kimberly: but after 12:00 noon, a jury acquits six people arrested on january 20. the story is far from over this evening. jonathan: yeah. there is still 188 people still facing criminal charges. stephen tschida now has the conclusion to what is part one of this. this is not a good way to get things started. stephen: stay tuned. the u.s. attorney issuing a statement that the prosecutors intend to pursue trials against the remaining 180 individuals facing charges. this could cause prosecutors to reconsider. >> this is a year after the protest turned violent. >> i stand in the solidarity for all the defendants facing

state repression. stephen: the first six of some 180 people charged with rioting and destruction of property found not guilty on all counts. >> the government charges are ridiculous and an attempt to criminalize free speech. stephen: it protested on the right to protest the election of trump. >> i a certain part of me was certain that the right result would happen. stephen: the prosecutors relied on the police body cam and the other video of what they characterize as a coordinated effort to riot. frighten and inflict damage. the jury was not convinced. >> they found that they were exercising the first amendment rights. >> now backing up the suggestion that it would continue to pursue trials against those remaining individuals charged with the rioting, the u.s. attorney's

the attorney's office shows there is clear evidence to show rioting and destruction of property. kimberly: thank you. do not miss update on the ain august race day -- inauguration day riots to get alerts sent to your phone and you can see the original reporting there and online. breaking news now on metro. trains single tracking between morgan boulevard and largo town center. this affects the service on the blue and the silver lines because a person was hit by a train. again, you can expect delays on the blue and the silver lines this evening. we have breaking news on the road. a crash blocked three lanes on i-395. this is in the northbound area. just before seminary road. it's looking better now before. we don't know yet if anyone was hurt. but as you can see from the traffic cam traffic is starting to back up there. northbound lanes of 395. you want to avoid that o

jonathan: look at this behind me. you can see this is a house or what is left of it. this burned in charles county, maryland. nobody in the house at the time. it was in indian head when it caught fire and the fire is now out. no word on what started it. new at 4:00, two guilty pleas related to this brawl outside the turkish embassy this past may. two admitted to committing felonies. one from mclean and another from manchester, new jersey. both plea deals include a year and one day in prison. both have been in jail since the arrest in june. this brawl started when two groups of the protesters clashed over the turkish president visit. kimberly: tennis star venus williams will not face charges in the crash she was involved last june. she was caught in the intersection when the light turned red. she tried to continue through when hitting another vehicle. the passenger was alert after that wreck but then died nearly two weeks later. jonathan: happening right now it's the christmas weekend

well, at least early. perfect weather for traveling today. will it hold up? abc7's team coverage begins now with the stormwatch7 chief meteorologist bill kelly and the transportation reporter sam sweeney. bill, you have a look at the travel forecast. you couldn't ask for better weather to get on the road. bill: not at all. not just here, good afternoon, but region wide. we are 44 in d.c. 43 in winchester. i want to show you all the places within a drive. if you hop in a car and drive five or six hours. 39 in new york city. 57 around huntington. if you look at the clouds and radar, there is no green. that is rain. no blue. that is snow. so hardly any white, the clouds. a lot of sunshine out there for 45 minutes or so until the sun goes down. the greet news for the evening rush there are no weather-related problems.

that is what we are talking about on the roads. the flights may be different. we'll check in with abc7 transportation reporter sam sweeney at national. fortunately looking at the backdrop, it looks like a beautiful evening. sam: this is a dream forecast for the christmas travel season. take a look behind me. you can see how busy it is here at the reagan national airport. all of the cars stacked all the way around the curve. this is why we tell you to get to the airport early. this is what you will see. inside the airport is also busy. no major lines or backups to tell you about. today american airlines tell us they will move more than 20,000 passengers through here alone. good news they have had zero cancellations so far. we asked traveler toes descri

own words. let's listen. >> the airport is shockingly empty. i'm happy. >> it's fantastic. i planned lots of extra time today. i walked in and checked my being and i'm through security. sam: the airlines and the travelers have lucked out with the weather. not just here in d.c. but across the country. this couldn't be better. at 5:00, we'll take you to dulles where they had dogs, comfort dogs to ease the stress in the holiday rush. reporting live at reagan national airport, i'm sam sweeney. jonathan: whatever it takes. >> a fairfax police officer is going to be okay as he was investigating a crash. i happened to be going by and it was an absolute mess with the traffic. the crash led to backup throughout the rush hour commute. everything, though, we are told is back open and the ride home should b

kimberly: a dozen of people were injured when they ran into a crowd of people. they say it's deliberate but no evidence to link it to terror. the driver and another person taken into custody and investigators say he has a history of mental illness, drug-in and other run-ins with police. jonathan: g.o.p. tax plan will be law and that means big changes when you file in 2019. there are things to do before the end of this year to help maximize the take-home pay. melissa dipane with the move you can make now. there are things to help yourself. melissa: that is right. everybody's tax situation is different but based on what the tax advisers have pulled out of the bill most people can benefit filing an extension before the end of 2017.

