afternoon. but next door on capitol hill a federal shutdown could be on the horizon. >> everyone takes a hit on it. >> last time republicans dug in their feet. this time the government could be shut down if the senate democrats don't make a deal tonight. >> what did the last shut down due to the business? >> it hurt us. tim: the house passed a spending measure to fund the government through april but senate democrats are still fighting for changes. including a health coverage extension for the retired coal miners. local businesses are just hoping for a deal so they can keep working. >> it did affect us a lot. >> the senate democrats are talking about this now. we'll follow this and let you know what happens. reporting live on capitol hill, tim brant, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks very much. we will keep an eye on the hill throughout the night and

tablet using the abc7 news app. you can download the app in the app store or google play. alison: house speaker paul ryan spent part of his day in the big apple meeting with president-elect trump. speaker ryan described it to talk about party priorities as great. president-elect trump hit the campaign trail for the party, rallying the voters in louisiana. that state holds a special election next week for the final vacant seat in the state. a republican win would give them a 52-48 majority in the chamber. jonathan: president obama ordered a full review of the possible hacking aimed at disrupting this year's presidential election. u.s. intelligence officials now blame russia for hacking democratic officials and political committees. investigators will go back as far as the 2008 election to look for any evidence of hacking. president obama wants the report finished before he leaves office next month. alison: loretta lynch is taking a symbolic stand

the all dulles area muslim society center in sterling. this is on the heels from the news of the justice department, of course, that hate crimes all around our country against muslims increase 67% in 2015. jonathan: going anywhere today requires winter coat, gloves, scarf and a hat. we are feeling the coldest air of the season so far. stormwatch7's chief meteorologist doug hill joining us. is that the story for the whole weekend? doug: pretty much. today and storm are similar. sunday we warm up a couple of degrees but won't feel the difference. winds are the problem. cold air you can deal with. persistent winds, 10 to 12, 13 miles per hour blowing around unseasonably cold air makes it feel colder. proof? these are the current wind chills. the feels like temperatures around the area. feels like 20 in winchester and hagerstown. 21 in luray. 27 i

temperature in annapolis. downtown washington feels like 27. the numbers will drop in the remaining evening hours. the forecast is clear and cold. air temperatures drooping in the city in the 30 -- dropping in the city in the 30's and eventually in the 20's. everybody will wake up tomorrow with wind chill in the teens and the low 20's and a cold weekend. we talk about the next ten days in about 12 minutes. jonathan: thank you. we're following a developing story of prince george's county where the head of the county's liquor control board has been arrested, charged with driving under the influence. police say charles caldwell was leaving the m.g.m. casino when he became part of a three-car crash. he later failed a field sobriety test. we are awaiting comment from caldwell and the liquor board. alison: the cold weather has not stopped people checking out the newest casino. the m.g.m. national harbor was packed inside ad

reaching capacity within less than an hour of opening the doors. today it is reaching capacity again. things are so busy there. m.g.m. sent out advice for customers. brad bell is outside. they have to give you a room there. you are there so often. brad: i will take a room as long as it has a heater right now. they gave extraordinary advice. in the last few hours m.g.m. telling people that unless they have a reservation for a room in the hotel or in one of the restaurants, they should stay away. come back at a future date. the traffic is not that bad but last night there were problems. the place got to capacity quickly

the cars that couldn't get in garage backed up around here and there was tremendous frustration. too many people want to come here. look at the video inside the casino. there were big crowds last night. it got to capacity. again today. after noon. they couldn't let anybody else in the casino. that prompted the advice. it is good a vice. you don't want to have a blood -- bad experience. >> we are trying to prevent people coming down and finding a spot. walking to m.g.m. to find out you can't come in. >> the casino is open. it will be busy and crowded. but the advice is don't come here to be disappointed and have to be one o

waiting to get in the casino. they say it will be the same if you come back next week. the same experience. the people at national harbor want you to know that they have plenty of parking, plenty of capacity and the shops there are open. it's simply national harbor that is suggesting probably not the best time to visit. national harbor, brad bell abc7 news. alison: thank you. the abc7 web team is working overtime on the coverage of the new casino there. right now you can browse a photo gallery from inside. take a behind the scenes tour. that is all on the website wjla.com. jonathan: still ahead for us here, it's cold enough to go skiing provided you have snow. well, the snow-making is underway at a local ski resort. how long until slopes are ready and open? mike: i'm mike make outside the g.w. hospital

washington. staff celebrated the recovery of several patients. coming up their story of survival. ja first, you could call it the last warning. the extreme step samsung about to take to ensure the recall phones can't catch fire anymore.

