NBC10's George Spencer speaks to a local man who says his wife made false allegations against him in order to take advantage of a law that protects immigrants from domestic violence. The NBC10 Investigators look deeper into similar allegations of sham marriages.

Amid multiple lawsuits and escalating tension, Pennsylvania’s midterm elections kicked off Tuesday.

It was the first day candidates could circulate petitions in what has become one of the most closely watched races in the nation.

"Are you a registered Democrat?" asked a campaign volunteer wearing a blue Dwight Evans for Congress T-shirt.

The man standing outside a Shop Rite market in Roxborough carrying a clipboard was one of many campaign volunteers who fanned out collecting signatures on behalf of their favorite candidates.

Two women sheepishly signed a petition in favor of Democratic U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans. He represents the former 2nd District and is one of several candidates who has been forced to change races at the last minute after the state Supreme Court issued a new voting map.

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“There has to be a blue wave in November,” retired teacher Kathy Stone told NBC10. “Especially with these gun laws, they have to change and the only way they’re going to change is if we do a complete turn around.”

The Germantown resident is part of a potential onslaught of Democratic voters who could flip Pennsylvania from red to blue. The trend is fueled by last week’s state Supreme Court ruling that removed key Republican strongholds from the state’s voting map.

But lingering lawsuits continue to sow confusion ahead of the primary election as Republicans fight a map that is likely to benefit Democrats.

Last week, GOP leaders filed two lawsuits — one in U.S. District Court and another with the U.S. Supreme Court — in hopes of blocking it from taking effect in this year’s midterm election.

In a third action, state House Speaker Mike Turzai and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati had asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to reverse its order. On Tuesday, the court declined to delay or reverse its order.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court already declined to take up the issue until the lower courts weigh in. But a three-judge panel delayed any hearing until March 9.

This is all good news for Democrats, who could gain several seats under the new map. Even newcomers were quick to take advantage of updated boundaries, including 3rd District challenger Kevin Johnson.

The former pastor, who is running against Evans as a Democrat, spent his afternoon at a separate Shop Rite in Parkside. He knows this particular store well. He, his wife, three children and several members of the church he founded — Dare to Imagine — have spent weekends here, handing out food and speaking with congregants.

"This is an opportunity for me to come back and say 'We've helped you before. Now we need your helping running,'" he said. 

Johnson's kids held signs while their parents gathered signatures. This was one of many stops throughout the day and the team already has several hundred. 

"We want 6,000," he said. "We're not playing."

Relatively unknown outside his congregation, Johnson has the look of someone new to campaigning. This is his first time. He isn't tired, cynical or prone to attacking his rival. When asked why he chose to run against Evans, Johnson demured and since it wasn't personal. 

"I live in the new 3rd (congressional district). My church is in the new third. I buy my groceries here in the new third. I go to the cleaners in the new third. So this is really home," he said. 

Like so many other candidates, Johnson changed his district after the new map come out. He launched in the 1st District at the beginning of February. 

Evans will also run in this new district, which comprises portions of West and Northwest Philly.

Since the court’s decision last week, several other candidates have switched races. Former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Nina Ahmad on Monday dropped out of the 1st District contest and announced her bid for lieutenant governor against incumbent Mike Stack.

Ahmad replaces Democratic State Rep. Madeleine Dean on that ticket after Dean dropped out in order to run in Montgomery County’s 4th District. She would have faced Democratic State Sen. Daylin Leach in the race, but he canceled his campaign after several female staffers accused him of inappropriate behavior.

Voters wondering how the new map impacts them can click here for a rundown.

Cherry Hill High School East’s principal responded Tuesday to huge student protests over the suspension of a popular history teacher and demands for increased security in the wake of the Florida school massacre.

"Many East students have emerged as leaders in this situation," Dennis S. Perry wrote in a letter posted on Twitter Tuesday afternoon. “I am very proud of our students and the manner in which they have conducted themselves.”

