Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has started to rely more on his family as he continues to campaign. 

Bush was joined by former first lady Barbara Bush Thursday, for the first time since he announced his bid for the White House, NBC News reported.

Barbara Bush sat directly behind Jeb as he delivered an emotional campaign speech in which he described his father — the 41st president — as "the greatest man alive" and his daughter's drug addiction and recovery. 

George W. Bush's aides have hinted that the former president will make an appearance on his brother's campaign trail in the coming weeks.  

It was Kennedy Middle School's last basketball game of the season in Southington. The school was up against its rival: Joseph A. Depaolo Middle School.

Coach Matthew Leskowitz made a crucial decision for Kennedy's Junior Varsity team.

He put Christopher McIntyre  into the game.

Once the 8th grader with Down Syndrome started, he couldn't stop.

McIntyre, wearing number 14, shot basket after basket through out the game.

"They won the game because of Chris," Assistant Principal Susanne Vitcavage said. 

The crowd roared for McIntyre each time the ball made it through the hoop. Vitcavage said even the opposing team was cheering him on. 

While McIntyre may not "technically" be on the team, Vitcavage said he practices with them frequently.

“It wasn’t about the score, it was just about watching Chris play,” Vitcavage said.

The ending score wasn't clear but teammates on the opposing team didn't seem to be phased by the loss.

When the teams lined up at the end Vitcavage said everyone was hugging one another. 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was faced with the nagging issue of her private email server once again during MSNBC’s Democratic debate in Durham, New Hampshire, on Thursday.

Clinton said she is “100 percent confident” the investigation will not be problematic in her bid for the White House.

“I have absolutely no concerns about it whatsoever,” she told debate moderators Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow.

It was the first time Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders debated in a one-on-one face off since former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley suspended his campaign on Monday. It is also the last time the two candidates will meet before the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.

Clinton called the server issue a “political ploy” before turning to news that former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are now facing a similar problem. The State Department said it found “secret” or “confidential” information on 12 emails from personal servers of Powell and Rice's staff.

“There are going to have to be security reviews of a lot of other people — including Republican office holders,” she said. “We've got to get to the bottom of what's going on here and I hope that will happen.”

The State Department said last week it would not release 22 emails from Clinton’s private email server because it said they contained classified information.

“I never sent or received any classified material,” she said. “They are retroactively classifying it.”

As for Sanders, he said he will not politicize the issue.

“The secretary probably doesn’t know that there’s not a day that goes by when I am not asked to attack her on that issue, and I have refrained from doing that,” he said.  

An armed and dangerous bandit couple from Missouri don't just have robberies on their mind. They also want to get married, according to a hotel clerk, who was kidnapped and then released by the two. 

"They wanted to get married," said Kyle Dease, 26, who was abducted by Blake Edward Fitzgerald, 30, and girlfriend Brittany Nicole Harper, 30, for a couple of hours. "They wanted to escape and start new lives."

U.S. Marshals are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Fitzgerald and Harpe who are considered armed and dangerous.

On Sunday morning, the wanted couple showed up at the Microtel Inn and Suites in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where Dease was working the desk. After a quick chat, Dease was forced to accompany them on a string of crimes before he was left in Vestavia Hills.

The Maryland man charged with murdering his 2-year-old daughter and her mother will remain behind bars.

A judge ordered on Thursday that Daron Boswell-Johnson, 25, be held without bond. 

Boswell-Johnson confessed to waiting for NeShante Davis, 26, and their daughter, Chloe Davis-Green, outside their home early Tuesday and then shooting them each multiple times, court documents show. He was angry over being ordered to pay $600 per month in child support, sources told News4. 

The mother and daughter were shot outside their townhouse about 7 a.m. Tuesday in Fort Washington, Maryland.

While Boswell-Johnson was in court Thursday, one of his brothers expressed disappointment in him and empathy for the victims' loved ones.

"I knew Shante. She was a nice woman. Their relationship was cordial even though they weren't together," he said. "I feel sorry for the family and I hope they could forgive us as a whole family. You messed up, bruh!"