you can adjust the w4. the elimination of the personal and the extension will hit taxpayers hard so every little bit you can save with help. >> you don't know unless you go in and sit down with a tax adviser what the situation will look like next year. >> for more information contact a tax adviser. jonathan: thank you. jonathan: businesses are responding differently. wells fargo and fifth third bank pld

at&t offering a one-time $1,000 bonuses to employees. kimberly: healthcare was the biggest concern and 48% need that as a top problem for the country. seven in ten people said healthcare was the number one issue said they don't trust the government to make it better. that is far more pessimistic than last year's poll. jonathan: keep in mind there is still the matter of a potential government shutdown. friday is the last day feds are authorized to spend money. i we'res that a second short tomorrow funding bill in the works to keep the federal government open in the new year through january 19. kimberly: virginia will break a tie between two delegates fighting to represent newport news. the names will be written on separate

placedded in the separate canisters put in a container. very scientific. container will be shaken and the canister will be drawn. the name inside will be the winner. this will happen this coming wednesday a week from yesterday. jonathan: isn't that how we picked lottery winner? kimberly: crazy. jonathan: ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley with a certain warning. do not vote a specific way. only seven nations sided with us and israel. >> in an emergency meeting of the united nation general assembly, the countries overwhelmingly voted in favor of the nonbinding resolution declaring the trump administration resolution of jerusalem as the israel capital no end voice.

this a moy juror campaign promise, they failed to deliver. today i am delivering. >> backing the president, u.n. ambassador nikki haley threatened to cut off money for incages that voted against the united states. >> the united states will remember this day in which it single out for attack in general assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. mexico were notably absent and obtained. but others asked for the vote to say that president trump bullying and the blackmail tactics would not be tolerated. >> we have a chance to have the international community decided in the threat. stand at the

international law. >> jerusalem joined the u.s. voting against the measure and nikki haley said despite the vote america still recognizes jerusalem as the israel capital and plans to move the embassy to the holy city. jonathan: apple admits it's slowing down older phones. kimberly: "7 on your side" with their explanation. >> plus, meet the mom who is a social media sensation after an elf on the shelf incidents. kimberly: uh-oh. >> she is like hell, yeah, you are done. you are toast. >> the mixed reviews from her kids up next. jonathan: this is a story of a lost dog that has gone viral. somebody opening up a gate to biscuit and biscuit runs out and follows the guy. the reunion is only on abc7. we have it for you next. you will want to share it after you see it. we'll show you how you can do it coming up.

kimberly: traveling through dulles airport will be less stressful and more furry this year. a few doesen therapy dogs brought in by united airlines. great idea. the dogs help the travelers wanting to get home and find peace and relaxation. dogs are there from 9:00 to

5:00. jonathan: you are frustrated and you lock at the dog and say -- look at the dog say that that is cute. frustration is gone. kimberly: this is my favorite video. the man opens the gate. horrible. the grinch. jonathan: dog napping. kimberly: the puppy runs out and away from a heartbroken family. jonathan: the dog follows him out. the family is like where did the dog go? the dog's name is biscuit. the owner posted it online and it went viral. the puppy missing but only abc7's jay korff was there when biscuit was found. >> oh, my gosh. biscuit! biscuit! jay: to understand why 7-year-old reagan and her mother are crying tears of elation at 9:00 p.m. we have to take you back several painful hours when the beloved dog biscuit ran off. >> i'm frantic. >> they let

labradoodle out and checked on him several minutes later he was gone. >> the world can be heartless sometimes. >> this is meaningful for reagan because biscuit was her surprise christmas gift two years ago. >> the merry christmas won't be true this year. >> biscuit! biscuit! jay: as we were leaving the interview two strangers walked up with guess who? >> biscuit. >> they found biscuit wandering several blocks away, read the address and escorted him home. >> i'm so glad somebody found him and returned him safely. >> i'm just so happy. >> when i heard him, i

