from some of the biggest stars, to families of the victims. >> someone put a bullet in the back of my 14-year-old son's had. -- had. -- head. >> both of us felt like this was army mission in life. reporter: their daughter was shot and killed in august while reporting on live tv new roanoke along with cameramen adam ward. >> is a tough holiday for us. reporter: we spoke to them on skype. they filled this interview two weeks ago in boston with spike lee, known for films including "do the right thing." >> the mba has done the right thing. reporter: the mba support march the first time -- nba's support is the first time they have

taken a stand on such a politically divisive issue. >> this senseless gun violence. >>. is a very bold move reporter: she is president of live wire, a pr firm in arlington. she believes the christmas day rollout will not go unnoticed. >> i think it will have a tremendous impact on society and on communities who watch it. reporter: the campaign is funded by every town for gun safety, a group founded by bloomberg -- michael bloomberg it was a longtime advocate for gun control and an outspoken opponent of the nra. we tried repeatedly both yesterday and today to get a comment from the nra. the organization had no response. abc 7 news jeff goldbergabc 7 news,. leon: following a developing story at a north carolina. one person is dead after a fight inside a crowded shopping mall. in officer was involved the shooting in the northlake mall in charlotte. we know the person who was shot had some sort of weapon on the.

the will get you more information as we learn more about it. that was the sound in the air as protesters blocked shoppers on chicago's magnificent mile. nevers of black lives matter calling on the mayor to step down. the officer is facing first-degree murder charges. the environmental protection agency delivered a letter just in time for the holidays. .some local parents say it is far from a gift they say it only feels their concern about crumb rubber, material used on athletic fields all over our area. we told you about the controversy in october. joce sterman is back now with the details for the epa. reporter: they dropped a letter this week to house lawmakers, weighing in on concerns about if the rubber has a link to cancer.

never were asked 10 questions and answered almost none of them and anger parents and local anti-from advocates -- inside -- anti-crumb advocates. he won't evenrned stand on the field across from his house or let his kids play on it. >> our kids are literally the guinea pigs. reporter: it's chopped up tires used in athletic you'll sleep this one in reston. in october the 7 on your side team -- how concerned are you? expense studied on the federal level. reporter: he was so concerned he asked the epa for specifics on crumb and cancer. they responded nearly two months after his deadline with congress on holiday break. >> that tells you all they need to know. it's terrible. reporter: you think they tried

to bury it? >> that the only reasonable conclusion i can draw. reporter: he says the epa's letter provides no conclusion for parents worry about putting kids at risk. is as limited studies do not show an elevated health risk from playing on fields with tire studiesut admits the have gaps and don't comprehensively address concerns. >> they are punting on this issue and passing the buck to california. reporter: the letter says they are helping to coordinate a california study that lawmakers say has a conflict of interest because it's being run by a tire recycling group. and a prior interview they said they want answers, they just have not provided them so far. the epa could offer lawmakers a chance to meet face-to-face to answer questions about the gaps in the study that have already been done and the upcoming california study. the agency says they know athletes and parents are concerned. they previously said science takes time.

joce sterman, abc 7 news. leon: nice work as always. you can contact the 7 on your side team or you can send us an .-mail at tips@wjla.com a scary situation for residents in northeast d.c. this was on sixth street. no one was injured. by neighborhood in mclean was without power for most of today. a tree fell and brought down power lines. the power will be back on tonight. .luckily they did not need power to stay warm today records fell like today's rain all over the area. -- shortshort sleeves and short sleeves on christmas eve. steve: it is wonderful out there as long it on my temperatures on

the warm side. we broke records at all three local airports. 71 degrees at reagan national, dulles and bwi. 60's, anddle to upper the sun has been down for about an hour and a half. 66 in fort washington. anacostia at 65 degrees. a few lingering showers north and west of us. you by what you keep an umbrella handy because we have stray showers that will stay in the forecast along with a little bit of patchy fog. in a few minutes we will talk about christmas day. could we break or tie records? and a cool down for parts of the upcoming weekend and next week. all of that and more from the weather center coming up in just a few minutes. leon: while we are basking in the record highs, people across the midwest and parts of the self are recovering from tornadoes. at least 10 people were killed and 40 injured.