Outrage over the killings boiled Thursday inside and outside the courtroom.

A young woman screamed at one of Boswell-Johnson's brothers outside the building. 

"Your brother's a f***ing monster, that's what he is," she yelled as a man held her back.

Anger also played out on Facebook, where comments on the suspect's page were so explosive, Facebook removed the page.

On that same page, Boswell-Johnson shared numerous photos of his son and daughter from another relationship, describing himself as a proud father, but did not mention little Chloe.

County offices have been flooded with phone calls about the killings and arrest, Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said.

"Our switchboard has received more calls than we have ever received on any case, saying to us how enraged they are and concerned they are," she said.

Boswell-Johnson, of Forestville, Maryland, was confirmed to be Chloe's father in December through a DNA test conducted as part of a paternity suit, sources said. 

Boswell-Johnson faces two counts of both first- and second-degree murder. Information on an attorney for Boswell-Johnson was not immediately available.

According to the preliminary investigation, Boswell-Johnson went to Davis' and their daughter's home early Tuesday to confront Davis about the child support, officials said Wednesday evening at a news conference.

Boswell-Johnson was arrested Tuesday in Montgomery County, Prince George's County Interim Police Chief Hank Stawinski said. Boswell-Johnson waived his Miranda rights and provided a statement to Prince George's County police on Tuesday in which he confessed to the crime, according to court documents. 

He told police he drove to Davis' home, parked down the street and waited for her to exit. Boswell-Johnson told police he then approached Davis at gunpoint and demanded she drop the petition he pay her $600 per month in child support. He then shot her and the toddler multiple times, he told police, court documents say. 

Witness statements and surveillance video corroborate the confession, police said in court documents.

Chloe is the second child to lose her life to domestic violence so far this year in the county, Alsobrooks said.

"Forty percent of our cases so far this year have been domestic in nature," she said. "We’ve had 10 homicides, and four of them have been domestic."

Boswell-Johnson is due in court in March. 

A small drone crashed into the 40th floor of the Empire State Building Thursday night and then fell to a 35th floor landing, authorities said. 

Police said a New Jersey man was flying the drone in an attempt to take pictures and apparently lost control of the aircraft.

Investigators said Sean Nivin Riddle was arrested at the scene and is expected to face criminal charges. He was being questioned by officers at the Midtown South police precinct.

Right after the crash, Riddle apparently wrote on his own Twitter feed: “filming w/ drone, now its stuck on the empire state building....w/security.”

The crash brought a significant police and FBI response to the landmark at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street as a precaution. Investigators said that they do not believe the crash was intentional.

No one was hurt.

Riddle did not immediately respond to requests from NBC 4 New York seeking comment. 

The huge events surrounding the Super Bowl, as well as the resources needed to accommodate the big game, will leave the Titans of Mavericks Surf contest on the sidelines this week.

The Pillar Point Harbor patrol continues to monitor the El Niño-powered waves pounding the Mavericks surf area in Half Moon Bay. Deputy Harbormaster Cary Smith says the 20-foot waves with 40-foot faces would be ideal for the contest.

But Thursday is the first day of a "blackout" period for the Mavericks contest because so many agencies needed for the contest are tied up with the Super Bowl.

Smith says the blackout period ends Monday.

"I know it might seem like bad timing," Smith told NBC Bay Area, "but we're hoping the Super Bowl will bring us luck and maybe super waves so the contest can be held."

The Mavericks surf contest is an invitation-only event in which the world's top surfers are notified about 48 hours in advance that conditions are right. The contest is not held if the timing doesn't work out.

Smith says this year reminds him of another when the waves finally hit the right size – but on Thanksgiving, and right before Christmas, both holiday blackout periods.

"We'll be ready today as we always are," Smith said. "The waves will bring out a lot of surfers. It will probably be like a showcase for the top surfers. It just won't be the Mavericks contest."

The mother of a teenager shot by Chicago Police is asking the United States Justice Department to investigate her son’s case.

