announcer: now "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. jonathan: with a dreary day around the region, you know what? we can't complain. we do need the rain. steve rudin is here with a look at how long you need the umbrella. we do need the rain. steve: a little rain will go a long way to slow it down from the evening rush hour commute. heading closer, sat rite and radar. lifting -- satellite and radar. lifting northe d.c. we will see a lull in the action. walking the dog the temperatures are 62, 60 or so heading through the later everything hours. not a big temperature drop. we have more rain on the way. the future cast with 9:00 tonight. the clouds will stick around. then for the rush hour commute tomorrow morning yet another round of rain followed by a

that may bring us a few thunderstorms. i will give you the timing and looking ahead to the upcoming weekend in a few minutes. >> thank you. you can stay connected with the storm watch 7 team through wjla.com and the facebook and the twitter feeds. you can download the storm watch app to have the forecast at your fingertips. michelle: the rain would help where wildfires are destroying ho neighbor. the mayor of one town lost his home to the flames. lauren lister reports the worst of the damage is in gatlinburg in the eastern part of the state. >> you can see the damage that has been done in this area right here. >> today a first look at the destruction left in the unforgive fire's wake. more than 100 structure's lost or damage in the tennessee town, including the mayor's home. >> i lost my house.

>> the ranging flames devours. the residents were ordered to evacuate. >> it's so hot. lauren: wildfires spreading from the great smoky mountains to populated area. turning one of the biggest tourist area, dol the threatening line. it is intact. this is the southeast's worst drought in a decade. >> a span of 15 to 20 minutes. we were dispatched and alerted to almost 20 structure fires. >> as of this morning, more than a dozen structure fires are still burning as 2,000 people live hunkered down in shelters. >> fire officials now saying they believe the worst is over. it looks like the weather may

tonight with one to two inches expected. that alone authorities say should nearly put out most of the fairs. lauren lister, abc news, los angeles. jonathan: there is a mystery in the potomac after a substance found floating in the river. i was noticed sunday off the point of rocks but it is causing concern for all the communities for the drinking water downstream. richard reeve joining us live with the latest on the investigation. have they figured out what it is >> this is in the area of the trump golf course in lansdowne, virginia. that is far where we are here in southwest washington. they believe it's hydraulic fluid or lubery can't. there is no trace of the sheen in many parts of the river. we checked all over the place

>> the authorities released some aerials describing what it look like. the section of the sheen that are 14 miles long. but it's in parts, so you will see chunks like 30 to 60 feet. it's very, very thin. how much of the material was dumped? we really don't know exactly. they are talk about parameters between ten and 1,000 gallons. that is what you are dealing with. in addition, wssc says it is prepared to shut filtration plant. that involves 150 million gallons of water a day. they are getting ready. in addition there are concerns about wildfire. >> environmentally this is a concern. we have had other spills in the river. not good for the health of the river. no question.

to the e.p.a. and they indicate they don't think the environmental impact as previously feared. we have a report on that coming up. michelle: new information in the deadly plane crash in colombia. the death toll jumped to 76 after a survivor died in an't oh. members of a brazilian soccer team were on the plane. the pilot declared electrical failure before losing contract. they were and all soccer activities have been further until further notice. jonathan: isis claiming the 18-year-old behind the attack yesterday is one of the soldiers. a message circulated online says it was carried out in the group's call for attacks on westerners. earlier this month, an isis propaganda magazine told followers have to carry out an attack as a lone wolf operative and they suggested the attacker use vehicle to

michelle: only on 7, a decision not to indict a local police officer after he shot a robbery suspect. >> we first reported on the incident last april. when a lauren city police officer shot and woundedded an unarmed burglary suspect caught in the act. the officers saying at the time that the shooting was unintentional. we have been following the case and now we have obtained only on 7 this cam of the entire episode. it begins as police fans out across the laurel neighborhood, looking for suspects reported to be in the middle of a burglary. eventually one of the suspects runs but police believe another may be in the building. the video shows the exact moment when an officer opens the door. his gun goes off. that suspect is wounded. additionally we have learned

the officer. when we come back at 5:00, as we continue to work the story, you will hear from the lawyer for the wounded man. he says his client should haven't been shot. michelle: a patrolman took the stand today and he told the court he shot 50-year-old walter scott out of total he grabbed his taser in and shot him. it shows them moving the body after the shooting but slager says he was accounting for his weapon. jonathan: covering metro today. a push by the d.c. council to help the system make ends meet. d.c. bureau chief sam ford was at the council breakfast when the topic came up. >> the or not is the system