Perry also backed off an earlier warning that a senior trip, prom or graduation could be withheld for any student who participated in Tuesday's walkout.

The controversy began Thursday when Timothy Locke, an AP History teacher at Cherry Hill East, was placed on administrative leave after discussing the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, an attack that killed 17 people.

Locke warned his class that a similar event could happen at Cherry Hill East and expressed concerns over school security. The teacher also voiced worry that two campus police officers were not armed, according to the Associated Press.

A student told Philly.com one of his classmates was visibly upset by Locke’s comments and went to the principal’s office to discuss her concerns. NBC10 has not confirmed that report.  

Several students and parents told NBC10 they shared Locke’s concerns. A petition requesting that he be reinstated received around 500 signatures.

Hundreds of students marched Tuesday morning to Cherry Hill East’s football field while chanting "Free Mr. Locke."

After the walkout, the students returned to the auditorium and spoke with Perry.

“I was very proud of the students and the way in which they maintained their composure," Perry wrote. "Many good ideas were shared and students were encouraged to continue their spirit of involvement.”

Some students told NBC10 they didn’t get the answers they were looking for while speaking with the principal Tuesday.

"We sat there for an hour and learned nothing about our safety, about our educators and what he’s going to do to protect us," said a senior, Jordan, who only provided their first name.

In his letter, Perry asked for the community to work with the school to continue to show support for the students. He also said they were working on an overall plan that included open dialogue sessions, more assemblies on school safety, a letter writing campaign to Parkland students, ways to contact congressional representatives, a student walk on March 14, and a school security discussion committee.

Cherry Hill Mayor Chuck Cahn also released a statement on security concerns at the high school and called for action to be taken.

“We stand ready and willing to partner with the Board of Education to do whatever we can to help improve security at all of Cherry Hill’s schools," Mayor Cahn said. 

Both Cahn as well as members of the Cherry Hill Township Council say they’re working with the Board of Education to help increase safety in their schools.

“I look forward to working with the Mayor and the members of Council to make sure the Board expeditiously continues to address this vital need," Council President David Fleisher said. "No issue is greater than the safety of our children.”

Cherry Hill Police Chief William Monaghan recommended the Board, which will make the final decision on the security plan, utilize armed police officers as part of that plan.

Students and parents raised their concerns at another school board meeting Tuesday night.

Dozens of undocumented immigrants have been arrested across Northern California since Sunday, according to federal officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations.

More than 150 people who are in violation of federal U.S. immigration laws have been arrested since Sunday, ICE said Tuesday.

Federal ICE and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deportation officers have been conducting targeted immigration enforcement in the San Francisco Bay Area "consistent with federal law and agency policy, to arrest individuals who have violated U.S. immigration laws," ICE spokesperson James Schwab said.

The arrests were made based on leads developed by the local field office in conjunction with the National Criminal Analysis and Targeting center (NCATC), Schwab said. 

About half of the individuals arrested have criminal convictions in addition to immigration violations, including convictions for assault/battery, crimes against children, weapons charges and DUI, he added.

"This operation is a continuation of ICE’s efforts to prioritize enforcement against public safety threats," Schwab said. 

“Sanctuary jurisdictions like San Francisco and Oakland shield dangerous criminal aliens from federal law enforcement at the expense of public safety," said ICE Deputy Director Thomas D. Homan. "Because these jurisdictions prevent ICE from arresting criminal aliens in the secure confines of a jail, they also force ICE officers to make more arrests out in the community, which poses increased risks for law enforcement and the public."

Honan also criticized Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf's decision to alert the public about ICE operations, saying it "further increased that risk for my officers and alerted criminal aliens — making clear that this reckless decision was based on her political agenda with the very federal laws that ICE is sworn to uphold.”

"Thanks to the dedicated and professional work of ICE deportation officers, we were able to remove many public safety threats from the streets of the Bay Area during the past few days," Honan said.