the hardest hit was arkansas, tennessee and mississippi. a deadly tornado in northern mississippi have been on the ground for 150 miles. >> it makes you feel terrible. you want to help and to the best you can. leon: they say the worst of the severe weather has passed and now the main concern is flooding. coming up ahead at 6:00 -- reporter: coming up, and look at what holiday travelers faced on this night before christmas. leon: talk about time pressure. the race to get the last minute gifts before the stores close. and the holiday gift that gifts before the stores close. and the holiday gift that congress put in the last

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leon: congress made it just under the wire in passing a budget. the massive spending plan included a gift for our area. $11 million for land conservation in the chesapeake bay watershed. about $2 million will go to improving access to the estuary. thefederal permit announced are working $28 million in federal student loans for the students of corinthian colleges when they went out of business. sheryl atkins is taking a look at how many for-profit schools have played on military troops that were covered by the g.i. bill. >> i'm angry i spent all this

money in student loans and it turns out that the degree women pretty much worthless. >> if these schools that are enticing kids into loans for educations that are worthless had some responsibility for default, they would think twice about it but they don't. they could care less. leon: you can see the entire investigation sunday morning at 9:30 only on abc 7. since it was6:00, on the potomac earlier today. -- santa was on the potomac earlier today. where is he now? and he made a bundle up. steve is back with a check on the holiday forecast just ahead. robert: coming up and sports why it is time for kobe to hang up tonight. and a redskin veteran in the locker room.

leon: the folks at the north american aerospace defense command are tracking santa as

they do every year this time. hundreds of volunteers in colorado springs taking calls from children about when the jolly old elf will arrive in their town. they show he is over the african nation of mali and heading towards mauritania next. you can track santa all night with a link on wjla.com. received his permit to bring the eight reindeer into the u.s. this morning. he only has from now until 6:00 tomorrow morning to make his rounds. were from the north pole is that he has of upgrades to the slave this year to help them out. about 45 million gallons of jet fuel to make it around the world. he travels around 226 million miles to get all the gifts to children around the world. a lot of mileage on the reindeer. some of his elves are pushing things to the last minute. a lot of stores closed about 15 minutes ago but there are a

handful that will still be open for a few more hours ruining christmas for the employees. [laughter] some people were able to get last-minute gifts in the middle of the night at kohl's. >> he is still in bed. he has gone golfing today because it's 75 degrees so i'm going shopping for him. >> i was going to go work out and i'll be gy -- all the gyms are closed. leon: loop be catching up with some of those last second procrastinators at 11:00. aaa estimates nearly four out of 10 washington area residents will be traveling 50 or more miles for the holidays. most of them going by car but local airports are still busy today. found some-conneen poetry at reagan national airport. reporter:'twas the night before christmas and all through the airport thousands were stirring in the counters, gates and food

courts. while family members have loved ones would be there,.a few flight delays are not being updated with care >> they kept saying every five minutes the airplane will be here. when the pilots and flight attendants for suddenly near. out on the tarmac there arose such a clatter, passengers sprang to their feet and boarded in a somewhat orderly manner. >> it was actually a pleasure. .things are pretty smooth today reporter: up to the sky they flew with an airplane full of bags and passengers too. >> it was great. reporter: in baggage claim the carousel circled round and round the several -- but several were angry. >> i not doing the spirit at all. reporter: standby passengers back to get on the last flight. after the names are finally called, they shouted mary christmas to all into a look at

night. mike carter-conneen, abc 7 news. leon: nice going. share your scenes of the season with us at pics@wjla.com. i saw something you are not supposed to see on december 24. shorts, convertibles, tops down. it is unbelievable. records at all three local airports and tomorrow will be so close. 72 degrees. and your record at reagan national. a daytime high of around 70. , we continue to spend a beautiful evening out there looking over the airport in the pentagon. 64 degrees and temperatures are going to slowly fall by another two or three degrees in the overnight hours. 71 degrees was the high and the 1933 was 69.k in

normally this time of year temperatures just around 45. dwi.s the board, 69 a culpeper at 61. heading up the frederick at 61 degrees and 60 and hagerstown. you can see with a cold front is located. areas in blue is where the cold air is located. 45 in detroit, indianapolis at 47 degrees. the further south is where the really warm air is located. 77 in virginia beach. they crack 80 this afternoon. the heaviest shower activity not moving across rehobeth and ocean city. a little bit closer for those it plans this evening, may be heading out to pentagon city. you will see drive roadways for now. a few scattered showers make the -- may pop up later this evening. be prepared for a few passing showers. 55-62 for overnight lows.

