. . police kill a father of three in his own yard. they say he pointed a gun at an officer. the man's family says the shooting was unprovoked. good evening, everyone. i'm aaron gilchrist. it is the record 15th police shooting in prince george's county this year, and tonight there are two very different versions of what happened. this all centers on a deadly confrontation last late last night in the 7500 block of greenleaf road in palmer park. nbc's derrick ward explains. >> reporter: 34-year-old rodney edwards was shot saturday evening.

he was shot several times in front of his home in greenleaf park. family members want to know why a police officer opened fire on edwards. they heard the shots. >> i walked to the door. when i opened the door, there was a blue van, cargo dan, dark tinted windows and an undercover police with a 9 millimeter and he looks like he was laying back. he had been shot. >> reporter: they say edwards had just been dropped off by a friend. >> he got out of her car and sat down on the curb, said that he had been drinking, you know, he was going to sit down here for a minute, and then turn around, and then within five minutes, five shots rang out. >> reporter: they also say the shooting was unprovoked. county police paint a very different picture of what happened on greenleaf. they say the officer had just left a toys for tots event here in palmer park and was on his way to another assignment.

>> he came across this person lying on the side of the road, which he wanted to help and see what was wrong with the individual. >> reporter: but how did helping an individual turn into a situation where the officer would open fire? >> as the officer was exiting his vehicle, this male subject sat up, pointed a handgun at the officer. the officer, fearing for his safety, discharged his weapon, striking the suspect. >> reporter: police say they recovered a .38 caliber handgun from the scene, but family members say edwards had limited use of one of his family since surviving a car crash years ago. he also had a damaged leg and they say he didn't carry a gun. >> rodney would never disrespect a policeman. >> reporter: they say police returned to the scene in search of bullet fragments where edwards was shot. >> there's an internal investigation going on. >> reporter: the incident unfolded in front of a pole-mounted crime camera. it may provide the answers that family members so ardentally seek.

answers as to why the father of three died outside on the curb. >> the officer involved in the shooting is a two-year veteran. as is policy, he's been placed on administrative leave. tonight, crews have suspended their search for a missing man in the chesapeake bay. he was last seen yesterday when his boat capsized near sandy point state park. rescuers pulled two other people from the water. a 40-year-old man was taken to the hospital. he died a short time later. a 25-year-old woman is being treated for hypothermia. she is expected to survive. tonight, the war is over. after nearly nine years, the the last american troops have left iraq. it is the end of an era in u.s. history. the war began in kuwait, where american troops launched their invasion, and that is also where it ended. news 4's darcy spencer has more. darcy, good evening. >> reporter: aaron, troops passed a sign that read "freedom" as they waited in kuwait for their flight home. as soldiers waiting on american soil, it was a time to reconnect

with family and for some, meet new family members born during their time at war. the last convoy of u.s. troops left iraq at daybreak today, crossing into kuwait, marking the end of the nearly nine-year war. >> real nice to finally be able to leave the country and hopefully not have to come back. >> reporter: this says it all. "last vehicle out of iraq," written in chalk. there were about 500 soldier and 110 vehicles involved in the last convoy. >> looking forward to getting home. about six months, a year from now, you know, everybody's going to look back on it and be like, wow, we were the last people there. >> reporter: but there was a lot of waiting before this moment could happen. soldiers had to hang out for five days in kuwait, where the out-processing center is located. they passed the time playing cards and games. >> i can't wait to go home. >> reporter: the war has been costly in lives and treasure. it claimed the lives of 4,500 american soldiers and 100,000 iraqis. and the united states spent $800 billion on the war since the invasion in 2003. for virginia national guard

troops arriving home, it was a hero's welcome. >> do you remember me? >> uh-huh. >> and this is charlie! >> reporter: first lieutenant frank urasco met his little girl for the first time, his third child born right after he was deployed in august. soldiers returning from home to the happy arms of loved ones. >> some 4,000 troops will remain in kuwait to help finalize the move out of iraq. >> glad to see them coming home. thank you, darcy. today, a military hearing continued for an army private accused of leaking classified information. an intelligence officer who worked with army private bradley manning testified he had top secret security clearance. he also had high understanding of enemy threats in iraq. manning is accused of funneling classified information to the wikileaks website while working as an intelligence analyst in iraq. he could face life in prison if he's convicted at a