Patricia Green’s 17-year-old son Christian was shot and killed July 4, 2013, in a vacant lot on the South Side. Police initially said Green pointed a gun at them and that he had been shot in the chest. But an autopsy revealed that the youth was actually hit in the back, by an officer who fired eleven times.

“I just want justice,” Green said. “I want to know the truth—what really happened to my son.”

Green’s son was standing with a group of other young people near the Carter School, in the 5700 block of South Michigan Avenue, but fled the area as police approached. Pursuing officers chased him several blocks, and said they saw him attempt to drop a gun near the corner of 57th and State. The officers said he picked it up again and continued running.

Officer Robert Gonzalez told investigators that Green turned and pointed the weapon at him, prompting him to fire.

“Whether Laquan McDonald, or my son, or any other teenager that was shot in the back, we as citizens of Chicago, we deserve to know the truth,” Green’s mother said. “My son had his whole life ahead of him.”

“I have taken the deposition of the lead detective,” said attorney Victor Henderson, who represents the family. “I asked him point blank, once you learned that Christian was shot in the back, what did you do versus the early report that he was shot in the chest? He said, ‘nothing’.”

The Independent Police Review Authority ruled that the shooting had been justified.

In a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, Henderson asks that the two officials request a Justice Department open a criminal investigation, because the family perceives a cover-up relating to the Green case.

“IPRA (Independent Police Review Authority) investigators conspired with the four policemen about what to say during interviews in order to further the cover-up,” the letter states. “Moreover, two eyewitnesses have stepped forward to say that Christian was no threat to Officer Gonzalez, and that he did not have a gun in his hand when he was shot.

Transcripts and audio tapes of the IPRA interviews with the four officers, obtained by NBC5 Investigates, showed that during those interviews, the IPRA investigator stopped the tape at least a dozen times. Henderson alleged those pauses in the recording were intentional, to allow the officers to formulate a cohesive version of events.

“This is a test case, and the first test since Laquan McDonald,” Henderson said. “Let’s just get the truth. That’s what we want—no more, no less.”

A Saudi military spokesman said Thursday the kingdom is ready to send ground troops to Syria to fight ISIS — an offer welcomed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri on Thursday told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia has taken part in coalition airstrikes against ISIS since the U.S.-led campaign began in September 2014, but could now provide ground troops. The U.S. is scheduled to convene a meeting of defense ministers from countries fighting ISIS in Brussels next week month.

"We are determined to fight and defeat Daesh," Asiri said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. He didn't say how many troops the kingdom would send.

Saudi Arabia is deeply involved in Yemen's civil war, where it is fighting Iranian-backed Shiite rebels. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have long viewed Iran as a regional menace, and Riyadh and Tehran back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen.
 

McDonald’s is offering kids something other than toys with their Happy Meals this month.

Children can choose to get a book instead of a prize with their meals through Feb. 15, the company said in a release.

The four different books that are available are: “Paddington” by Michael Bond; “Clark the Shark Takes Heart” by Bruce Hale; “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse!” by Laura Numeroff; and “Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool” by Kimberly and James Dean.

McDonald’s is partnering with Reading is Fundamental for the book drive, donating 100,000 books to the literacy nonprofit.

“Ensuring children have access to books has proven instrumental in combating illiteracy in children in the United States,” said Carol Rasco, the president and CEO of Reading is Fundamental.

This is the third year McDonald’s has made the book offer, according to the release. The first time was in 2013 and by the time the 15th rolls around, the chain will have distributed over 10 million books to kids.

The first Olympics to be held in South America will take place in August, when 10,500 athletes from 206 countries will compete in Rio de Janeiro.

The 2016 Summer Games will feature such iconic venues as Copacabana Beach for beach volleyball and Maracaña Stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies and medal soccer matches. (The most successful World Cup nation with five titles, Brazil has never won a men’s or women’s Olympic soccer title.)