>> the message was frustration. particularly councilmember evans who is chairman of metro and think people don't realize how bad things are. >> the red line leak. does anybody ride the red line? it leaks like a sieve. sam: but some say the gloom and the doom talk is >> i think it sends a message to riders that hey, if you can avoid this, like you should. >> you have minorities leaving and coming in. >> the slowdown. >> the platform was filled. we were waiting for a train almost 30 minutes. >> the council wants to see

only d.c. is trying hard to solve the problems. >> some councilmembers have been prompted to say let d.c. worry about fixing up the 40 metro stations and the tunnels in the city and let the suburbs worry about the 50 odds of d.c. chairman evans says it's not legal for d.c. to do that. reporting from northwest wai news. jonathan: talk politics. more moves at the top as president-elect trump continues to fill his cabinet. michelle: a parking lot looking more like a demolition derby. find out what set off the drivers. >> plus protest and arrests across the country as they work for a higher minimum wage.

now the community is showing the family their support. strong support. i am jeff goldberg. we'll have the story when "abc7 news at 4:00" continues

michelle: new developments in the deadly school bus crash in tennessee. the driver of the bus, that

first court appearance this morning but judge delayed it until december 15. his attorney says she expects he will plead not guilty in the crash that killed six children in chattanooga. jonathan: a horrible scene. stroller left sitting in the street where it came to rest after a mother walking with a dodd her were both hit by a car in the crosswalk. today the intersection is becoming a memorial to 5 -year-old it's in leesburg. it's where northern virginia bureau chief jeff goldberg joins us now. jeff? jeff: here very the intersection in leesburg. lansdowne section. on august 31, mindy was walking with her 5-month-old son tristan in a crosswalk. a driver driving a jeep grand cherokee collided into mindy and tristan. mindy was badly injured.

you can see a emany morial has grown here for trysten in his honor through the fall months of october and september. this is put up by a few days ago by a couple in lansdowne that never met the family. thaw have allowed people put up the ornaments and this is mother. onment of an angel there. they hope presents will be donated to charity in tristan's name. at 5:00, we speak with a man

michelle: a beautiful tribute. the wet roads are adding to evening commute and the slow down. you are piling up behinds. jamie: this is very heavy shower near the good luck road. the inner loop and the outer loop after the beltway. a lot of volume. we had an earlier issue on the beltway. the outer loop to kenilworth. it had two right lanes blocked for us. the big picture to kenilworth, it's slow 395 heavy by the pentagon continuing south. of course we have the delays. inner loop of the northwest corner. pretty heavy and 270 near montrose road is not bad. we have a little activity on the shoulder. a stalled vehicle. you can get by.

afternoon. back toback to you. jonathan: you have to see video. this is tough for to us see. we couldn't make sense of it. an argument about a parking spot. wait to see how this escalates. really fast. how it turned into a demolition derby. >> this is an argument over a parking a nuck of women seen fighting in various eyewitness videos. when one woman gets in a white survivor, she revs the engine and smashes into the silver s.u.v. nearly taking the passenger side door off. >> oh! >> this confrontation isn't ending. this is just getting started. >> several more times the vehicles collide as they maneuver in a small parking

the white survivor smashes in the silver s.u.v. one more time. before mowing down a fire hydrant sending up a huge geyser of water. [bleep] here thinking this has to be part of a stunt for a reality tv show. this doesn't seen real. jonathan: it's l.a. they fight over parking spot. it's valuable out there. imagine the kids at home you roll up in your car that looks like beaten up at every angle. "mom, what happened to the car?" "oh, well --" michelle: there are so many layers. steve: you think it's done and

jonathan: it's a parking spot. go drive around the block and find another one. steve: the wet weather is dwindling down. i don't want to be fooled it's over with because we have more tomorrow morning and then in the afternoon. the temperatures are in upper 50's to lower 60's. this feels like early the showers are moving north and east. things will dry out through the evening hours and into the overnight. too many in to montgomery county around the only area in gaithersburg. the temperatures will fall in the 50's.