was biscuit immediately. jay: now what christmas will be like? >> merrier than ever. jonathan: i'm blown away by the video. nice to see biscuit. standing on the porch and here comes biscuit. who opened the gate and let the dog out? kimberly: i thought you'd be blown away by the maturity of the little girl. jonathan: how do you not love her? kimberly: a little less heartless today. jonathan: glad we got biscuit back. that moment is priceless so we posted this on the facebook and the twitter pages to share it with your family and your friends. biscuit is adorable. kimberly: a woman is suing rapper nelly and says she was sexually assaulted by him on a tour bus. police arrested him in october and didn't charge him because the woman didn't cooperate at the time. the woman's attorney said she filed suit because nelly damaged her reputation saying she made up the

apple confirming what many iphone users long suspected. the older iphone performance is slower than it used to be. apple say it slows your phone because the older batteries degrade over time. batteries can lead to crashes. apple saying buying a new battery for $80 can restore your phone performance. imagine that. spend more money. jonathan: facebook is identifying how they identify fake news. they are putting stories that they debunk. but it has related next to the fake ones so they are real stories meant to give context for the fake news. facebook says in the tests fewer hoaxes being shared once labeled as disputed. breaking news from florida. check that out. it's tough to see where the train hit because it's not much left of it. a semi truck. this is in florida. there are no reports of injuries which is

it looks like the truck was southern apart. the question becomes -- torn apart. what was the semi on the tracks? you could see that they are trying to use the back he -- backhoe to get it off the track. it looks like it stayed on the track. to one was hurt. we will stay on the story to let you know when we get updates. kimberly: a texas woman something of an internet sensation and not a great reason. she tried to put an end to the family elf on the shelf. she says it wasn't intentional and she wanted to hide it from the kids. >> i panicked because they were coming around. so i grabbed him and tossed him in here. yesterday i preheated the oven for 'the and i didn't think to look. i started to smell something funky. i panicked and i said colorful words. by then when the kids heard the word "elf" they thought he magically reappeared. i started to grab him out and the kids were like don't touch him, he will lose

kimberly: if you are a prosecuting attorney what part doesn't jive? jonathan: you don't put an elf in the oven. kimberly: you don't put pasta in the oven. no. jonathan: hold on. kimberly: you don't. no, you don't. hold on. jonathan: you can make baked pasta. kimberly: a child was upset about the fate. another seemed happy he would no longer be a snitch to santa. jonathan: thank goodness it wasn't a story she burned the house down because of the elf. bill: i put myself in her position and the kids come in. jonathan: traumatized. kimberly: panic! bill: that would be awful. jonathan: santa will give her a new one. bill: you sound fantastic. kimberly: right? christmas frog. bill: what is wrong with you? jonathan: whatever i woke up with, i'm probably off after this show. bill: i hope you are. any anchors you and i will do the show together. kimberly: absolutely. bill: all day tomorrow. good to go. check out what is going on outside. a beautiful day here around

region. it should be a gorgeous sunset tonight. a light jacket ready to go. if you want shopping done. great night for that. 47 around great falls. 44 in gaithersburg. leesburg at 45. we have a lot of sunshine out there. a few clouds rolling up to northern north maryland and p.a. there are no weather related problems. if you're driving and hopping in the car, maybe you are not leaving until 8:00, 9:00, 10:00. you should not deal with anything problematic. if there are problems coming in now or you hold off. but you are good to go. it's quiet.

on the increase. the next weather maker tomorrow night. that should be like most of the friday is dry. friday evening we could see a weather system work in here. in the form of rain not snow. this is going to the mid-50's tomorrow. we have a batch in the morning and then a break and we have more in the afternoon. cool air works in. slight chance for mix sunday night to monday. the first big snow possible for the end of next week. jonathan:

kimberly:16 degrees. bill: you are a snow person. kimberly: yes. eye cream advertised as a quick fix for wrinkles but "7 on your side" answers the question is it worth it? with a common ingredient that can disable your car engine. jonathan: handy. 11-year-old boy accidently shot returning home from the hospital in time for christmas. a special delivery and the

