> a statement the school spokesperson said the desire is a contract which fairly compensates our teaches but also retains the stability that the philadelphia school district has fought hard for. warm weather could continue and could impact your budget. pgw customers listen up because you may soon have to pay more.

pgw says warmer winters are partly the blame. they saying less costs to pay their employees keep rising. pennsylvania regulators will spend the next nine months reviewing requests to hike gas bills. if approved, pgw customers will pay about $11 more a month. 5:39. you'll be cranking up the heat during the day today. look at the flags rolling. that's cold air that's rushing into the area. now, first thing this morning, at midnight, the temperature was in the 60s. but wind has brought the temperatures down low 50s. the howling winds will be strongest this morning. cold wind with lots of sunshine. we'll see blue sky, but not much of a warmup during the day. then it turns colder today. cold enough for snow. we won't get any snow tonight. tomorrow say different story. 30-mile-per-hour winds. this is hour by hour. this is first thing this morning.

watch how those wind gusts will be dying down. some during the afternoon. noon time, winds gusting to 19 miles an hour in pottstown. 22 in millville. later in the afternoon it will come down a bit more. but it won't die down completely. so that's just enough wind to bring in the colder air. 24-mile-per-hour wind in philadelphia. it will drop into the 40s. that's where temperatures will stay with that wind. 47 degrees at 2:00 this afternoon. 47 -- 47 also at 4:00. the suburbs, 43 right now it drops into the low 40s first thing. we will see bright sunshine, and as the wind speeds come down, the temperatures will come up a little bit but just a couple degrees for the suburbs. unto 45 degrees this afternoon. lehigh valley, 47 degrees right now. it's warmer right now than it's going to be for the rest of the day. especially when you factor in the wind. the northwesterly winds won't be as strong this afternoon. strong enough to make 45 feel like in the 30s. new jersey you'll see bright sunshine, 50 right now.

even though we have no sunshine right now, you'll have lots of it during the day. it's going to be cooler all day long than at this hour. 55 at the shore. 40s with winds at 26 miles an hour at 10:00 this morning. off to 23 miles an hour at 2:00 this afternoon. that's the colder air that's moving in that's going to be staying with us right into the weekend. delaware is at 49. right now, skies are clear, we'll see bright sunshine in delaware. 43 degrees at 8:00. up just three degrees in spite of that sunshine at lunchtime. and the winds will hold us in upper 40s in delaware today. clear today. lots of sunshine today. don't be surprised if you see some snow showers before we get to the weekend. i'll show you where to expect those when i am back in ten minute. >> snow showers? >> yes, after yesterday it doesn't compute. we'll find out what's going on on the schuylkill expressway this morning. >> jessica boyington is watching that. >> right, watching the

schuylkill. no problems yet, at montgomery drive. eastbound side, drive time we're looking at from blue route headed towards center city, the vine street expressway, about 13 minutes. speeds are still in the 60s in both directions. there is a new crash east no norrit norriton, the scheduled opening coming up for the burlington bristol scheduled for 5:30 this morning. eight minutes or so we'll see that. we're clear on the ben franklin bridge. and the tacony-palmyra. the fight over the soda tax continues to grow. why it is now being blamed for costing jobs. and who the city says is helping. banning news. why a pennsylvania gym is no longer allowing members to watch 24-hour news networks.

>> it's a quarter to 6:00. philadelphia's soda tax is getting new pushback from the beverage industry. pepsi say the soda tax is forcing them to lay off 300 workers. pepsi said that led to a 40% drop in sales in philadelphia. city leaders questioned the need for layoffs pointsing to the company's profits and the hundreds of thousands of dollars pepsi spent to try to kill the soda tax. money from the tax paid for philadelphia's universal pre-k program. the city says that program has created more than 250 new jobs. about 2,000 children started the first stage of the philadelphia pre-k program when it launched in january. just about a quarter to 6:00 a.m. this morning. starting county by county