i don't think it will cause airport delays tomorrow. tomorrow's high is well above average for this time of the year. we will start the day with rain. lull in the action. skies will brighten and the highs in the upper 60's to the lower 70's and then a cold front that will sweep through tomorrow afternoon in the everything hours. that will bring colder air. future ca north across montgomery county to frederick and western maryland. we will see another round of showers and embedded thunderstorms. the cooler air will start to number in and it will arrive thursday with sunshine. good news there. the ten-day outlook from storm watch 7. we will go from 70 tomorrow to the middle 50's on thursday.

upper 40's to lower 50's. we move in the middle to the late part of next week. wow! that is december with the temperatures in the lower 60's. hard to complain about that. jonathan: breaking news. has to do with the top of the newscast with the fire in tennessee and gatlinburg. we understand three people are confirmed dead as a result of the fires if the area it's burning in, some of the video from pigeon forge, near dollywood. they are steep canyons and heavily wooded. they have not had rain and dealing with a drought. they have a lot of dry timber and it's racing through the canyon. it's burned homes. they ordered evacuations ahead of the fire. we are getting word three people are dead. that is the fact that some people are not heeding the

we will monitor what is happening in tennessee. michelle: coming up for us at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- signs of the season are sprouting up around the white house. when we come back we will show you the decorations inside the mansion. jonathan: they are targeting your phone and facebook. "7 on your side" to help you

fios is not cable. we're wired differently. that means incredibly fast 150 meg internet for the holidays. so in the 3.7 seconds it takes gary watson to beat the local ed jump record, fly, gary, fly. ...his friend can download 13 versions of the perfect song... ...his sister can live stream it... ...while his mom downloads how to set a dislocated shoulder. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone for just $79.99 per month online for the first year.

jonathan: you talk about star studded. garth brooks, lume nears, kelly clarkson are at the lighting of the national christmas tree. michelle: the first lady helped to get in the spirit of the season inside the white house. we look at this year's holiday decorations. kevin: james taylor is playing at the ceremony, too. the pennsylvania avenue. 92 volunteers worked to craft the displays. the theme is about not just receiving but giving. highlights receive 56 lego gingerbread houses in the state dining room. one for each state and territory dedicated to fit the respective culture and the landscapes. there is a gingerbread white

are on the roof. let's not forget the christmas tree on display in a blue room, 19-foot douglas fur donated by a pennsylvania tree farm. the first lady unveiled the decor with military families by her side. if you wonder at home how much it cost the white house says it used 90% of the decorations it already had on stock at the white house. so the tax dollars are put to good use. or at least reused. repurposed. gingerbread when it's done. michelle: maybe they leave it for the trumps. kevin: it might be stale. michelle: that might be perfect. thank you. still ahead for us for "abc7 news at 4:00" -- today's step for the full cabinet for the next administration. cheryl: i'm cheryl conner on the national mall where 21st amendment groups are trying to

michelle: pretty gloomy today. we didn't get as much rain as

given but tomorrow we have a better chance across the area. after that the chances will dwindle. the satellite and the radar at this time. rush hour commute in full swing. jamie will be here in a minute to give me an update on the rush. take a look at what is going on to the south. wet roadways on 95. not a good mix. we look at the wet weather from mount vernon to dale city. it should be out of here in the next 45 minu spotty showers north and east of d.c. to the baltimore area. take a look at the five-day temperature trend. tomorrow is a high around 370 degrees. by sunday it's 47 to 50. we talk more about the