court-martial. a decisive victory for the burgundy and gold today. you heard that right. the redskins winning against the giants today. and some people are happy about that. and people who would normally be happy aren't happy. it's the whole cowboys thing figures in there. >> because now the cowboys are alone in first place, but you have to wonder, where were these redskins just a few weeks ago? come on now. with today's victory against the giants, the redskins will have to win their final two games to prove there's been improvement under head coach mike shanahan. in new jersey this afternoon, things started poorly. rex grossman had two interceptions in the redskins' first two possessions. but then rex and the redskins turned things around and ultimately improved their record to 5-9. first play of the game for redskins, they try some trickeration. it's a flea flicker. roy helu tosses it back to rex grossman here, and then grossman, well, he underthrows santana moss and picked off by cory webster. grossman with a turnover in 16

straight games. but then things get better. second quarter on third and eight, grossman to santana moss, this time a perfect pass, 20-yard touchdown. redskins were 6 of 9 in the first half. efficient. washington up 10-0. third quarter, giants down 17-3, trying to mount a comeback. elii manning looks for hakim knicks. instead, deangelo hall makes an incredible one-handed grab. nice interception. no touchdowns in the game. the redskins win 23-10 and sweep the season series from the giants for the first time since 1999. >> no, i don't really care about the giants, at all. i care about our team and being -- going out there and winning a divisional game and work our [ bleep ] off all week and celebrating the fact that all that hard work, you go out and you execute and you win. that's plenty of gratification and that's all we really care about. >> i think everybody really

concentrated on their job. i thought, collectively, to play the way we did, you have to have everybody doing their job and really being focused. we had some nice interceptions. we had some good pressure. big-time third down play by our entire team. you know, i was really pleased with how they kept their poise and kept on fighting back and was able to get it done. >> and next week, christmas eve day game, 1:00. it's the final home game of the season against the vikings. 1:00 kickoff. coming up in sports, dan hellie goes inside the locker room to recap today's big win against new jersey. >> sounds good. see you in a bit. still ahead here tonight, why thousands of drivers could have a smooth eer commute, starting tomorrow morning. and a compromise is threatening to turn into gridlock. the congressional fight that could lead to higher taxes in the new year. and braving the elements. occupy d.c. has an action plan, even as the temperatures dip. chuck, how about your forecast? >> well, after a very chilly weekend, it looks like we're

going to have some milder air coming in just in time for monday. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices... in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone.

the first span of the new 11th street bridge officially opened to traffic in d.c. the inbound bridge opened around 11:30 this morning. the outbound span of that bridge is set to open next week. the third span will open about a year from now. when everything is finished, you'll be able to go from 395 to northbound 295 without having to take the pennsylvania avenue

ramp. or street. exit. it's getting cold outside, but occupy d.c. plans to stay camped out anyway. protesters say, tonight, they're insulating tents and covering them with more tarps to block the wind. they also plan to use generators for heaters and electricity through the night. so far, some have been using platforms to raise their tents off the cold ground. the group has also received donations of food and blanket as well as tarps. when we return, it could all fall apart. what we thought was a done deal may have hit a huge road block on capitol hill. the late st on a tax cut plan i peril. [ female announcer ] at verizonfios.com,

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what looks like a done deal on extending the payroll tax cut is now threatening to come undone. house republicans are upset with a compromise that their colleagues in the senate negotiated. nbc's brian mooar has the latest tonight from capitol hill. >> reporter: the senate ended its business for the year on a bipartisan note. voting to extend the payroll tax cut for two months. >> the ayes are 89, the nays are 10. >> reporter: it was just a temporary fix, but it ensured that 160 million americans wouldn't be seeing a sudden tax increase on january 1st. >> have a happy holiday, everyone. >> reporter: but now house republicans are saying, not so fast. >> two months is just kicking the can down the road. the american people are tired of that. frankly, i'm tired of it.