coverage. in lehigh valley, police and prosecutors have formed a task force in order to track down armed robbers who target cell phone stores. >> robbers robbed and tied up employees around the area. camden county police need your help finding a man caught on video throwing a cat into the air. the video turned up on social media is now being investigated as an incident of animal krushlkrushl cruelty. family friends and police officers will come together to remember two delaware officers killed in a crash last weekend. dover police announced the funeral and memorial supervises for rob defont and jimmy watz. the dover fraternal police have set up a scholarship fund in honor of those two officers. at the jersey shore, officers want federal authorities to train three of

their officers to enforce immigration law. law enforcement departments in salem, monmouth already participate in immigration customs enforcement. in january, president trump signed an executive order to help expand the mission to help deport undocumented immigrants. governor carney signed an executive order that creates a uniform anti-discrimination policy. it establishes guidelines and procedures. the governor hopes to have that new policy in place by april 1st. 2 1/2 years after his arrest a jury has found a burlington county firefighter not guilty of setting this fire at an auto body shop. police arrested robert longo after the building was torched. if all the news is stressing you out, you're not alone.

>> one pennsylvania gym is taking steps to prevent political arguments. the scranton ymca will no longer broadcast 24-hour news networks in their workout room. the ceo said several recent political discussions have become very heated. almost caused a locker room fight. the y hopes turning offer the news can help lower stress levels. now the ban of the news is a subject of debate. >> i think it's probably an overreaction. >> in my opinion, they should remove it. that will stop the problems, people fighting. >> as of right now, the ban is permanent, if things calm down, directors say they could possibly reconsider. we have a. he panel here with us now. >> is that permanent or not permanent? >> yeah, until they see things tone down a little bit. >> i see. >> i see it's happening in my gym. but they don't even have the news networks. >> right. >> they fight? >> no, they come in already with

their ideas and they discuss it. >> right. >> what? >> yeah. >> if you're running on the treadmill, liar, liar. you're at the gym, right? >> what's troubling is, it happens in the locker room and their buck naked. >> well -- >> that turns to the weather where you'll have to leave the house with bundling up or putting something on at least. it's cold wind blowing into the area. this is a view from center city. look at the winds. the winds will stay with us during the day. colder air is blowing in on the winds so you'll definitely have to wearing in in the lehigh valley and suburbs. 50 degrees currently in philadelphia. 50 in millville. this is the warmest it's actually go to be. the winds goring to bring in colder air in the pocono mountains, 38 degrees. it's going to be a colder morning, that's for sure. at the bus stop, yesterday, we were in the 50s and 60s and 70s, back to typical march weather.

36 degrees in allentown. the wind will be blowing, feeling like 20s for exton. 40s in atlantic city. and in the 30s, wilmington, 39 degrees. and even a light shower, a few sprinkles moving through berks county. coming off of snow showers that falling a part. what the snow showers show is the wind, those things on the move, the wind, we've had colder air that's coming into the area. so, we will feel the cold, and it's tomorrow that may see snow showers. the snow showers stay to the west today. we'll be dry today and see lots of sunshine. but the gusty winds bring flg the cold. so, tomorrow, this is 9:30 this evening, you can see snow showers in southwestern pennsylvania, this is the culprit for tomorrow. this may bring us some snowflakes during the day today. they'll be on the move. at noon time, they'll be in harrisburg, just reaching into berks county and towards the lehigh valley.

that's at noon tomorrow. these of fast moving snow showers, 2:30 in the afternoon, then they clear out for tomorrow night. we may see a dusting on the grass but the rest of the area too warm for any accumulation. the weekend that will be cold enough for snow but we'll get sunshine. look at the temperatures 40s for saturday. a bit warmer for most of the area on sunday. that's a trend that will continue next week. a blustery day today, 49 the high. here comes the cold for the weekend. cold on saturday, especially in the afternoon. sunday morning in the 20s. then the warmup begins on monday. low 60s. tuesday, showers coming through tuesday. with the cold front that will bring the temperatures right back down for wednesday. but thursday and friday will be chillier. with highs in the 40s. next weekend, another warmup into the upper 50s on saturday. with a chance of your rain showers next weekend. >> bill, thanks. grab the coat. you might think it's warm. grab the coat.