week. a warming trend for december. jonathan: thank you. let's talk about politics now. today in the trump transition, dan quayle was seen heading to trump tower two hours ago. that is where the they have been holding meetings for the cabinet. elaine choa secretary of transportation. and tom price named head of health and human services. a lot of the present-elect decisions are somewhat upstaged by his tweets. this is not much different. he started the day posting nobody should be allowed to burn the american flag. if they do, there must be consequences. perhaps loss of citizenship or

the supreme court made that action legal in 1989 saying burning the flag is protected as free speech under the first amendment. today the law center called him to publicly denounce big tri. they said have been hate actions reported on the website in days following election. >> the largest event is going to happen on president-elect donald trumps first full day in office. >> he will get resistance. >> kathryn will try to find

>> things he later said were jokes or he didn't mean it, they all need to be taken seriously. >> the group announced plan the week after the election but the details are still worked out. >> the first come, first serve. the process of the order they are received. 19 groups that have asked to express first amendment rights in the inauguration week. the w a message their power can't be ignored. but bikers for trump want to celebrate and encourage a peaceful transition. >> the contented of the message has no impact if a permit is approved. >> an organizers for the women's march is out of state but told he they have a location nailed down but they are not ready to make it public. the national park police will

200,000 people are expected on or around the mall for the women's march. >> i'm a gay man. my rights impaled in violation, too. cheryl: in northwest washington, cheryl conner, abc7 news. michelle: one of the 19 groups asking to protest would begin the demonstration next week. the national park service tells abc7 news the application is still being processed. jonathan: right now president obama is at walter reed national medical center and he is visiting wounded service members at the hospital. house within the hour. michelle: all right. the bucket that launched a research phenomenon is getting a home in the smithsonian. the original ice bucket from the ice bucket challenge -- that seems so long ago, right? it went on display at the national museum of american history today. you are looking at now a few of the videos that went viral in the campaign when it was at the height. everybody was doing this. the online push raised millions of dollars to find a

smithsonian display on the history of philanthropy. jonathan: there you go. michelle: did you do that? jonathan: we did. it started out in boston. it caught on like wildfire. a great thing to do. it brought a lot of especially the workplaces together. people would do it together. people like to do it with the boss. michelle: yeah. that was the best. you know that exhibit opens today. otherwise known as giving tuesday. jonathan: it is. but on the heels of black friday, small business saturday, cyber monday -- tough to keep track. today i charity. >> the hashtag giving tuesday has been trending all day long. it is a good thing because when people share on social media it reminds others to participate as well. you can replace this. put it over the avenue tar to show that -- the avatar to say

associated with giving tuesday. proud. great. it is positive. this is reminder some organizations will match the donations. here is the first book. they are promising to triple your donation. it goes a long way when you give today. back to you. jonathan: one of the other things, we have toys for tots saturday at national harbor. they can get online. go to website. they can buy toys and send it over. wonderful leave the commuter. jonathan: this giving tuesday a company is giving back what you earn on black friday. patagonia is going to donate $10 million in sales to charity. they will go to the non-profit groups focused opt helping the environment. michelle: now with all the emphasis on the season and the acts of charity, -- pick it up john. jonathan: you are doing great.

overwhelmed with everything we have to do. it makes it easy to fall for an online scam. especially since many of them now show up on the friend's facebook pages. it's the time of year for shopping, sharing and good will. unfortunately scammers are also sharing their bad deeds on social media. among them is a holiday gift from starbucks, at&t that is offering a free $20 starbucks gift card. sometimes it's a free thousand-dollar wal-mart gift card. sometimes its card. the latest version, target gift card. all you have to do is visit a website, target contest enemy combatant. we have plen -- target contest.com. we have plenty of ways to buy things but no way to collect a prize. mcafee say bogus gift cards are among the top scams this year. from the doesn't that stink file, other christmastime scams targeting the tablet or computer. facebook egreeting cards that

downloadable christmas card lyrics. doesn't that stink in your computer could end up infected. question any story that sounds suspicious and be skeptical of an offer for a freebie that sounds too good to be tree. so you don't waste your money. i'm john matarese, abc7 news. michelle: something that is facebook is adding the game to the messenger app. another reason to spend all your time on facebook. it's adding video games like space invaders and galliga. jonathan: that was awesome. michelle: maybe we'll play.