"However, 864 criminal aliens and public safety threats remain at large in the community, and I have to believe that some of them were able to elude us thanks to the mayor’s irresponsible decision. Unlike the politicians who attempt to undermine ICE’s critical mission, our officers will continue to fulfill their sworn duty to protect public safety.”

Those arrested include 38-year-old ICE fugitive Armando Nuñez-Salgado, a  Mexican citizen and documented Sureño gang member previously removed by ICE on four prior occasions. Nuñez-Salgado has prior criminal convictions in California over the past 18 years resulting in prison sentences totaling 15 years. His convictions include assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, hit-and-run causing injury and evading a peace officer.

In a similar operation earlier this month in Los Angeles, 88 percent of those arrested by ICE were convicted criminals. In 2017, ICE arrested 20,201 undocumented immigrants throughout California – 81 percent of whom were convicted criminals.

In a statement, ICE clarified: "ICE does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately, and the agency prioritizes public and national security threats, immigration fugitives and illegal reentrants. However, all of those in violation of immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States"

An immigrants' rights group says word of the ICE operations are fueling fear across the Bay Area.

The group called Rapid Response and Immigrant Defense Network hasn't verified the exact number of arrests through the federal agency. ICE officials confirmed they have detained at least one person since Sunday.

In the Alum Rock business district in East San Jose, merchants say business has been down since Monday, and it's mostly due to rumors of ICE activity.

Jesus Flores, who runs a tax office on the Alum Rock corridor, says undocumented immigrants are staying home out of fear they could get caught up in a sting.

"We believe it's a fault of all the comments on social media, comments about immigration (agents) visiting households and our neighborhoods also visiting businesses," Flores said.

A merchant at a cellphone shop on Alum Rock Avenue said business the past two days has dropped by more than half.

"Its been really slow," Alicia Infante said.

Since Sunday, the phones at the offices of immigrant rights group SIREN have been ringing nonstop. The agency is also part of the county’s Rapid Response Network, going out to investigate reports of ICE activity in the neighborhoods.

But in many cases, SIREN says, the reports are false.

"It’s really important for community members to not spread something that hasn’t been verified," said Erica Leyva, spokeswoman for Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network.

Meanwhile, as president of the Alum Rock Business Association, Flores is planning a workshop for local merchants to see how they can legally protect their customers, so they can return to the local shops.

"We want our clients to know that we will do everything possible to protect them," he said.

A coalition of immigrant rights groups called Power, Not Panic Emergency Response Committee has scheduled a rally at noon Wednesday to denounce ICE’s operation as an abuse of power and to mount an emergency response. The rally will take place at ICE’s Northern California headquarters at 630 Sansome St. in San Francisco.

Additional information about the nature of the arrests provided by ICE:

• In Sacramento, a citizen of Mexico, who has criminal convictions for possession of a dangerous weapon, inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, DUI, convicted felon in possession of a firearm, burglary, threatening with intent to terrorize, battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. The individual is also a documented Sureños gang member

• In Sacramento, a citizen of Guatemala, who has a criminal conviction for false imprisonment

• In Bay Point, a citizen of Mexico, previously removed by ICE eight times and who has a criminal conviction for assault with a deadly weapon

• In Stockton, a citizen of Mexico, who has a previous criminal conviction for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old

• In San Francisco, a citizen of Mexico, who has previous criminal convictions for battery and DUI

Of the targets who remain at large, those believed to be currently living in Oakland include:

• A Honduran citizen who was previously arrested in San Francisco County multiple times for cocaine possession and transport, probation violations and sex with a minor under 16, and;

• A citizen of Mexico who was previously arrested and convicted for carrying a loaded firearm, transportation and sale of narcotics and DUI.

Both have been previously removed from the U.S. on multiple occasions.

Aalyayah Eastmond said she survived the gunman's rampage at the Parkland school by using the body of one of her fellow students as a shield and by playing dead.

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor shared her story of what occurred on Feb. 14 on "Megyn Kelly Today."

"Within 5 seconds of me sitting down, he came to my class. He started shooting," Eastmond said Tuesday. "It was just loud pops – could just feel the wind of the bullets just pass by my face."

