crack down on hit-and-run drivers? and if so what is that? >> i will say first it's very very sad what's happened the last few days. my heart goes out to the families. it's disgusting that anyone would kill another human being and drive off. >> reporter: and mayor de blasio's office told us the penalties for leaving the scene of an accident aren't as severe as staying at the scene intoxicate intoxicated. city officials tell 4 investigates it's an unintended loophole. and they've pushed the state to the scene. >> and the penalties are severe but they should be even more severe. and we'll certainly work for that. >> reporter: some in law enforcement think the solution is more cameras at more intersections. >> if you would have a camera so you will see the kind of car. >> reporter: but that too requires approval from albany. in the meantime, some new yorkers like neighbors at the park slope scene where one of weekend say it all feels like an awful trend. >> what we're seeing with these deadly hit-and-runs is a new phenomenon. it indicates that drivers are really very irresponsible. >> reporter: as for that terrible tragedy on madison avenue in manhattan today where a 77-year-old woman was struck and killed and the driver did remain on the scene, he was charged with failure to yield. those violations have tripled over the last couple of years. live in the bronx tonight, andrew siff. following some breaking news, a new york judge says the u.s. justice department cannot force apple to provide the fbi with access to locked iphone data in a routine brooklyn drug case. this comes weeks after a california judge ordered apple to create software to help the fbi hack one of the terrorists patterson is bracing for a government shutdown tomorrow. the alternative, a sharp increase in property taxes. brian thompson is outside city hall with the latest. >> reporter: but the first announcement was stunning. that is among the budget cuts, there would be no school crossing guards on the job tomorrow. but just moments ago a school spokeswoman did tell me they've made an emergency appropriation and those guards will be on the job. police and fire service will run, but your trash will not be picked up. and the doors to city hall will be open only for the tax collector and city clerk. city counsel will meet tuesday night to decide if property taxes should go up by 6%. >> it's already high. >> reporter: you don't need another 6%? >> that's right. >> reporter: the alternative is to just shut city hall and not pay anybody, though. >> sell the house. >> reporter: a tax hike on increase taxes $468 a year. keeping the lights on here at up. >> the state is saying you have to do something too. you have to put a little increase in there too in order need. >> reporter: but at this phone and computer store, abdul malik says it's too much. >> it's too much and they're doing it every year now. they're raising up the taxes. >> reporter: as for sending some of these workers home tomorrow or raising taxes, i got this. >> i have no clue which one i don't like as a homeowner. >> reporter: could you afford 6%? >> it will be too tough. >> reporter: the city counsel cil will meet here at 8:00 tomorrow night. at that point, if it approved the new budget, the taxes will go up. if it doesn't approve the new this shutdown will continue until whenever. as for the school system, it remains to be seen if they have enough money to cover until whenever for those school crossing guards who will be on the job tomorrow. caught in the middle, hundreds of former rescue workers are without a job tonight, saying enough finger pointing. they just want some answers. 4 investigates has been leading the way on this. >> reporter: former transcare employees showed up here in lower manhattan today, some looking for their paychecks, all looking for answers. >> we just got no answers. doors were just closed on us. >> all my families are out in the street. >> reporter: marching through rain, these now former transcare employees say they're in a fog after abruptly luds osing their jobs. of patriarch partners, the majority stake holder in the ambulance company. >> we haven't been paid. peoples' checks are bouncing when they try to cash them. >> reporter: transcare declared bankruptcy late last week. without funds to operate, the trustee was left with no alternative but to shut down. >> i don't know where to go right now. it's hard for me. >> i am very upset. it was atrocious the way they handled things. >> reporter: patriarch partners ceo sent 4 investigates this statement, we were taken by surprise by the sudden shotdown utdown of operations and we deeply regret the loss of jobs and the loss of transcare's long legacy of excellence. we had diligently worked with extended period of time to reach a resolution prior to the company's decision. for these former employees, it's an agonizing wait with little information. >> they have no answers. give them the dee seven si cency and give them answers. >> we need some answers from this company what they're going to do for us. new jersey will soon have a new acting attorney general today. governor christie announced that robert lougy will replace john hoffman. hover hoffman is leaving the christie administration to become the general counsel at rutgers. the supreme court handed governor christie a victory today