jonathan: coming up at 4:00, the sinking ceilings. wait until you hear the latest.

michelle: this high-rise

support for the names. the european space agency has new satellite data that shows the millennium tower is actually sinking and tilting. jonathan: that is not good. michelle: no, never good. over a one-year period in fact the skyscraper sunk nearly two inches in just one year. but over a 17-month period it up between two and a half to three inches. jonathan: no. the structure is safe. how despite a lawsuit claiming otherwise. jonathan: people that spent money to get in the tower are probably really happy about that. in gardner, kansas, the police department set up two wildfire cameras for a local park. they were hoping to calm fears about the local residents that reported seeing a mountain lion in the area. so they set up cameras. at first they capture what you think. a skunk. that is what you would figure. raccoons. foxes out there.

images like this started to power play. it's a gorilla. peak were on the cameras and they started to do show for the police benefit. the police department posted a dozen of these pictures on the facebook page saying it wants to thank the peak responsible for making their day. no mountain lions. that the santa claus! they are not even sure that everybody captures on the film was a prankster. that might be santa claus to case the are can make it through quickly. michelle: that is insane people take the time, dress up p and put on a show for the officers. jonathan: you know what says about the small town? michelle: they don't have much going on there. jonathan: exactly. >> coming up for us at 4:00 -- >> he recognizes where he is. he tries his best every time he goes out there. today's rising star is taking to the track to inspire others. how the high school student love for running is hemming

>> the fight for $15 an hour.

jonathan: a look at the workers on strike. this is part of a national push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. michelle: speaking to that, the fight for 15 is sponsored by the service employees international union. hundreds if not thousands walked off the job at fast food, airports and healthcare facilities. brianne carter is live at the airport with a loo push there. brianne: we had a march of hundreds here at reagan national airport. it is a fight for $15 an hour. some say they are making half of this. it's in the enough to take care of themselveses or the families. today, hundreds came here to

taking a petition demanding change. many are already working two or three jobs within the airport to try to make ends meet. now a big push across the country that happened today. asking for more money and what they call a living wage. >> there are record profits that the airport industry has made, billions of dollars. they had to share some of that with the workers to make the airlines fly every the airport says it depends on the job at the airport. based on the money and the contract set out for the living wage. some employees are making $14.27 an hour. more on that and also a personal story of a man who says he is trying to take care

jonathan: a loging ad reads senior citizen seeks employment. 20 hours per week. able to clean, light gardening, do it yourself. i have references. old soldier, save me from dying of boredom. since posting it last month but hasn't found regular part-time work. michelle: come to the u.s.. jonathan: at least he's not bored anymore. for a mcgruder high schooler he is glad to be part of the team. scott abraham takes us to

>> michael is a junior at mcgruder high school and one of the newest member of boy's cross country team. michael is a young man with few words. diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. he has developed a love for running. >> he has finished ahead of a dozen other kids who are part of the main stream traditional program. he recognizes where he is. he tries his best when he goes out there. line first. not even close. but he inspire his teammate. >> if you think you can't go anywhere, look at michael. >> this is all about inclusion. the cross country team gave michael a chance, chance to be part of the team and the feeling of acceptance. it's getting the win-win experience for everybody involved. >> after 34 years of coaching

to coach. when michael called me "coach" it meant a lot. >> delivering a meaningful message through each stride without saying a word. >> let the reach exceed your grasp. it's inspiring for his teammates and inspiring for all of us. >> run, michael, run. i'm scott abraham with our rising star. michelle: you can make the holiday shine for a local child by donating to toys for tots. join us for a national harbor. we will collect the toys from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. jonathan: last year one of the fun things is a guy pulled up his kids and hands the toy out the window. i took the toy. he said that's not all. opened the back and it was loaded with stuff. he made the kids go and buy toys for other kids. i think they got more out of it that way. fun.