Golf and rugby will return, golf for the first time since 1912 and rugby since 1924. But it will likely be the last Games for American Michael Phelps, who enters as the top-ranked swimmer in the 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter individual medley, and for Jamaican Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world, who swept the 100-meter dash and 200 meter dash at the World Championships in August.

Brazil is in a financial crisis and costs have been a problem. Organizers have cut $500 million to balance an operating budget of $1.85 billion, and the number of seats in some venues has been reduced.

And the appearance of the Zika virus has added a new anxiety.

So six months out, here are six ways to follow the 2016 Summer Games now:

The Olympic Torch will be lit from the sun’s rays on April 21 in the Greek city of Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient games. It will tour Greece before the relay officially begins on May 3 in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia. About 12,000 torchbearers will cover more than 22,000 miles by road and air. The torch itself — made from recycled aluminum and resin — expands as it is passed to reveal the colors of Brazil. The relay will end on Aug. 5, when the last torchbearer will light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony at Maracaña Stadium.

How does the flame remain burning throughout? The torch itself is extinguished at night or while on planes but the flame is still lighted in enclosed lanterns, which are closely guarded.

Will Rio be ready to host the Games?

One worry is the sewage-infested water that athletes will be swimming and boating in — near Marina da Gloria in Guanabara Bay, off Copacabana beach and in Rodrigo de Freitas Lake. Tests commissioned by The Associated Press -- the results of which were released in July and again in December -- discovered high levels of viruses and bacteria from human feces, up to 1.7 million times what would be considered dangerous on a Southern California beach. The contamination was found not only close to land but also offshore, where sailing will take place. In August, some athletes participating in pre-Olympic rowing and sailing events became ill with vomiting, fevers and diarrhea. 

Olympic and World Health Organization officials have not followed through on promises to do their own viral testing, according to the AP. WHO says Brazil needs only to test for bacterial “markers” of pollution.

Adding to the health concerns is the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which arrived in Brazil last year and is now “spreading explosively” across the Americas, according to WHO. Brazil reported a surge of babies born with microcephaly — marked by unusually small heads and severe brain damage — though exactly how many is in flux. The virus may also be causing another serious condition, Guillain-Barre syndrome, which leaves some patients unable to move.

Brazil’s health minister said the country would send 220,000 troops to eradicate mosquitoes but he also was quoted this month in the country’s major newspapers as saying the country was badly losing the battle.

Transgender athletes should be able to compete without undergoing sex reassignment surgery, according to guidelines announced by the International Olympic Committee in January. 

The guidelines were changed to reflect current scientific, social and legal attitudes about transgender issues, the committee’s medical officials told The Associated Press.

Previous guidelines, approved in 2003, required transgender athletes to have surgery followed by at least two years of hormone therapy before they could compete.

Now, female-to-male athletes are eligible to compete as males without restriction. Male-to-female athletes must show a testosterone level below a certain cutoff for at least a year before their first competition.

The guidelines, not regulations, are meant for international sports federations to follow.

Accusations of doping by Russia prompted U.S. Olympic athletes to call for officials to broaden their investigation, the AP reported. The Americans wrote to the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency the week of Jan. 25 in response to a two-part report detailing doping inside Russia’s track team, allegedly with the state’s participation.

The Americans want the investigation to be expanded to sports beyond track and field.

Follow along as athletes earn their way to Rio, beginning with the U.S. marathon trials in Los Angeles on Feb. 13. Trials for other popular events: diving, June 18 to 26 in Indianapolis; men’s gymnastics, June 24 to 26 in St. Louis; swimming, June 26 to June 3 in Omaha, Nebraska; track and field, July 1 to 10 in Eugene, Oregon; and women’s gymnastics, July 8 to 10 in San Jose, California.

The U.S. women’s soccer team will compete in Olympic qualifying matches to be held from Feb. 10 to 21 in Dallas and Houston, while the U.S. women’s water polo team will be competing for a berth from March 21 to 28 in Gouda, Netherlands.

A surfeit of talented players in some sports will make it tough to finalize Olympic teams.