>> reporter: the senate's bill extends long-term unemployment insurance, which democrats wanted, and gives the president two months to make a decision on the canada-to-texas keystone oil pipeline. that was a pleasure designed to help get house republicans on board. but speaker boehner says a two-month deal is no deal. >> it's time to just stop, do our work, resolve the differences, and extend this for one area. >> reporter: senators have already gone home for the holidays. if the house rejects the senate bill and if senators won't come back to work out their differences, payroll taxes could go up on january 1st. nancy pelosi, the top democrat in the house, is already calling it the tea party tax increase. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >> house leaders are still planning their next move and a vote is scheduled for tomorrow. let's get a look at that forecast now. storm 4 meteorologist chuck bell is here with a lot of good enough. a lot of sunshine out there today. >> much prettier day outside today than yesterday. and because the dew points, the

moisture content in the atmosphere came up a little bit as well, it felt noticeably milder outside today than it did yesterday. we had two things working for us. extra shine and a little extra moisture in the atmosphere. hopefully you enjoyed your sunday afternoon. sun's already long gone down out there. and now that the sun has set, our skies are really starting to clear out. that will set the stage for a very cold start on your monday morning, especially for you folks out in our northern and western suburbs. could be in some places down close to the 20-degree mark by early tomorrow morning, out towards warrenton and manassas, especially. but for now, a beautiful sunday evening in washington. as you look live at the kennedy center alongside the potomac, beautiful evening out there. 41 degrees, our current temperature at reagan national airport. a light breeze still out of the northwest at 8 miles per hour. those winds will continue to lay down as we go through the rest of the evening. already back into the 30s now, to the western suburbs. 39, rockville. 39, reston. 38, dulles. 36 in leesburg. and further out to the west, temperatures are really going to be dropping fast. already down to the freezing

mark in winchester and petersburg. 35 in martinsburg. so your sunday evening planner, clearing skies and falling temperatures. temperatures back into the mid-30s by 11:00 tonight in the city limits, well below freezing in the western suburbs before midnight tonight. on doppler, zippo going on around here. the last of the snowflakes have completely disappeared. and no rain anywhere close to us. so it will be a nice dry, and relatively mild start to the week tomorrow. monday, probably going to be the nicest day of the week as well, as high pressure will be in charge of our weather. so overnight tonight, clear skies and a light breeze mines a cold start first thing tomorrow morning. temperatures near the freezing mark in the city and bay side, but low 20s out in the western suburbs. then tomorrow, a sunny start and a really nice-looking monday with temperatures up near 50 degrees, but it won't last long. by the time we get to early tuesday morning, clouds will already be in place, and this weather front is going to lay down just down to our south for much of tuesday, then come back to the north as a warm front on wednesday. that spells a cloudy and somewhat soggy stretch around

here. tuesday night through wednesday night. that's when the bulk of the rain will come this week. so for your sunday night plans, clearing skies through the overnight, much colder than this morning. especially out west. overnight low temperatures out to the west of the city in the low 20s. in the city and along the bay, closer to the freezing mark. then you're back to work and school monday. mostly sunny, milder, a little breezy at times, but tomorrow the winds will come around to the southwest at 10 to 18. a much milder feeling day tomorrow with temperatures up close to 50, 52 even around the city. the all-important seven-day forecast, as we stretch it out here, cloudy skies and off and on light rain and drizzle through the day on tuesday. the bulk of the rain starts probably after sundown tuesday and goes through most of the day wednesday, maybe even lingering into wednesday night. i think thursday afternoon is dry, but friday, a big travel day for a lot of folks. a little unsettled around here. no big storms on the map for christmas. and maybe a chance for some raindrops on christmas day, next sunday. i don't see a white christmas. i'm lowering my chances for a

white christmas in washington back down to 2%. >> which is not a problem for people like me who don't care for snow. >> i know. i wanted snow for christmas. >> we'll get you a globe or something. thank you, chuck. coming up in sports, the redskins in a new york state of mind as they bring down the giants just a notch. hello. my name is major pat snom. i'm serving in kabul, afghanistan, and i would like to say happy holidays to my mom and dad, tim and justine. dad, tim[ monica ]ne. i'm away on a movie shoot

and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. [ female announcer ] this time of year you have a lot of festive meals. and safeway helps make every holiday meal a special occasion. so you can make all of your gatherings, just as merry as can be. get a boneless beef loin ny strip roast for just $5.99 a pound. plus save on gift card multipacks. right now get 15% off of $40 itunes multipack. safeway. ingredients for life.