Seventeen people, mostly students, were fatally shot that day. During the shooting, Eastmond said she sent a message to her mother.

“I told her 'I love you so much. I am sorry for everything bad I ever did in my life ... just forgive me,'" Eastmond recounted.

To survive, Eastmond knew what she had to do.

“I just immediately thought that he was coming inside so I told myself that I need to look like I was dead, as well," she said.

Mark Eiglarsh, an attorney who represents the Eastmonds, said that Eastmond and her family have "absolutely no interest in suing anyone."

"She doesn’t want to be a victim for the rest of her life. She wants to use this to fuel change," Eiglarsh said, including possibly adapting the open campus concept, which Stoneman Douglas has.

“Stoneman Douglass isn’t built for things like this. It’s built for our comfort. Certain places, no matter where, in things like this – you are going to get killed," Eastmond said.

Numerous Stoneman Douglas survivors have taken action to in attempts to prevent further similar tragedies from occurring as part of the #NeverAgain movement.

A deadly standoff rocked a New Jersey neighborhood overnight.

SWAT responded to Roosevelt Avenue in Edgewater Park just after 1 a.m. Wednesday.

A person was barricaded in a home in the suburban neighborhood, Burlington County dispatchers said.

The standoff ended when one person was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound around 3:30 a.m., dispatchers said.

A second person was transported to Cooper University Hospital with undisclosed injuries.

NBC10 is working to get more details.

Here are the top news stories you need to know to start your day from your friends at NBC10.

TODAY'S TOP STORY 

Woman Crashes After Road Rage Driver Threatens with Bat: A South Jersey woman is grateful to be alive after she says a driver threatened her with a baseball bat and chased after her leading to her crashing her vehicle. Tamika, who did not want to reveal her last name, told NBC10 she left her Mount Laurel, New Jersey home and was headed to work at Wawa the morning of February 16. She was driving on Ark Road when she encountered another driver. “He was in front of me braking his brakes three or four times so I beeped my horn at him,” she said. “He did something in his rearview mirror which triggered me.” Tamika said she returned the hand gesture. Then the man got out of his car and started waving a black baseball bat at her. Tamika drove off and called 911. She says the man got back into his car and began following her. Frightened, Tamika lost control of her red Impala and struck a tree. She said she doesn’t remember how fast she was driving but her car ended up split in half with the back end landing across the street and the front end landing about 50 yards from the place of impact.

• MORE ON THE CRASH
  

WHAT YOU MISSED YESTERDAY

1 Dead in West Philly House Fire: One person died in a house fire at a West Philadelphia home. The fire started at a home on the 5300 block of Race Street Tuesday night. Firefighters were able to place the flames under control. One person was found dead inside the home. Officials have not yet released the victim’s identity. The fire was one of two that occurred in West Philadelphia Tuesday night. Another fire started on the 100 block of South 50th Street. Two people were injured during that fire and taken to the hospital. Officials have not yet revealed their conditions.

• MORE ON THE FIRE
  

YOUR FIRST ALERT FORECAST  

Wednesday is expected to see temperatures in the 60s with cloudy skies. Rain could return for Thursday and Friday along with temperatures in the 50s and 40s respectively. Get your full NBC10 First Alert forecast here.

Popular Del. Restaurant Closes Its Doors: A longtime restaurant in Delaware is closing its doors after 38 years. Nearby construction contributed to the Chesdel Restaurant's closure.

• MORE ON THE CLOSURE
  

AROUND THE WORLD

Classes Resume Weeks After Florida Mass School Shooting: Two weeks to the day from when 17 people lost their lives in the deadliest school shooting in Florida history, classes will resume at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday. Students and teachers will be on a modified schedule for the remainder of the week, in class from 7:40 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. before returning to a full schedule on Monday. Teachers and staff spent Monday and Tuesday prepping for the return, while students and parents were on campus last Sunday for an orientation. Support services will be available throughout the week for students, staff and even parents who need help in dealing with the return to school and the tragic events that surrounded the school’s closure. The Parkland school’s principal, Ty Thompson, tweeted that the focus of the next three days will be “comfort, not curriculum” while advising students they don’t need to bring backpacks and to come ready to start the healing process, adding the hashtag “#RECLAIMTHENEST” in honor of their mascot, the Eagles.