kimberly: the latest shot in the battle against aging. undereye cream are advertised as a quick fix. is it worth it? "7 on your side" troubleshooter horace holmes has a closer look and finds an ingredient that will shock you. horace: are they really miraculous potions? look for yourself. this is a test that "7 on your side" performed on one of the staffers. we applied the undereye cream and within minutes the bags and the circles under his eyes were gone. do you believe the promises made by the creams you buy over the counter and the drug department stores? >> unless you are a dermatologist to tell you what is going on with your skin to remove wrinkles and didn't like that how can one product on the counter

horace: good point. we went to a licensed dermatologist to find out about the miracle eye bag reracers -- erasers? >> who wouldn't want a quick fix. horace: they peel back how they work. >> ingredient that causes a tensing in the skin. one of the most common is sodium silicate and that is the same they put in the car engine to disable it. horace: that is the thing. they the erase the bag and wrinkles but it's temporary. >> creams can get powdery or peel or flake off. >> cocoa butter works fine. >> some of the products do contain ingredients that can help make skin healthier overtime. it's a quick fix. it's not harmful and it will work temporarily. but for the long time she recommends thse

stimulating pep tides. i'm horace holmes, abc7 news. >> christmas comes early for a lucky boy on the mend. there you go. >> car slams in a church. up next, hear from a woman so stunned she dropped her

what are you doing? i don't need all this. mucinex fast-max can handle pretty much every symptom. name one. how about nine? even... yea, i can read. we're done here. mucinex fast-max. 9 symptoms. 1 dose. max strength. let's end this. we are the tv doctors of america, and we may not know much about medicine, but we know a lot about drama. we also know that you can avoid drama by getting an annual check-up. so go, know, and take control of your health. it could save your life.

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. kimberly: just two weeks ago the darling 11-year-old boy was in a hospital from a gunshot wound. brad bell shows us a very special visit today. brad: can you control how it's done? a couple of weeks after being accidentally shot in the chest by a close family friend, caleb is home and playing basketball video games. looking forward to the real thing. >> i want to get back on the court. brad: his dad mark says it may have to wait a while but it will happen. >> the drive, the motivation he has, that he is going to be playing ball probably the next year. brad: we h

the story closely. he was shot by a friend and the friend raced him to the hospital. >> i was scared. i thought i was going to die. brad: but he fought hard and came home earlier in week. today he was ready for special visitors bearing gifts. p.g. county police officers led by the chief. >> good work. brad: they showered the 11-year-old with gifts that he quietly opened. >> thank you. brad: then chief hank stawinski conducted a decidedly unrehearsed carol for caleb. >> ♪ sing a sleighing song tonight ♪ ♪ jingle bells ♪ jingle bells jingle all the way ♪ brad: brad bell, abc7 news. jonathan: great job. nice to see a smile on his face. bill: for sure. jonathan: we're in the under the weather center. bill: that is what it is. it wasn't until just now. jonathan: goodness. cross be

a frog. bill: it seems to be getting worse. jonathan: the more you use it the worse it gets. bill: this is what it looked like today. gorgeous one. look at the time lapse. you can see the sun rolling across the sky. this is the weather bug metro around the d.c. metro. high clouds that are indicative of the change here and there. we have 43 -- 44 rather in d.c. do to the west it's warmer. 54 in elkin. 54 in parkensburg. 57 around huntington. i love days like this you know it's already jammed enough on the roads. the travel forecast -- but we are not going that much lower.

30's. maybe the upper 20's. they won't go all night long. the day tomorrow is warmer. we will talk about that and look at the christmas forecast coming up. kimberly: all right, bill. see you then. senator al franken accused of sexual misconduct by several women is stepping down early next year. today he gave a final speech on the senate floor. criticizing the tax bill and leaving a message for both parties. >> i have spent enough time with my republican friends over the last eight and a half years to know you are motivated by values just like democrats. politics is about the improvement of the people's lives. kimberly: the lieutenant governor tina smith will replace him january 3. jonathan:'s the investigators try to pinpoint wha

wrong in the amtrak derailment. there is a stir of survival. a man catching z's when the train dead off interstate 5. it broke his back. the retired l.a. police officer crawled to help. but from the hospital bed he says he is one of the lucky ones. >> i was flying around inside of the train. then silence. i looked to the left of me there was a wheel suspended in the air that caused me to have ma juror panic -- major panic. jonathan: crawling with a broken back. he said a woman pulled him to safety and he never saw her again. three people were killed in the ntsb is looking into whether the train operator was distracted when it went flying off the tracks. kimberly: we know he was going too

a car veered into a baptist church. the driver and the pastor rushed to the hospital. the damage so bad you can see straight through the brick building. kevin lewis is live with the rest of the story. kevin? kevin: it's remarkable. look across the street. hard to miss the hole in the wall. a white victoria failed to naver gait the turn. around 1:00. male driver and a passenger inside. impact forced the car's hood to bend and the hub caps to go flying off. code enforcement condemned the building. we spoke to a woman who felt the neighboring barbershop rattle and a woman so stunned she dropped her french fries in ste