Superstars LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are among the 30 finalists for the U.S. men’s basketball team. The list features 18 players who have won 29 Olympic or World Cup gold medals. Other marquee names vying for the 12-member roster: Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City Thunder and Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Likewise, the qualification system for golf will eliminate some top players. The 60 men and women will be chosen from the top official world rankings, but there is a limit of four players per country. The cutoff for qualifying is July 11.

Refugee athletes will have the chance to compete in the Games. Three potential athletes have been identified so far and up to 10 are expected to qualify, according to the IOC. A group of refugees will march together in the opening ceremony, a refugee will carry the torch during the Greek leg of the relay, and the torch will make a stop at a refugee camp in Athens, the president of the IOC said on Jan. 28 during a three-day trip to Greece, the AP reported.

The IOC has pledged $2 million to help refugees.

Nick Zaccardi contributed information for this article.
 

Residents have been evacuated from a housing complex in Southbury after fire broke out.

Police said several fire departments have responded to 613 Cedar Circle to battle the fire in a duplex at the housing complex for residents who are 55 years old and up.

No injuries are reported.

Donald Trump continues to lead Tuesday's New Hampshire primary after his second-place finish in Iowa, but Marco Rubio has gained ground on him, according to a new NBC/WSJ/Marist poll conducted after the Iowa results.

Trump gets support from 30 percent of likely Republican primary followers — followed by Rubio at 17 percent, Ted Cruz at 15 percent, John Kasich at 10 percent, Jeb Bush at 9 percent and Chris Christie at 4 percent.

Last week — before the results in Iowa, where Cruz finished first and Rubio third — Trump was at 31 percent, Cruz 12 percent, Rubio 11 percent, Kasich 11 percent, Bush 8 percent and Christie 7 percent.

All UConn campuses are closed for the day because of the snow.

On Friday morning, UConn canceled classes at the Storrs campus until after noon, but the school has since closed all campuses for the day.

UConn has campuses in Avery Point, Greater Hartford, Stamford, Torrington and Waterbury.

Get updates at AlertUConn.edu. 

A tree came down across part of the Wilbur Cross Parkway in North Haven and the southbound side of the road was closed for awhile near the rest area at exit 63.

The road has since reopened. 

While many schools across Connecticut are closed because of snow, Newington schools are open today and several parents and students are not happy about it.

Supt. Dr. William Collins said he stands by the decision to open schools, saying roads are fine, students are safe and people will be happy with him in June for not canceling school now.

“It’s winter. It’s a lovely day. The roads are fine. We talked to the highway superintendent this morning. It was 56 degrees yesterday. The roads have had no issues,” he said.

Some people who identified themselves as Newington students reached out to NBC Connecticut and said the power has gone on and off at school and parents who were dropping their children off had mixed reviews.

Some said the roads are fine, while others said major routes of OK, but side roads are not.

When asked why other schools canceled for the day, but not Newington, Collins said “peer pressure.”

“We subscribe to the weather center and they clearly said we should be having school today. There’s no reason to cancel, so they all started caving, one after the other this morning,” Collins said.

Collins said Newington has its own buses and the only issues included one bus was late getting to the middle school and one was possibly late getting to elementary school, but those were the only issues.

“The buses had absolutely no trouble this morning at all,” he said.

Collins said bus drivers were also told to pick up any walkers they saw along the route.

“It’s winter in New England, why wouldn’t we open,” Collins said.

Schools nearby in Wethersfield are closed today and Super. Michael Emmett said he looks at the advanced forecast before making the decisions about closing school or keeping it open.

This morning, he saw the conditions were going to be worse and added that the town does not have its own buses.

“Certainly, for us, we look at safety for staff and students,” he said. “We did talk with other superintendents this morning and I do take that into consideration, but my first factor is safety for staff and students.”

Investigators found no signs of forced entry inside a Gage Park house where six family members were found slain in the Southwest Side neighborhood, Chicago police announced Friday.