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alison: "7 on your side" about the samsung smartphones. you are still hanging on to one despite the risk of them exploding to flames listen up. samsung has an update to brick your phone. that means it will not work. you won't even be able to charge it once the battery dies. at this point 93% of the phones have now been returned. jonathan: the world anti-doping agency is ripping into russia saying the doping scandal is bigger than anyone thought. >> for years international sports competitions have been hijacked by the russians. the coaches and the athletes are playing on an uneven field. sports fans and spectators have been deceiverred. >> that is the beginning. the report suggests more than a thousand russian athletes from summer and the winter sports benete

four-year drug conspiracy. the international olympic committee must decide to do with all the information. in less than a week it will be legal to smoke spot in -- smoke pot in massachusetts. the results of the election will be certified wednesday which means thursday possessing, using, home growing marijuana is legal. you still though won't be able to buy it at stores. at least not yet. alison: coming up next at 6:00. >> if it wasn't for them i wouldn't be here. alison: the emotional day at george washington university hospital at patients who defied death are reunited with the doctors and the nurses who saved their lives. >> get the fireplace fired up. we are heading to a cold weekend. when we warm up a bit and the big change showing up on ten-day outlook. alison: but first, look at what "good morning washington" team is working on

>> monday on good morning gong we are live for inaugural christmas village event. we will show you where they get in the christmas spirit with a one of a kind experience. >> plus, this arctic blast. it will last through the weekend but will it stay below average for next week? we let you know.

alison: we are continuing to watch the developing story playing out now on the hill where the government will face that shutdown if the spending bill cannot be passed before midnight. we are looking live. schumer on the floor. democrat ig senators are rallying against the spending plan. they are angry it doesn't include funding for the retired coal miners' healthcare. that was supposed to be guaranteed for life. that is how we watch it play out now. we have a close eye on it. you can follow more on wjla.com. >> the sign of respect at the white house today the flag there as you can see lowered to half staff in honor of john glenn. we have now learned that

senator will lie in state in ohio's capitol next week. glenn died yesterday at the age of 95. the world war ii pilot for the marines, the first american to orbit the earth and four-term senator will be laid to rest in arlington national cemetery. alison: every year emergency room doctors and nurses treat thousands of patients. many were on the pink of death. it is rare to get update on the patients when they recover. as mike carter-conneen reports several severe trauma seniors return to g. w. hospital to say thank you. >> i want to say thank you. >> the veteran e.r. staff could not hold back their tears. >> we are all human. we went into medicine to take care of others. >> seven follow epatients who survived near-death experiences wanted to come back to express gratitude and show their progress. >> if it wasn't for them i wouldn't be here. >> 43-year-old simo was

his motorcycle home last october when t-boned by a taxi. he arrived here with a immediating spleen, fractured hip, shoulder blade and multiple broken ribs. >> everybody guilt-tripped me about it. >> in february, 22-year-old sam lost both of his legs below the knee after he was hit by a metro train. >> with prosthetics he ran a 5k cheered on by the medical team. g.w. hospital says it treats 2,000 trauma patients each year. why they celebrated the survival and the e -- recovery they held a moment of silence for the patients that did not survivor. for most of the survivors the recovery continues. physically and mentally. >> we are so glad to be able to have the strength. >> trauma they s

away with similar lessons learned. live life to the furlest and appreciate what you have. in a moment everything can change. in northwest washington, mike carter-conneen, abc7 news. jonathan: the doctors and the nurses do amazing work. official start of wenter is two weeks away. ski areas are getting ready. the you white tail ski resort snow-making machines are fired up. they had to wait until the cold snap to put machines back to work. now they are going around the clock to get a dozen trails coated with an eye to open for the season next thursday or friday. which would be great. alison: one more week to go. jonathan: wax up the skis. get ready. alison: no real snow yet. doug: no, but for the ski resorts the weather will cooperate. let's get started with a live look at the u.s. capitol. gorgeous night out. longing through the window with clear skies -- looking through the window with

