House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Sunday urged "due process" before making conclusions about Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., following accusations of sexual harassment, saying the 27-term Congressman is "an icon" who has worked to protect women.

"We are strengthened by due process. Just because someone is accused - and was it one accusation? Is it two?" Pelosi said on NBC's "Meet The Press."

"John Conyers is an icon in our country. He has done a great deal to protect women - Violence Against Women Act, which the left - right-wing - is now quoting me as praising him for his work on that, and he did great work on that," she added. "But the fact is, as John reviews his case, which he knows, which I don't, I believe he will do the right thing."

Conyers' office recently confirmed issuing a settlement of $27,000 to a former staffer who says she was fired for resisting the congressman's sexual advances. Conyers has acknowledged the payout, which he amounted to a severance package, but he denied the allegations about what it was for.

Police have issued a Silver Alert for an 11-year-old girl missing from New Haven.

Anyla Pickett has been missing since Saturday. She is 5-foot, 110 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

She was last seen wearing white t-shirt and pink leggings. Anyone with information should contact New Haven Police at 203-946-6316.

Air travel is up this holiday weekend, with 51 million Americans traveling 50 miles or more, according to AAA. That’s the highest number of travelers since 2005.

Airport officials said the Sunday after Thanksgiving is expected to be the busiest travel day of the year at Bradley International Airport.

This year, at 4:30 a.m., the line was past the cue. By 6 a.m. the line reached to the back of the building. The lines to check-in were just as long.

A second security checkpoint was opened up to alleviate the wait, and by 9 a.m. it was smooth sailing.

The early morning wait times took some businesses travelers by surprise. Hartford resident Qur-an Webb said he’s traveled on Sundays many times and didn’t realize this Sunday would be so busy.

"When I walked in here I didn’t expect to see such many people to be honest with you. I thought I’d be in an out," Webb said.

An airport spokesperson recommends travelers leave extra time to get to their gate, but for some that still may not be enough.

"We like the early flights. We try to get out before the airport gets too crazy, and in November you never know with the weather so we like to be on like the first flight out of Bradley if we can," said Chicago resident Lauren Kinell.

Travelers should always check their flight status with their airline and give themselves plenty of time at the airport.

A firefighter suffered minor injuries battling a garage fire in Newtown Sunday.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead said a passing firefighter called in a fire at a home on the corner of Fir Tree Lane and Berkshire Road around 1:12 p.m. Responding crews found heavy fire coming from the garage.

An elderly woman who was inside the house at the time was able to get herself to the back door and the passing firefighter helped her to safety.

The fire was quickly knocked down but firefighters remained on scene working on hotspots for some time. One firefighter hurt his arm and was being checked out by medics. No other injuries were reported.

The garage and a car stored inside were destroyed in the blaze, but the fire door prevented the fire from spreading into the main house.

Fire officials said there was some damage from heat and smoke to the main part of the home.

All five fire companies from Newtown and the Southbury fire department responded to the blaze.

The homeowner tells NBC Connecticut he lives in the home with his wife and elderly mother. He and his wife were dropping off their daughter at the airport when the fire occurred. The family is temporarily displaced.

A pedestrian is dead after being struck by a car in Waterbury Sunday.

Deputy Chief Fernando Spagnolo confirmed that the crash happened in the area of 462 West Main Street. The pedestrian, who has not been identified, suffered fatal injuries.

Waterbury police have taken the driver into custody, Spagnolo said. 

Police did not immediately provide details on what happened.

The crash reconstruction team is on scene investigating.

No other information was immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Smoking kills 1,200 people a day. The tobacco companies worked to make them as addictive as possible. There is no such thing as a safer cigarette.

Ads with these statements hit the major television networks and newspapers this weekend, but they are not being placed by the American Cancer Society or other health groups. They’re being placed by major tobacco companies, under the orders of the federal courts.

“It’s a pretty significant moment,” the American Cancer Society’s Cliff Douglas said. “This is the first time they have had to ‘fess up and tell the whole truth.”

The Justice Department started its racketeering lawsuit against the tobacco companies in 1999, seeking to force them to make up for decades of deception. Federal district judge Gladys Kessler ruled in 2006 that they’d have to pay for and place the ads, but the companies kept tying things up with appeals.

Dozens have accused massage therapists of sexual misconduct at the largest massage franchise in the United States, a BuzzFeed report published Sunday alleged. 

Citing lawsuits, police reports and other official documents, the news site said the company, Massage Envy, and its franchisees had mishandled or ignored many of more than 180 cases. NBC News has not confirmed all of the allegations.

In a statement Sunday, Massage Envy — which has more than 1,100 franchises in 49 states, according to the company's website — said the incidents described in the report were "heartbreaking for us and for the franchisees that operate Massage Envy locations."