Chicago Police Chief of Detective Eugene Roy said Friday that all of the victims suffered blunt trauma.

Officers conducting a welfare check discovered the bodies of two women, two men and two children aged 10 and 13 around 1:30 p.m. Thursday on the 5700 block of South California. A concerned co-worker called police after after one of the men found in the home had not showed up to work for two days.

Investigators were working to piece together what exactly happened inside the small brick home tucked away in a typically quiet neighborhood near 57th Street and California Avenue. Asked whether it could have been a murder-suicide, Interim Chicago Police Superintendent John Escalante told reporters Friday it was "a possibility."

Police said in a Friday morning news conference there had been no sign of forced entry and all the doors had been locked when officers arrived.

Friends told NBC 5 the victims were a “good family” from Mexico with no known problems.

Police have revealed few details on a potential motive in the case, but said there is no threat to the community.

The victims' identities will be released after the Cook County medical examiner has performed autopsies Friday morning, Roy said. He said it appeared the victims were members of the same family.

Six people lived in the home — a couple, their son, their daughter and the daughter's two children — a relative said.

"They were a normal family. Everything was fine," Noemi Martinez, 29, said from Dallas during a phone interview in Spanish. She said her husband was a nephew and cousin of the home's residents.

Martinez said the father worked at a factory in Chicago and the mother was a housewife. They were originally from the Mexican state of Guanajuato and had lived in Chicago for about a decade, Martinez said.

"Right now, we just want to know who did this. They didn't deserve this. We don't understand what happened," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The roads "probably" can't be treated before the storm heading to Connecticut on Friday, the Department of Transportation told NBC Connecticut. 

"Pre-treatment might be a little bit tricky today the roads are still wet so pre-treatment on wet roads is not very effective," Kevin Nursick, a spokesman with the DOT, said.

"As it stands right now, the roads are still pretty wet and we are probably not going to be pre-treating unless things change in that regard."

The treatment is a salt brine solution put on roadways- mainly highways- to allow salt crystals to help with snow or icy conditions, Nursick said. 

Wet roads don't allow the salt to crystallize, Nursick said, which is why pre-treatment won't work before Friday's storm. 

"If we put down the salt solution on roads, all it's going to do is dilute and probably not be very effective," Nursick said.  "So we need dry conditions."

Nursick did say the agency was ready for the storm with its fleet and staffing. He noted that weekend storms are easier to handle, like the blizzard a couple weeks ago.

"Out of the ordinary is the ordinary for winter weather in Connecticut," Nursick said about unpredictable conditions. 

The snow is still coming down, so these numbers are going to grow.

Here’s what we’ve gotten so far:

Fairfield County

• New Fairfield: 5.0 inches

Hartford County

• Berlin: 12.0 inches
• Farmington: 9.0 inches
• West Hartford: 8.0 inches

Litchfield County

• Thomaston: 4.0 inches
• North Canaan: 3.3 inches
• Litchfield: 3.0 inches
• Winchester Center: 2.0 inchs

Middlesex County

• Middletown: 7.3 inches
• Westbrook: 5 inches

New Haven County

• North Haven: 8 inches
• Prospect: 9 inches

New London County

• Lisbon: 5.5 inches

Tolland County

• Coventry: 10.5 inches
• Stafford Springs: 10.0 inches
• Willington: 10 inches
• Staffordville: 9.5 inches

Windham County

• Sterling: 8.0 inches
• Ashford: 7.7 inches
• Putnum: 7.5 inches
• Pomfret: 6.0 inches

The Department of Motor Vehicles has cancelled all road tests for Friday. The road tests were originally canceled from 8 a.m. to noon, but they are now canceled for the day because of the snow. 

People who were scheduled to take a test should call and reschedule appointments. People in the Hartford area can call 860-263-5700 and everyone else can call 800-842-8222.

"With the impending storm predicted to bring snow, drivers of commercial and passenger vehicles are reminded about the requirement to remove snow and ice from hoods, trunks and roofs or face fines and penalties," the DMV said in a statement.