• MORE ON THE MASS SHOOTING
  

That's what you need to know to Catch Up Quickly, but we've got more stories worthy of your time. Click here to check them out. 

Expanded background checks? Raising the minimum age to buy weapons like the AR-15? Another assault weapons ban? Restricting "bump stocks"?

There are plenty of proposals being discussed in the wake of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, left 17 people dead, NBC News reported, with little agreement so far among politicians President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Rick Scott and congressional Republicans and Democrats.

It's the most sustained gun law debate since the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

NBC News took a look at the biggest ideas proposed by lawmakers and Trump, what changes they would bring about and what chances they have of being put in place.

Daredevil Nik Wallenda is bringing his high-wire act to Maryland, walking between two buildings at National Harbor Wednesday morning.

Wallenda will use only a balance bar as he walks 75 feet in the air on a cable the diameter of a nickel. The two buildings are 230 feet apart. 

The death-defying stunt is just a warm-up. Wallenda's high-wire walk is the kick off to the Big Apple Circus, which will open at the National Harbor March 8 and run until April 1. 

Wallenda holds 10 Guinness World Records for his stunts. He completed his longest tightrope walk ever during an appearance at the Wisconsin State Fair in 2015 and walked across Niagara Falls in 2012.

A New Jersey woman was asked to leave the Metropolitan Museum of Art last weekend after a security guard mistakenly thought she stole clothing from the museum's Costume Institute, according to a published report.

Eliza Vincz, a 26-year-old woman from Burlington, New Jersey, with a hobby for wearing centuries-old clothing, denounced her treatment by a security guard at the Manhattan museum last weekend after she said she was told she couldn't be in the museum in a costume, according to NJ.com.

"I was furious and embarrassed. I felt like a criminal in the one place where I get a lot of my inspiration for my clothing. It hurt--it hurt terribly," Vincz told the website. 

Vincz reportedly planned her visit to the museum to speak to a group called the "Shady Ladies," for a tour encompassing fashion and beauty in art. Unfortunately, she had to cut her presentation short. 

"The Met doesn't have a dress code, but there are guidelines for what visitors can bring in and what activities are allowed in the galleries, and the Museum's security officers are also there to ensure that anyone entering the building isn't going to unnecessarily disturb fellow visitors or put the art at risk," a museum spokeswoman said in a statement to NJ.com.

Vincz told NJ.com she was simply paying homage to work she held in high regard.

"I felt betrayed--it's really disappointing that I haven't gotten an apology from a place that is so special to me," she said. 

A large house went up in flames along Windermere Drive in Moorestown, New Jersey Wednesday morning. NBC10's Matt DeLucia reports no one was hurt.

The Atlantic City Boat Show sets sail Wednesday and runs through Sunday. There are plenty of boats to see and fun activities for the family.

Ryan Seacrest's ex-stylist who accused the TV personality of sexual misconduct was put in physically inappropriate situations on multiple occasions, according to a former co-worker who said he witnessed the alleged harassment.

"She would go to tie his shoe and Ryan would shove her head toward his crotch," the former co-worker, whose name is being withheld because he still works in Hollywood and fears retaliation, said in an exclusive interview aired on "Today" Wednesday. "I saw that more than once."

Suzie Hardy, a former stylist at the cable channel E!, had accused Seacrest, 43, of sexual misconduct last year but finally went public with her claims on Monday.

Seacrest's attorney described Hardy's allegations as "untrue" and said the stylist had sought $15 million, which Hardy's attorney denied. And E! conducted an independent investigation into the allegations and said in a statement that it found "insufficient evidence to support the claims against Seacrest."