Adam Horowitz, a lawyer who has worked on two dozen cases against Massage Envy, said the actual number of assaults is likely considerably higher.

The holiday season brings out “porch pirates” and state police are issuing a warning so you don’t become a victim of theft. 

When you place orders for gifts to be delivered, track the package, state police recommend, and require a signature upon delivery.

Ask a friend, neighbor or family member to receive it if you will not be home, pick it up at a shipping and receiving store or instruct that the package be left someplace other than the front porch.

Dallas-based Heritage Auctions has a bevy of rare presidential relics available for auction this week, including works of art created by President John F. Kennedy and President Donald Trump.

The Trump work is a sketch of the New York City skyline, made in Sharpie. The President donated the drawing to St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters organization in New York in 2005 for a charity auction.

At the time, the sketch sold for $6,000. It is expected to sell for $15,000 or more at Heritage's Americana and Political auction on Saturday, Dec. 2. Bidding on the doodle was at $8,000 as of Monday morning. 

"Nobody could have envisioned back then that Donald Trump would become President," said Don Ackerman, Consignment Director at Heritage Auctions. “So now all of a sudden you have something that was worth X number of dollars [in 2005] that is worth a whole lot more now that he became president.”

"President Trump generates a whole lot of publicity on a daily basis or an hourly basis, and if someone has something like this and they want to sell it, now is the right time to sell,” Ackerman said.

A rare oil on canvas painting completed in 1955 by President John F. Kennedy, when he was a senator of Massachusetts, is also up for auction. The colorful artwork consists of a group of waterfront homes and is believed to be a coastal town in the South of France, according to a Heritage Auctions news release.

Kennedy's niece, Victoria Gifford Kennedy received the artwork from John F. Kennedy’s brother, Robert Francis Kennedy and his wife Ethel after she married their son Michael.

In a note which accompanied the artwork, Ethel wrote to Victoria: "I'm delighted that 25 years later, you’re still enjoying President Kennedy’s painting which I gave to you and Michael for your wedding."

Bidding on Kennedy's painting reached $42,000 by Monday morning. It is expected to fetch at least $50,000.

Other items that are expected to fetch high sums include one of the earliest photographs ever taken of an American president, the bugle that sounded Taps during the funeral for President Abraham Lincoln and a series of handprints made of President Franklin and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.

The bugle which sounded taps over the body of slain President Abraham Lincoln following his assassination will likely go for more than $50,000, according to Heritage Auctions.

“It is a really an evocative item and it is one of a kind and really it evokes images of that day in Washington, D.C. when Lincoln was assassinated,” Ackerman said.

A rare daguerreotype image of President John Quincy Adams, the first president to have been photographed, is also expected to sell for more than $50,000, according to Heritage Auctions.

The image, taken in 1846 at the Washington, D.C., studio of one of the most prominent photographers of the time, was discovered in a Paris antiques market after disappearing for decades. 

Also included in the Americana and Political auction is a set of handprints made by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor.

According to Heritage Auctions, the prints were made in secret inside of the White House by a palm reader.

In addition to the palm prints, the 1937 session also included a “full and detailed character sketch” of the president, his wife and other members of the first family, according to Heritage Auctions.

The works are expected to fetch $20,000 or more.

A Glastonbury woman is accused of abusing a Chihuahua and has been charged with cruelty to animals.

Police responded to a home on Sherman Road on Nov. 14 after receiving a report of an intoxicated woman beating a dog and found a Chihuahua with a swollen eye, a cut to the sternum and bruises on the belly and joints.

When the dog was evaluated, medical staff also found possible burn marks, according to police.

Lindsay Anderson, 25, of Glastonbury, admitted to throwing the dog against a wall as hard as she could, according to police, and was charged with cruelty to animals. 

Bond was set at $2,500 and she is due in court on Wednesday.

In 2012, Anderson was arrested at the same address, accused of biting her mother and throwing the family dog. Police said she was intoxicated at the time. Court records show guilty findings of third-degree assault and interfering with an emergency call. A jail sentence was suspended and she was placed on probation for two years.

A black bear attacked two miniature horses in Southbury Saturday and one is dead, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. 

Environmental Conservation Police euthanized the bear and a necropsy will be performed, according to DEEP. 

There were 5,802 reports of bear sightings in Connecticut between Nov. 28, 2016 and Oct. 18, 2017, including 95 in Southbury.  

No additional information was available.

A 27-year-old Hartford man has been arrested and charged in a carjacking in Glastonbury.

Kevin Reid is accused of committing a carjacking at the Tannery Apartments on New London Turnpike on Sept. 27.

Police responded to a 911 call and the victim said a stranger forced him out of the car at gunpoint and drove off in his car.