let's check area roads and bridges for you. >> jessica is starting at one of my favorite bridges to pass because there's no toll there. >> the platt bridge, it can be your favorite because there's no stopping on it as well. you can see both directions looks just fine. we do have problems on some of the bridges. we have an opening scheduled for about this time on the burlington bristol. scheduled for 5:50. should be open right now. nice and clear on the ben franklin. and i haven't seen any openings scheduled for the tacony-palmyra yet. sometimes, when we see the burlington bristol opening we'll have the tacony-palmyra not long afterwards. county line road around forrest road and a crash at east norriton and evergreen after, an accident scene. we'll talk more about majors when i come back. a sixers star is sidelined. we'll tell you why joel embiid will not be returning to the

court this season. and setting up to fail. giving kids a tougher time in the classroom. ♪ we buy any car dot com ♪ ♪ we buy any car dot com ♪ ♪ we buy any car dot com ♪ ♪ any any any any ♪ did you know trading in your car at a dealer could cost you money? a recent study found consumers who trade in their car

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four minutes before 6:00, it

won't be easy for sixer fans to take the process. >> yeah. sixers star joel embiid will not be back on the court. yesterday, the team confirmed that his torn meniscus has gotten worse and they're not sure exactly how to treat it. surgery is a possibility. that may still happen. coach brown talked about the team's loss. >> selfishly, you know, you go through it as a coach, you're trying to lead a program. but my immediate thought goes to, you know, just being with him and helping him navigate through this. >> get this, he only played in 28 games in college as a freshman. 26 games in the nba season. all of those in his rookie year. hey, if the weather doesn't already have you thinking about spring and summer maybe this will. the atlantic city boat show has floated into town with 500 votes this year. and a year ago new jersey has cut sales tax in half to help

compete with out of state sales. the ac boat show runs through sunday. well, parents, your kids might be excited about green eggs and ham today. celebrating the 113th birthday of beloved author dr. seuss. speaking of reading, ted greenberg read wacky wednesday by dr. seuss. at somers point yesterday. how fun is that. read across america week, celebrates the joy of reading. hundreds of future scientists from our area came together to create and compete in the science olympiads. students from 50 southeastern pennsylvania middle and high schools competed in delaware county. students took part in construction of robotics and automation challenges. and also on ways to build more efficient waters-powered rockets and air-powered cars. teachers say the students'

enthusiasm is inspiring. >> it gets you excited about doing your job every day. going back to teach in the classroom. seeing what different ideas they come up with and how particular they can be. >> some of the experiments didn't exactly work out as plan. that's all part of science, right? the students say, that's okay, they'll take what they've learned and head back to the dreing boards to perfect it. >> i'm always so impressed. even though it doesn't work, i'm impress that they thought through something and to build something. >> and they're learning and spending time together with their social network as well. now to more of the stories we're following for you on nbc10 news at 6:00 a.m. calls to resign, democrats at attorney general jeff sessions over new alleged russian conversations. what he said. taking a toll, philadelphia's controversial tax claims a wave of victims. after a workout, vai and i

talk to experts in an effort to sculpt your beach body in the comfort of your own living room. >> we have a lot going on this morning. morning. o#h a warm 50 degrees outside. good morning. i'm tracy davidson. >> and i'm vai sikahema. so, my next door neighbor has wind chimes on their deck, guess what woke weeme up this morning? >> you live in new jersey, i live in pennsylvania, they woke me up, too. that's how strong the wind has been. look at the flags blowing at penn's landing. getting closer to sunrise. we'll see a lot of sunshine but the wind is going to hold the temperatures back. and it's just gotten stronger in philadelphia. 31-mile-per-hour wind gusts in wilmington. 36 miles an hour in allentown. and the winds have settled down. in the short term for toms river. they were near 50 miles an