The Go Baby Go Cafe allows people with traumatic brain injuries to work on their recovery. NBC10's Pamela Osborne takes us to Delaware to show us how patients are practicing skills.

The Democratic National Committee is planning to contact 50 million voters before the midterm elections in November, trying to harness nationwide antipathy for President Donald Trump, NBC News reported.

The DNC will announce the "IWillVote" plan Wednesday. It plans to focus on partnerships with a wide range of groups, from ones focused on key demographics to newer anti-Trump "resistance" groups, to boost turnout among people leaning toward Democrats.

The last midterm elections saw 47 million fewer people vote than in 2012, and people who lean toward Democrats have been less likely to go to the polls in non-presidential elections.

The effort "translates activism and marches into committing to vote for Democrats up and down the ballot this November and is designed to reach voters and communities across the country," said DNC Chairman Tom Perez in a statement.

A triple shooting outside a Lehigh Valley gas station left two men dead and a third fighting for his life.

Gunfire rang out around 1:15 a.m. near the gas pumps at 1227 Airport Road, next to the Airport Plaza shopping complex, Allentown Police said.

A 28-year-old man died at the scene while a 36-year-old man died later at the hospital, investigators said.

About 75 minutes later, a 24-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound to his body was dropped off at the hospital by a car, police said. Doctors listed that man in critical condition.

No word yet on what led up to the shooting.

Investigators could be seen focusing their attention on a vehicle parked near the gas pumps.

The gas station and attached convenience store had nothing to do with the shooting, investigators said.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call police at 610-437-7721.

On Feb. 28, 1993, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided the Branch Davidian's Mt. Carmel compound east of Waco looking for David Koresh — the leader of the sect officials believed was stockpiling weapons and ammunition.

After a TV cameraman inadvertently tipped off a Davidian to the impending raid earlier in the morning, the ATF had lost the element of surprise.

As federal agents arrived at the compound on Double EE Ranch Road, they were met with gunfire.

In the exchange, four federal agents and six Davidians were killed and more than a dozen others, including Koresh, were wounded.

The federal agents retreated, beginning a 51-day standoff that would end with nearly 80 dead, including 17 children, after the Mt. Carmel compound burned to the ground on April 19.

A TV cameraman who knew of the upcoming raid was trying to find the location of Mt. Carmel and asked a postal employee to confirm the location. The postal employee was a Davidian, who was able to return to Mt. Carmel and warn Koresh and his followers of the federal agents who were on their way.

Federal agents, having lost the element of surprise, were under fire soon after arrival.

The exchange of gunfire kicked off the 51-day standoff that soon garnered attention from around the world.

Included in the timeline below are news clips pulled from the archives of KXAS-TV/NBC 5, hosted on The Portal to Texas History.

Negotiations continue and 10 children are released from the compound. FBI agitates Koresh by moving armored vehicles closer to the compound.

Koresh says he'll surrender if a recording of his message is broadcast nationally. The message is broadcast over the Christian Broadcasting Network that afternoon but Koresh declines to surrender saying God spoke to him and told him to wait.

ATF Special Agent Steven Willis, one of the four ATF agents killed in the raid, is laid to rest.

Mechanic Mike Barnard, who worked with Koresh on auto repairs at a Waco shop, talks about the leader with KXAS-TV/NBC 5.

KXAS-TV/NBC 5 reports the possibility of known dangers before agents entered the compound, and the impact of allowing David Koresh to be broadcast on local radio station KRLD. This footage includes ATF agent Dan Conroy and FBI agent Bob Ricks.

A former University of Texas Arlington student discusses how his 1985 student film, a satire named Armagosa Fabulosa, mirrors events occurring at that time with David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.

Sightseers flock to Waco to watch the standoff while others capitalize on the moment by selling memorabilia.

Koresh said the only children that remained in the compound were his biological children and that they would not be leaving.