upper 50's and fairfax for the week of temperature tomorrow. christmas day, 59 degrees for the morning temperature in aspen hill. here is the futurecast. 11:30 tonight you might see a few showers near baltimore and northern -- parts of anne arundel county. it will not be a washout for tonight. tomorrow morning the makeup to a mix of sun and clouds. cloudy skies for southern maryland. later in the day showers will begin to move across the area. they become more widespread by tomorrow evening. saturday temperatures little cooler. because the frontal system will little -- little a little close -- wiggle a little closer to us. 69 degrees in some of you might hit 70 or maybe 72. cooler air on saturday rebounding to around 70 on sunday.

monday, that is not a mistake. upper 40's for daytime highs. back into the 50's come the middle of next week. leon: how about looking to this weekend. robert: just a win. the magic number is one. it looks like kirk cousins is coming into his own. he can't even score on a 6'10" guy anymore. sports is next.

>> and now the toyota sports desk bought to you by your local toyota dealers. it's about that time were the older guys in the locker rooms start speaking up. the skins going for the division title against the eagles. a lot of young guys but the angela already clear when he was a rookie he cannot understand the magazine -- magnitude of the nfc championship game. hatcher tells his young boys to live in the moment. >> right in the moment. don't try to look past nobody. don't look to the playoffs for the dallas gain. live in this moment right here. the next moment comes in you take care of that. . robert: the navy football team

is getting ready for pittsburgh in the military bowl this weekend. the head coach staying in annapolis, maybe getting a new contract today after being courted by b.y.u.. the bowl game will feature all-time division i brunching -- rushing leader. the coach says it's all about being or taking advantage of being able to play one more game this season. >> enjoy yourselves. one assigned to work, let's go to work. i think that is always the key to a ball game. do the best you can and enjoy the festivities. it's a wonderful opportunity for us. wait.: can't last night, lakers and thunder. herecan't score under rant and and tries to back him down and he can't happen. 10 years ago would've been an easy score. not anymore.

hard to watch. an update on tiger woods. they tweeted this out about tiger today. barely able to walk. he faces a cold future. leon: hard to imagine that both he and kobe at the same time. steve: on a tweet? robert: nbc sports. steve: we have a warm forecast for tomorrow. it's not going to snow. it will be close to 70. saturday a lot cooler and around 60 degrees. . we rebound to around 70 on sunday on monday, the upper 40's because a cold front will be giving further south. upper 50's on tuesday, wednesday and thursday of next week. upper 50's on tuesday, wednesday and thursday of next week. leon:

it's the holidays, which means a house full of people, who all want to get online. so hurry and get verizon fios. only fios has the fastest internet and wi-fi available, with speeds from 50 to 500 megs. and right now, for only $79.99 a month online, you get 50 meg fios internet, tv and phone for your first year. plus, with a 2-year agreement, fios gives you $400 back, and all the premium movie channels for a year. so go online or call now for this great offer. get oft of the past. get fios.

tonight, that tornado outbreak wreaking havoc over the holiday. the mounting death toll and destruction in several states. more than two dozen twisters. one that touched down may have traveled more than 100 miles on the ground. >> oh, wow. looks like there's two. >> the storms so powerful, a tractor trailerm hurled off th road. tonight, the stories of survival. white-hot christmas. record-breaking temperatures along the east coast. the images you never see this time of year. what this weather pattern means for the rest of winter. crackdown. the plan for a nationwide swede of undocumented immigrants. hundreds of families facing deportation. officials saying they pose a threat to national security. and, tracking santa. inside the government's top secret mission to follow that