they will show support. jonathan: we have the best viewers. steve: the weather will be nice. on the cool side but we will have the sunshine. drop your toys off. i'll be there. jonathan will be the. rest of the abc7 crew will be there. jonathan: michelle is there in spirit. she had to go out of town this weekend. michelle: yes. steve: that's okay. we will get her next time. lower 70's for afternoon rain. winds will increase out of the south around 15 miles per hour. let's talk about the weekend. toys for tots forecast. national harbor from 11:00 until 3:00 p.m. a cool start early on. the temperatures in the 40's. at least we have a lot of sunshine to enjoy. highs will make it in the lower 50's. but at this point, it will be early december.

there. zoo lights, it goes on every night through january 1. zoo lights for tonight. looking pretty good. the temperatures are in the 60's. for the weekend it's cooler out there. don't forget about christmas tree shopping. high on saturday around 51 degrees. could see showers late in the day on sunday. it's the coolest of the next ten with the highs only in the upper 40's. here is your storm watch 7 ten-day outlook after a cool look at what happens. middle 50's to the lower 6 of 0's. something is backwards about that. we will take it. not so bad for early december. talk about the traffic for tuesday afternoon. early evening. jamie? jamie: a wet one. slowing that we are seeing. not a big accident but we have congestion. start off with the capital

traffic is heading north from central to green belt. this is the pace on the inner loop and the utter loop. there is a solid stream on the northbound side heading southbound to joint base andrews. it's not too bad. in the green. we're toward the woodrow wilson bridge. heavy from the springfield through the bridge to alexandria. we have the heavy slow go northbound. the big picture look at 270 near pron tose road -- near montrose road. a lot of volume but no crashes. jonathan: considering it's raining, that is not too bad. thank you for that. jamming up next for us at four -- coming up next for us at "abc7 news at 4:00", what makes a good school great from

michelle: coming up at 5:00, the musical "hamilton" is breaking records despite calls for a boycott for some people. the new title it holds coming

jonathan: what makes a good school a great school? the spotlight to education, kellye lynn takes us northwest

the teachers at the top public charter school. kellye: the teachers and the students at the bases d.c. high school have something to celebrate. >> i have known from day one we were number one but it's nice others take notice. >> the annual charter school board ranking puts the d.c. high school at the top of the heap as the number one public charter school. kip two, followed by the kip d.c. promise academy. it's including the test performance, p.s.a.t. and attendance. >> i like that the teachers are invested in the success. extending deadlines to make sure everyone understands. >> the school opened its doors in 2012 offers a college prep curriculum and pushes students to work hard.

-- classes. they are willing to put in the work. >> that starts in the middle school. >> when we get to high school we can run with the content. >> 17-year-old elle james wasn't challenged at her former school in north carolina. found the challenge here. >> they teach us hard work pays off. so it only happens that you. so it's just a learning opportunity. those opportunities dictate while we ar district. >> in northwest, kellye lynn, abc7 news. michelle: tonight a police officer outside. burglary suspect shot in the back inside. why the man is now claiming injustice has been done. >> this is crazy. >> city under siege by historic wildfires and there is a race to get out.

accident scene. and a way to remember a young life cut short. announcer: from abc7 news this is breaking news alert michelle: breaking news from tennessee. the powerful images show the fire that forced the evacuation of the town. this is the aftermath. it devoured homes tonight rain and the national guard are helping to fight back the flames. kevin lewis is in the satellite center with breaking details. kevin: gatlinburg is a popular tourist destination with nearby theme park and golf courses located 50 miles southeast of knoxville.

these towns to make it all the more challenging. in total 14,000 people evacuated their homes but we are learning that some not soon enough. >> this is crazy. >> the great smokey mountains. assuming the literal name. the smoke so thick the planes can't fly. the arduous fight. >> there were times we had wind gust in excess of 87-mile-per-hour. that is hurricane force. >> three are dead. >> local mayor affected. >> i lost my house but things can be rebuilt. >> on the street, smoke so thick people walk with the makeshift masks.