>> a driver, i think the collision from the impact from him hitting the building and then the passenger, he just had a gauge. he was bleeding as well. >> stop sign or something needs to be put here. >> they are waiting for a structural engineer to arrive. depending on the assessment the christmas services might need to be held somewhere else. jonathan: thank you. century old mystery is solved. coming up, the world war i ally sub sunk and where the shipwreck was discovered. kimberly: golding discovery for the holidays. we will show you where these were found and the organization getting unexpected windfall. >> a first look at how to start friday with "good morning washington." >> thanks, gu

washington." on the hunt for the last-minute gifts? why it may be smarter to wait until after christmas to buy the perfect holiday present. >> plus, our ultimate christmas countdown with a live performance by charles esten from nashville and a special appearance by santa claus himself. >> see you bright and early for traffic and weather every ten minutes tomorrow morning at 4:25 on

jonathan: there is a disturbing tren of the ghost ships arriving on the coast of japan. dozens have reached the beaches and the entire crews dead inside the boats. kimberly: my gosh. nearly 100 boats have noticed this in the water. many fishermen are going farther out to see in desperation to find a catch. in the meantime, 103-year-old mystery has been solved. jonathan: this is first marine. the crew members are unknown arrest 100 years. this is found off the duke of new guinea. 100 years at the bottom. >> incredible. show you something else on a better note. those were left in the salvation army kettles. gold. portland, oregon. kimberly: they are actual gold bars.

size of a domino but they are much heavier. the salvation army doesn't know how much they are worth yet. they need to get the bars appraised. jonathan: gold these days they did well. kimberly: you are right. you are right. jonathan: all right. to protect and serve but this time was a new york officer needing help. civilian who jumped into action and why the choking officer was a step away going unnoticed. >> i want to see if you can help my wish come true this holiday season. this is our first apartment this year. and i'm happy to have my own room now. kimberly: incredible letters for santa. we are sharing the touching stories with you. coming up next. jonathan: tax bill voted on. look who it is. that is vice president mike pence. surprise visit in afghanistan. addressing troops right before the christmas holidays. we have more on this visit and more news after th

jonathan: lock at the tv. that is an officer and he is choking. somebody walking by sees he is choking and th

heimlich and it works. he would have choked otherwise. he couldn't make the door open for the bathroom he started to choke so badly. the other customers saw it and they did the heimlich and got him back. he will be okay. customers paying close attention. >> i just did it. i didn't think twice. i got up and helped him. it worked out. perfect. >> if he went to the bathroom, it would haven't been a good turn out. >> no question. it's better he didn't get the door open. the officer doesn't want to be identified so he will remain anonymous but we are told he is just fine. kimberly: these are the official royal engagement pictures of prince harry and meghan markle. they met on a blind date set up by mutual friend and they are going to get married may 19 at windsor palace. >> "7 on your side" help alert. f.d.a. approving gene therapy to tre

sold as luxterna to treat inherited genetic mutation that causes a type of blindness. the effects are not permanent and the vision goes back where it was at the time of the initial treatment in six years. kimberly: "7 on your side" consumer alert. this is for the rangers and the mazda truck. you might have brought them in 2016 or last year but they need to be fixed again. yesterday the 20th death related to the exploding air bag inflator confirmed. lisa fletcher said there would be a recall of the recall. mixed results this week for the u.s. economy. more people signed up for the unemployment help.