when it decided not to review a new jersey supreme court rule ing on the state's the supreme court sided with christie. that ruling said that new jersey is obligated to pay current retire retirees their pensions but not have to come up with the billions of dollars right now. suffolk county police say a young mother was drunk when she crashed her car in lake grove. drunk behind the wheel with her two-year-old son in the car. police say she collided with another driver. fortunately they were told that her son was apparently not hurt in the accident. police in bridge port, port, connecticut want you to take a look at this man who threw some sort of fiery object into a home. neighbors were able to put the fire out before it spread. for his arrest. a fired apprentice goes on the stump with donald trump. plus, there's a move now to take ted cruz off the ballot in new york. we'll tell you what cops say this woman did on her 50th birthday that landed her in jail. well, the sun is setting on this last day of february, leap day. but will these temperatures a 50th birthday bash here in the city ended with a connecticut woman behind bars accused of threatening her limo he driver late last night over the $1600 he wanted for the round trip from the city. well, at that point investigators say roberts snatched the driver's keys, his gps device and his keyboard and threatened to shoot out his tires. they also say she smelled of alcohol and marijuana. a long island school district says it will change its policies after being accused of discriminating against students who are immigrants from central and south america. the school district had an unwritten policy of diverting those students to programs that do not lead to a degree. coming up when we return, so why is he on the campaign (cell phone rings) where are you? well the squirrels are back in the attic. mom? your dad won't call an exterminator... can i call you back, mom? he says it's personal this time... if you're a mom, you call at the worst time. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. r it's what you do. where are you?r it's very loud there. are you taking at lester holt is joining us now. got a lot tonight. it's the eve of super tuesday. it's going to be a slug fest in the gop race. a new study is linking sleep deprivation to weight gain. what's difference ant this study? >> researchers say the less sleep we get, our bodies produce a chemical that increases cravings for sweet or salty foods. it can also produce the same people getting the munchies. republican presidential candidate ted cruz faces a super tuesday battle here in new york. a state judge has scheduled arguments on a lawsuit that challenges his presence on new york's primary ballot. the suit was filed by two plaintiffs who say he is not a natural born u.s. citizen. cruz was born in canada to an american mother. new york's presidential primary is april 19th. gop presidential candidate donald trump has a rather odd ally on the campaign trail. it is a former apprentice who he fired. >> i look at the apprentice experience as a fraternity. >> reporter: brian mcdowell never got the chance to work for donald trump. >> you said you should fire me, mr. trump. isn't that right? brian, you're fired. >> reporter: more than a decade after millions watched the north axed on the apprentice, mcdowell is again focused on the billionaire businessman by volunteering for trump in his bid for the white house. >> a lot of my friends say how could you support donald trump after being fired on the apprentice? i'm all about being involved in a campaign where i feel it matters. and i think that this company with donald trump matters. >> reporter: he spent time in iowa in the days leading up to the state's republican caucus, helping to staff a phone bank and reuniting with fellow apprentice contestant who was working as a chairperson there. >> literally within the first 15 minutes it was like being back on the apprentice. >> reporter: he went to nevada as well. and when no planes were seemingly available to fly trump's son to a campaign event -- >> we're making the decision. >> reporter: mcdowell says his different contestant from the same season helped track down a jet. >> when i see a problem, i go right into the mode of fixing that problem, which is ultimately what all the apprentices that were casted do. >> reporter: mcdowell insists all of his travel expenses have been on his own dime. he says so far he's only spent about $2,000. >> donald's frugal. so is brian mcdowell. >> reporter: he's considering taking a campaign trip to florida but first wants to see how trump does tomorrow on super tuesday. >> i would be surprised if it's not a sweep. democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton plans to hold a post super tuesday rally here in new york. clinton's expected to talk about a plan to help boost the earnings of working families. the event is free and open to the public. be one hour long on tuesday. our nation's u.n. ambassador is heading to broadway. samantha power plans to bring a delegation of fellow ambassadors to see the play fun home tomorrow night at the circle in the square theater. she will participate in the discussion about lgbt issues. time to go back to janice with the weather right now. >> we're enjoy that too, more so toward the end of the week and next