Police later found the car in Hartford and identified 27-year-old Kevin Reid, of Hartford, as the suspect. Police do not believe he has any connection to the victim or to Glastonbury.

Reid was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery, carjacking, first-degree threatening, first-degree larceny and first-degree reckless endangerment.

He was unable to post bond.

A new pharmaceuticals facility is opening in Windsor and bringing hundreds of new jobs to the state. 

SCA Pharmaceuticals held its grand opening Monday after the Arkansas-based company chose to expand its business, creating approximately 361 new jobs at a facility on Rainbow Road in Windsor. 

"As they prove their success here we are hoping other companies will follow suit,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said.

The company, which received an $8.5 million loan from the Department of Economic and Community Development manufactures injectable pharmaceuticals in ready-to-administer dosages for use at hospitals and healthcare facilities.

"We are just looking for someone who is going to come in and put in a full honest day's work," said SCA Senior Marketing Coordinator Brenden Roche.

Jobs range from warehouse staffing to executive roles.

The company is hiring now. Click here to browse the open positions. 

News of British Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement spurred reports variously predicting a royal blowout of a wedding and "non-traditional" nuptials.

The happy couple might consider going the low-key route — or whatever passes for low-key compared to William and Kate's 2011 extravaganza.

A modest ceremony would fit with former wild-child Harry's hard-earned maturity.

Harry, just 12 when his mother, Lady Diana, died a victim of her royal fame 20 years ago, well knows the pitfalls of a life that mixes luxury and service to country with unrelenting scrutiny.

He's already broken the Windsor mold — not through past bad behavior (he was a piker, compared to his late grand-aunt, Princess Margaret), but via his evolving public persona.

Harry recently revealed his long struggle following the death of his mother, killed in a Paris car crash while fleeing paparazzi. The fifth in line to the throne also has questioned whether he and his relatives even want the big job.

In another era, his courtship with Markle – an American, a commoner, an actress and a divorcee – would have sparked an Edward VIII-level scandal. Still, Harry found himself speaking out last year against the haters targeting Markle’s parentage (her mother is black and her father is white).

Queen Elizabeth, who was 10 when her Uncle Edward abdicated in 1936, and Prince Philip wished the newly engaged couple "every happiness" Monday. That doesn't mean, though, British taxpayers need to spend tens of millions of pounds on a media event.

Harry's older brother, William, and Kate put on an unforgettable show, recalling Diana and Prince Charles's 1981 so-called Wedding of the Century, a spectacle viewed around the world.

Unlike Diana and Charles, William and Kate, who are expecting their third child, appear to be a solid team.

William and Harry – dubbed "the heir and the spare" in their youth by the British press – seem to be close. But they are their own men.

Harry might want to spare himself and Markle extra wedding stress, and ply a down-to-earth path as they begin a non-traditional journey destined to followed, in one form or another, by countless millions.

Hester is Director of News Products and Projects at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.

A Bridgeport woman is accused of leaving two children, including a 2-year-old, unattended while doing Black Friday shopping at the Connecticut Post Mall in Milford. 

Police responded to the mall on Boston Post Road around 4:15 p.m. Friday after receiving reports that a juvenile was left alone. 

Police said 30-year-old Hasenah Alessi, of Bridgeport, left a 2-year-old and an 8-year-old in the food court while she shopped at Macy’s. 

Alessi was charged with leaving a child unattended and risk of injury. 

She was released on a promise to appear and is due in court on Dec. 19.

NBC Connecticut Meteorologists are forecasting milder air to work into the state towards the middle of the work week.

Temperatures to start the work week will be in the middle 40s with a warm-up towards Wednesday.

A warm front will push through the state late Tuesday night transitioning the wind from a chilly northwest wind to a southwest wind. 

Temperatures will surge into the low to middle 50s Wednesday afternoon. The average high temperature in the Hartford area this time of year is around 49 degrees. 

Take a look at the forecasted high temperature for Wednesday. 

All indications are that the mild weather is very short lived. In fact it looks like temperatures fall to below normal by the second week of December as a cool and stormy weather pattern develops. 

Attorney General George Jepsen will not run for reelection in the coming year. His office released a statement this morning.

Following is his full statement: 

"I am announcing today that I will not seek a third term as Attorney General, a decision I finalized with my family over the last days. It has been the greatest honor of my professional life to serve as Attorney General‎ for the State of Connecticut. While my love for the work of this office is undiminished, I am ready to pursue different challenges. I do so knowing that the men and women of the Office of the Attorney General will continue to serve and protect our state and its residents with distinction. They are superb public servants in the truest sense, and I am proud of the work we have done together. I do not yet know what my future holds, but look forward to advancing the interests of Connecticut for the remainder of my term and in other capacities." 