up to 20,000 to christmas week. the overall economy is picking up steam. that is good news. g.d.p. growing at 3%. many economists believe it will continue through the end of the year. now to the abc7 "live desk." larry has a look at what is new at 5:00. larry: yeah, ahead at 5:00, apple admits it's slowing down older iphones but they call it a feature not a drawback. the explanation is toking up. plus -- >> my daughter said i can give daddy a hug. >> facing the first christmas without the father. a d.c. police officer. they get a special gift. loving idea that gave them someone to hug again. firefighters celebrate christmas with the baby they helped bring into the world. that and more in minutes when i see you can kimberly at "abc7 news at 5:00". see you in a few. kimberly: a lot of feel-good stories. thank you. meals on wheels helping people year-round. in the holiday volunteers do

joy to people who can't leave the house. this morning moll by cochran gave back and helped out jeffrey catering in alexandria. jonathan: good for her good cause. some of the letters to santa claus head through the northeast post office making their way to the north pole. kimberly: and amy aubert show us some families are stepping in to offer a help hand this holiday season. >> the post office on the brentwood road is one stop along the way for the letters to north pole. >> we'll he santa make someone happy for christmas. >> they spent weeks sorting the mail addressed to st. nick. >> there are a bunch of letters. so many of them.

>> with the help of the elves in the area he is making christmas wishes come true. >> people need santa's help. >> we think it is important to spread the christmas joy around. >> spreading the christmas joy in the d.c. area. a few days before the big trip around the world. >> merry christmas, everybody! >> in northeast -- >> merry christmas, everybody. >> amy aubert, abc7 news. >> well, very cool stuff. all

no weather related problems. 31 in buffalo. it's 26 now around binghamton, new york. up state new york is 13. this dividing line is clear where it is. tonight is fine. if you are hopping in the car tomorrow i don't expect weather related problems tomorrow. in new york, maybe to upstate and if you are heading to new england there is snow up there but for us increasing clouds

forecast. late tomorrow night most of the early morning friday plans are fine. if you are out late 10:00, 11:00 midnight we could see the rain in the area. that is around to saturday morning. late morning and we will tap in rainfall on saturday. we see things cool down as we go to christmas week. we talk about that coming up. kimberly, back to you. kimberly: thanks. breaking news. papa john's founder john shatter stepping down as c.e.o. this move comes two months after he criticized the nfl over the national anthem protests. he is featured in most of the company tv commercials. the company says he will remain chairman and they would not say if the nfl comments played a role in the job change. we have much more ahead at

john: a clerk realized there was a scam. cecile looking forward to christmas with the grandchildren. until he got a call from one of them.

>> he had been in a car accident. his grandfather put a lawyer on the phone who said he needed to do a store to store transfer of $2,300 to pay the bail bond. so he headed for wal-mart. normally the story ends there with another senior scammed but not this time. he chose the lane with this woman. audrella at the register. >> there is something about this somebody who is locked up in jail, got a call and he needed to come in and send $2,000. >> the employee suspected he was going to be set up. >> i'm going to refuse the sender. i'm not going to let you send the money. i think you have been scammed. john: this is why it's often successful. they tell the seniors not to tell anyone, including other family members or the clerk in the store. >> what gave you a clue that

>> you felt like the mom would know before the grandpa would. >> the store manager commends her for quick thinking. >> we are proud of her and the customer service associates who help. >> and rogers is saying her for saving two grand and saving family christmas. not all scams are thwarted by the score clerks so let family know if someone calls claiming to be a grandson it may not be them. don't waste your money. announcer: right now at 5:00, trains, planes automobiles for the holiday travel. plus a fallen officer memorialized in teddy bears. the details that made the gifts for the children special. then you always suspected it. now it's confirmed. why apple says they slow down old iphones. >> now abc7 news at 5:00. on your side. larry: well, as we come on the air, the great holidy

in full swing. kimberly: a.a.a. predicts now to be the biggest rush for the area. where the 7 million people are expected to travel for the holidays. "7 on your side" with team coverage of the road conditions and the national weather forecast. larry: we begin with sam sweeney who is at the reagan national airport tonight. sam: it's smooth sailing behind me with the airplanes. look at the traffic if you are headed to the airport. this is now the busiest travel day of the season. telling us the flights are 90% full.

>> are you on the flight to the north pole? >> you could call it that. 1225. it's actually 1224 we are headed to get to the north pole. >> dogs. lots of dogs. comfort dogs to help the passengers stay calm in the busy rush. >> it makes it more bearable. >> 97 million people with drive. 6 million are expected to fly. >> i think it's snowy there. i hope it's a white christmas, though. >> a.a.a. predicts in the next hour through 6:00 we will see the heaviest traffic of the entire season. one more hour to go. reporting live at reagan national airport, i'm sam sweeney. abc7 news. larry: thank you. i'm joined by chief meteorologist bill kelly in the stormwatch7 weather center. the one thing that complicate travel is t