week we'll back in the 50s. we're going to see some cooler weather come our way and a little bit of stormy weather too. sun is setting. it's a beautiful evening. it's been a fantastic last couple of days with 60 degree temperatures around the 55 degrees and mostly clear skies. another mild day for us and well above average. look at these high temperatures. the average is about 42-44 degrees. we're well into the 60s in most spots. a little bit of light rain this morning but generally less than a tenth of an inch across the area. that front came through pretty fast and moved out as well. so we were left with sunshine by midday. breezy and dry for the rest of this evening. stormy on wednesday. we're going to see gusts around 15 to 25 miles an hour at this time. temperatures right now in the 40s to mid to upper 50s in the area. still mild. you could see the mild extends all the way back to cleveland and st. louis. just north from chicago to the canadian border it's cold. another cold front is draping across the region. here it is bringing some light north of that is the cold air. that's where it will stay for a while. we will cool down in our region tonight. so we're going to see lows back down in the 20s and 30s tonight. skies will clear across the region. a strong northwest wind blowing in. sunshine and a few clouds across the region tomorrow. a little bit of morning rain on wednesday. we'll be back in the 50s for a brief time on wednesday, but the temperatures will fall rapidly during the afternoon. a rainy start to the day and cooler end. thursdays highs are only in the 30s. there will be a coastal storm nearby on friday. it looks like it is trepd nding offshore. we're not expected to get a direct hit. for tonight, down to 36 degrees under mostly clear skies. winds are out of the west, nice dry wind. tomorrow 47 is the high. closer to afternoon. with that rain. and then there's a chill in the air for the next several days going into the end of the week with highs only in the 30s and a bit of snow as we'll be close to that coastal low but not a direct hit. and the weekend looks nice. highs in the 30s. and bruce, what's coming up in sports? >> sibila, staal is a steal. the rangers get a big winger for the stretch drive. the blue shirts double the staals with an eye on the stanley cup playoffs. are we still talking about this year's u.s. open? the answer is yes. hey, have you heard? heard what? before school starts in september, all kids going into 7th and 12th grade have to get the meningococcal vaccine. it protects against diseases like meningitis. that can be serious, even deadly. yeah, that's why they can't start school without it. something to share? (giggling) actually, yes! talk to your health care provider. even kids who've had one shot bruce, you're back from your spring training tour. are you taking us on the ice now? >> yes. from the warmth to the ice. the rangers are going for broke. yesterday the team acquired forward eric staal from the carolina hurricanes. he's the older brother of ranger's defenseman marc staal. the two skated this morning. the elder staal has spent his entire 12-year career with the hurricanes, winning the stanley cup in 2006. still, he's ready to embrace this new challenge. great team, to play with marc, it's too good to pass up. so i was real excited to be given the chance and opportunity to have that. and i'm sure my foiks lks will be at a lot of games. >> it's exciting. regardless of whether it's my brother or not, it's a great pick up for the team. >> reporter: is this trade another sign that you guys are committed to going for it right now for this season? >> yeah. for sure. we believe in ourself. we believe we can go all the way this year with the experience we got in the last two years. you know, eric was probably the missing piece that we needed. >> in a flurry of moves the devil's traded away -- the islanders acquired shane prince from ottawa. in football news the jets franchise tag in wilkerson. the 2016 u.s. open is officially six months away. the sweeping transformation of the bill the national tennis center is on serve. you can say good-bye to the rain delays on the marquee court. the new grandstand court has been relocated and rebuilt and now will hold 8,000 fans. the south campus is being completely renovated with wider walkways, improving traffic flow around the grounds. >> i'm a pretty hard critic and it's well exceeded our expectations and we've still got six months to go. there's no question the fans -- there's going to be a wow from them the second they walk in the gates. >> we're going to have the best sports facility in new york city. be game, set, match for the france for transformation. a new louis armstrong stadium will open its doors in 2018. coming up next on nbc nightly news, losing sleep but gaining pounds. what could be fuelling those junk food cravings. tonight the klan controversy exploding around donald trump after refusing to condemn the kkk's former leader. what he's saying now and what we found him saying years ago. plus, tensions boil over at trump's rally, and tonight some republican leaders are scrambling to stop him. school shooting emergency. all-out chaos as police say a 14-year-old suddenly opened fire in the cafeteria. taking the stand, an emotional erin

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