Jepsen became attorney general in 2011. Before that, he served 16 years in the General Assembly and was the Democratic State Party Chairman.

While Jepsen said he does not know what he will do in the future, he's said he would not run for governor in 2018. 

A man who made a one-letter typo in a web address for Costco found out what it means to become a victim of typo piracy.

Last year, while looking to visit the Costco website, Allen Stern unknowingly mis-spelled Costco in his browser.

"C-o-s-t-o-c-o. There's an extra "o" in there," he said.

Yet, Allen said the website that loaded looked legitimate.

"It even had the Costco logo and brand, so of course I thought it was Costco and I thought I had gone to Costco.com," he explained.

The page asked Allen to do an eight-question survey. As a "thank you," Allen was offered a free bottle of face cream if he paid shipping.

Allen called the Responds team after four $97 and $98 charges appeared on his credit card for a cosmetic "membership." He returned the cream and complained to Costco in writing.

"How could you do this? How could you support this? And, Costco wrote back and said, 'This wasn't us,'" Allen said.

We shared Allen's experience with technology analyst Carolina Milanesi, and we learned a new term: "typo piracy." That's what the tech world calls the misuse of misspelled web addresses to possibly rip you off.

"These people have no limits to how they try to get you," said Milanesi.

She said some sites collect a finder's fee for redirecting poor spellers to other sites. Some masquerade as a real site and dupe you into buying something.  The worst case is a typo that leads to a scam site or malware.

"You could end up having your identity stolen," she explained.

Milanesi said "typo piracy" is too complicated to fully unravel. But, the Responds team tried with "Cost-o-co."

First, we searched public registries and found that address registered in Russia to a person named Vladimir Snezko. That name is linked to other web addresses with typos: Marriiott.com, with an extra "i," Vrizon.com, missing an "e," and Southwesr.com, one letter off from Southwest.com.

When we loaded "Southwesr" it used southwest airlines' name and had a survey, just like the Cost-o-co site.

That's not the only similarity: Several people posted glowing comments on the southwesr page. Well, those same people also endorsed the cost-o-co page in the exact same order.

The real Southwest and the real Costco told us they have no connection to these sites. They never asked for the surveys or authorized the use of their name or logo.

So, we had questions for "Vladimir Snezko." The Responds team sent messages to Moscow, but never heard back.

When we cross-referenced the e-mail addresses Snezko used to register his sites we found more than 500 other websites, each off by just a letter or two from brand names like Google, Toyota, Disney, Fidelity, Sprint and eBay, each waiting to capitalize on your careless tap on a keyboard.

After we started asking questions, Southwesr shut down the survey.

So did Cost-o-co.  But it was too late for Allen. As it turns out, he works in digital advertising and internet security is part of his job. He's speaking up because he says if he fell for "typo piracy," anyone can.

Thirteen Connecticut state troopers left for Puerto Rico this morning to assist in the recovery efforts after hurricane damage. 

Of the 13 state troopers, 12 are fluent in Spanish. They will be patrolling and providing security and traffic assistance in conjunction with the local police in Puerto Rico. 

“Connecticut is home to some of the bravest, brightest, and most selfless state troopers in the nation,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said in a statement. “I’m incredibly proud of the troopers that volunteered to assist the people of Puerto Rico in their time of need, and wish them a successful tour of duty, and a safe return home. These deployments build upon Connecticut’s major hurricane recovery support efforts, including the over 70 recovery missions engaged in by our National Guard.” 

Connecticut has provided additional assistance to Puerto Rico and to residents who have relocated here. More than 100 National Guardsmen have been tapped for support and have been primarily involved in communications, security forces, maintenance and aerial port operations. 

More than 1,700 calls have been placed to the 211 system to connect evacuees and support or sponsors here in Connecticut with available services and donated resources. 

Contracting the herpes virus from sampling lipstick at a cosmetics store, as one woman has filed a lawsuit alleging happened to her, is "absolutely possible," according to a dermatologist who spoke to "Today" national investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen.

"You can catch the herpes simplex virus from an inanimate object such as lipstick," Dr. Whitney Bowe said.

The Rossen Reports team went undercover at three popular stores, collecting samples of makeup testers with sterile swabs, then sending them to a certified microbiology lab for testing. At all of the stores, some samples came back with harmful bacteria, including E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, two types of bacteria normally found in the intestinal tract that are expelled with feces.

"You could literally be applying and smearing someone else's fecal matter directly onto your lips," Bowe said.

Sephora told NBC News "the health and safety of our clients is our foremost priority" and their "testers are regularly sanitized, replaced and replenished.” They also said they follow "best practices in our stores" and "offer many other ways for clients to test products.” Ulta said, “The health and safety of our guests is a top priority … We encourage and support sanitary trial by offering items like cleansers and disposable makeup applicators....”