but outside the story is different as you probably felt today with winds and the abnormally temperatures for this time of december. 25 at reagan. it feels like 20 in winchester and hagerstown. 21 in luray. 17 in stanton. mid-20's is common from southern maryland through baltimore. what is coming next? through the evening the winds will flare up. 10 to 15 miles per hour. combined with the air temperatures that will drop in the metro in the mid-20's tomorrow morning. when you wake up in most of the areas with wind chill are in the teens. blustery start to the weekend. this is the satellite and the radar. the area of blue the area where snow is falling. this is all lake effect snow. same down wind from lake erie and on

you are seeing a lot of that. the mountains you area may pick up a snow flurry but this is a dry pattern with the cold air. the skies are clear tonight. maybe mountain top snowshowers to the west. but through the weekend generally sunshine. through the day tomorrow the temperatures climb to 39. we get the tomorrow, it looks as though we see increasing cloudiness. on sunday there is snow developing to the north. by the time we roll into monday rain around here. tomorrow it won't feel warmer. choirs wise we will climb to the upper 30 -- temperature wise we climb to the upper 30's. it will feel like winter for leesburg and the christmas parade. air temperatures in the 20's for the parade. wind chills could be lower. the next ten days, 39 tomorrow. milder on sunday. monday we

another cold front brings rain on wednesday. much colder thursday and friday. near 30 on friday. the temperatures are running 10 degrees below average. that is it. alison: all right, doug. thank you very much. >> a big weekend for the redskins. they hope they have jordan reed in the line-up. they have a two-game losing streak and need a win against eagles. will he play or not play? the question the redskins fans are asking with the status of jordan reed for sunday's game against the eagles. what head coach jay gruden said after practice today about the availability of his tight end. sports is next. stay with us.

scott: any way you slice it the redskins have a big game on sunday in philadelphia. we know head coach jay gruden doesn't want to talk about the playoffs. but it is hard to imagine the skins getting into the dance with a loss to those eagles. at practice today, there is jordan reed getting in some work. the tight end is questionable for sunday's game. he was reportedly in pain on thursday. but had reasonable chance now to play after missing last week's game with a sprained a.

>> he is anxious to get back out there with the team. he wants to help but this is an injury he has to deal with. he has to get well to be effective as he knows he can be. he is trending in the right direction. that a good sign. alison: sunday's kick off at 1:00. scott: the washington capitals were angry on wednesday. angry at themselves for blowing a three-goal lead in the win against boston. they had a players' only meeting after the game to clean up some things on the ice. tonight the caps are on the road in buffalo looking for the third win of the season. against sabres. washington won two straight game including wednesday ease victory over the bruins. the caps are four points out of first place in the division. the maryland 4a state championship game today. quince orchard loading to bus

annapolis. cougars will face defending state champ wise for the titles. pumas are on a 27-game win streak. you can watch the championship showdown between wise and quince orchard on the sister station. me tv. a lack where you can find it on the opening capable provider. opening kick off is 7:30. wizard's forward mahini is expected to miss another week due to right knee soreness. m.r.i. showed no suck crucial damage. wizards are -- structural damage. they are back on the court tonight. jonathan: we need a win streak from them. scott: they are struggling but it's early. alison: look at the weather heading into the weekend. doug: coldment to and the weekend. brian is in tonight and he'll have a look at the weekend. alison: "world news tonight" with david muir up next.

tonight, the deadly storm system. the sheets of ice and the snow. the dangerous commute at this hour. and the deep freeze sweeping in across much of this country. from seattle to chicago to the northeast. the chilling moment in court today. images never seen before. dylann roof walking into that historic church, then walking out with the gun, after killing the churchgoers who invited him to pray with them. also breaking, the trump white house. who's out tonight. also, president-elect trump won't be giving up his producing role on the tv reality show "celebrity apprentice." his team tonight explaining why. the takedown. growing outrage after an officer is cleared tonight after a suspect is shot and paralyzed. the k9 unleashed, too. and, the warning.