ATF agents investigate Mag Bag, a business they say was operated by and for Koresh. The owner of the property said he knew nothing about it and that it was Paul Fatta who rented the property.

Electricity cut to the compound but later restored after Koresh vowed to end negotiations. In the following days, the power is temporarily cut and restored before being ordered cut off for good on March 12.

Reports estimate the ATF was spending $500,000 per week on "Operation Koresh"; state and local agencies felt the overtime pinch too as State Troopers, deputies and police secured the area.

Koresh's mother, Bonnie Haldeman, and her attorney attempt to contact her son.

FBI uses spotlights on the compound at night to disrupt sleep and begins broadcasting music and sounds from loudspeakers. In the coming days negotiations would sporadically continue.

A Presbyterian bible study group discusses the Davidians' views about the afterlife and the end of the world; a teenage bible study group discussing young Branch Davidian members.

Between Friday, March 19-21, 10 Davidians leave the compound, two men and eight women.

A representative of British Branch Davidian Livingstone Fagan, who left Mt. Carmel, speaks in front of the Correctional Facility.

The Branch Davidians unfurl a banner reading "Rodney King We Understand."

Koresh meets at the compound with lawyer Dick DeGuerin who later tells officials the Davidians will surrender after observing Passover.

Davidians begin observing Passover; observances can take eight days.

Letter sent to the FBI signed "Yahweh Koresh" warns FBI of being called to judgment.

FBI rings compound with concertina wire, a type of barbed wire with razors attached.

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno asks, "Why now, why not wait?" when asked to approve the FBI's plan to use gas on the compound.

Fifty-one days after the siege began, the Davidians were told via loudspeaker they were under arrest and to exit the compound and that gas was going to be used. Minutes later, tanks are used to breach the walls and inject the gas. Six hours after the first breach, at about noon, the compound begins burning. Nine Davidians flee the compound and are arrested. More than 70 Davidians die in the fire, including 17 children. Koresh and others close to him died of gun shots fired at close range.

David Koresh's attorney Dick DeGuerin speaks to the media about the escalation by federal agents that led to the fire at the Davidian compound.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner identifies the causes of death of some of the Branch Davidians while other officials talk about identifying victims who died in the fire.

More Online:

• Branch Davidian Survivors to Mark 20th Anniversary
  
• Painful Memories Remain 24 Years After Branch Davidian Standoff Ends Outside Waco
  
• More from The Portal to Texas History
  

Although time and time again media mogul Oprah Winfrey has shut down speculation of a possible 2020 presidential run, she revealed to People Magazine there is one factor that might convince her — and that’s a call from God.

“I went into prayer,” she said to People in their new cover story. “‘God, if you think I’m supposed to run, you gotta tell me, and it has to be so clear that not even I can miss it.’”

However, she said that she hasn’t gotten that message yet.

Winfrey accepted the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award at the 75th Annual Golden Globes in January where her acceptance speech sparked a strong backing from social media users urging for her to run.

After she roared that “a new day is on the horizon,” #Oprah2020 was trending on Twitter for days and the intrigue multiplied when Winfrey’s longtime partner Stedman Graham told The Los Angeles Times, “It’s up to the people. She would absolutely do it.”

On top of Graham’s comments, Winfrey said her best friend Gayle King has also urged her to take the possibly of running seriously.

The “A Wrinkle In Time” star said to People, “I had people—wealthy, billionaires—calling me up and saying, ‘I can get you a billion dollars. I can run your campaign.’”

She said the encouragement made her think she should at least look at the question, but God has not shown her a definitive sign — yet.

Foster parents are desperately needed in Philadelphia. Their roll is to support the original family sometimes by adoption or helping the child re-unite with their parents. NBC10's Tracy Davidson introduces us to a family who did both.

About 6,000 children in Philadelphia are in foster care and looking for a loving home. That's why NBC10 and Telemundo 62 are teaming up with Philadelphia's Department of Human Services to find them loving foster families. NBC10's Dray Clark introduces us to a single dad who took in two brothers.