so this is a redskins team that still has something to prove. >> yeah, certainly. well, they would need to win, like we said earlier, they would need to win their final two games to go to 7 and 9, make an improvement. last year they were 6 and 10. maybe have a little bit of an improvement under mike shanahan. you don't want to have two back-to-back seasons at 6-10. >> if you want to have a job. >> i think he's safe, at least nor for this year. but this is washington. stranger things have happened before. it's that time of year again, when giving is better than receiving. but if you're rex grossman, you've been giving all season long. grossman is such a nice guy that he delivers gift-wrapped footballs to his opponents. today in new jersey, rex was naughty again. but the nice thing, he was on

the receiving end of a victory. former giant, barry cofield getting the fans pumped up before the game. like that? >> think christmas much? >> you've got to get in the mood. first play of the game for the redskins, it's a flea flicker. roy helu back to rex grossman, but he underthrows it to santana moss. picked off by cory webster. see, giving it away. grossman with a turnover in 16 straight games. two possessions later, they go back to the deep ball and once again grossman, yeah, intercepted. >> what?! >> gift wrapped. this time by kenny phillips. but rex and the redskins would bounce back. second quarter on third and eight, grossman to santana moss this time, perfect pass, 20-yard touchdown. redskins were 6 of 9 in the first half. washington takes a 10-0 lead. ensuing giants possession, eli manning drops back, going deep for dj ware, but london gets a hand on it.

and makes the incredible interception. look at that. that's phenomenal. redskins take advantage. darrell young gets the handoff and powers his way in for the touchdown, his first of the season. and redskins take a 17-0 lead. third quarter, giants down 17-3. trying to come back. eli manning looking for hakim knicks. instead, deangelo hall makes a one-handed interception. so nice, let's see it twice. awesome. manning had three ints, in touchdowns in the game. the redskins win 23-10 and sweep the season series from the giants for the first time since 1929. dan hellie has more from met life stadium. >> reporter: the game seemingly didn't start well for the redskins with two rex grossman interceptions, but the skins got the mistake office the way early and beat a team fighting for a division title. it's just the second win for the skins in the last ten games. >> we can still, you know, hold our heads high and come out here

every week and push forward and try to make something out of every weekend. you know, every game, every sunday. you know, other teams folded and say, hey, man, it's over. they got plans. not us. it's cold out there. we're out there going in. and just to the see that, you know, that goes to show you what kind of team you have. >> it's sad to think if we could play this way more often, where we could be. we've played some close games, and if those games would have swayed our way, we could be sitting on top of the division. but it's something to build for going towards the future. and we want to win out this season and set the tone for the off-season and come back next year and be the team that we know we can be. >> we stumbled earlier, but we were able to keep our come popo and keep our poise. we won the game pretty handed y ly, so guys are excited about this win, and so they should be. >> reporter: the redskins 2-0 against the giants this year,

sweeping the series for the first anytime since 1999, due in part to the defense. according to mike shanahan, they had their most dominant performance of the season. >> dan, thank you. upset city in kansas city. the packers' perfect season, over. the chiefs snapped green bay's 19-game winning streak. romeo kernell's first game taking over for the fired todd hailey. kc defense bringing heavy pressure. number 91 sacks aaron rodgers, forces the fumble. he crushes rogers. he had three sacks in the game. third quarter, rogers and the pack down 6-0 they finally get on the board. to donald driver for the touchdown. green bay takes a 7-6 lead. short lived. chief's leader, a former mr. irrelevant, he was relevant today. on for a 46-yard field goal. high snap, buries it. calls him mr. irrelevant because

he was the last pick in the draft. fourth quarter, jackie battle gets the handoff, busts in for the touchdown. the chiefs win. green bay's bid for a perfect season is over, falling 13-1. congrats to romeo kernell. that's pretty cool. also, the big news today also, the koelts win their first game of the year. they beat the titans 27-13. i don't know which is bigger, colts getting their first win or packers losing their first game. probably packers losing their first game. >> i'm on your side. >> "nightly news" is next. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies.