annapolis. we are talking about the three casino operators vying for a new license in prince george's county. we have mgm. they want to build at national harbor. $925 million casino and resort. just a few miles away in ft. washington there's penn national gaming. their bid is for a $700 million casino with restaurants and a hotel. and then there's greenwood racing. they're proposing an $800 million parx casino just off indian head heyway. consultants have been reviewing all three proposals for the state board that will decide who gets the license. today in a hearing their findings will be made public. but greenwood racing confirmed for us that ft. washington site has gotten a lot of criticism from the consultants. mgm and penn gaming are not commenting on how their proposals did. again, we are expecting this to be a long day. we're going to hear from the consultants. we're going to hear from all of the casino operators defending their site locations and then there will be a long question

and answer period. we'll be there covering all of it. in ft. washington i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. all right. coming up on 4:31 now on this friday morning. if you're just waking up, good morning. >> welcome back. >> thank you. >> nice to have you on a friday. and we're checking in on the forecast. pretty mailed out there for some big changes coming, let's see what storm team meteorologist amelia segal has to say. periods of rain throughout the day today. have the umbrella handy. as we work into the afternoon and evening hours, better chance that you're dealing with rain. i want to take you through your day with faw tour weather. at 9:00 a.m., notice the light showers around the area. otherwise cloudy skies. so on and off rain throughout the day, again, becoming more steady as we get into the evening hours. still that hit or miss activity around noon. here we are at 3:00 where rain really starts to pick up for everybody. look at the evening commute. 6:30. even some pockets of heavier rain around the district. up through montgomery, prince squornlg's counties, and around leesburg,loudoun county. we continue to he see steady

rain overnight tonight and that is going to set us up for changes over the weekend. i'll be talk iing about that in ten minutes, but look at how our temperatures fall today. by 6:00 a.m. we're at 55 degrees. this afternoon 2:00, 4:00 p.m. only in the upper 40s. so it's mild right now but you'll need that warm jacket because by this afternoon not only are we dealing with rain but cooler temperatures as well. maynard, is the rain from overnight impacting any of the area roads rate now? good morning. well, a little bit. the roadways are still damp out this, and that is going to affect your overall speed as you head around the beltway. weigh do have a couple of construction spots that will impact a little more directly. and montgomery county northbound hunger for driver and beil avenue two right lanes blocked. northbound colesville road between 410 and georgia avenue you are going to find some lane blockag

blockages. be mindful of those as you head out. and here is a look at the crash i mentioned a few minutes ago. the outer loop is involving a tractor-trailer at eisenhower avenue and that is off to the side but it may actually impact your ride early on. so be mindful of that as you head out. back to you in the studio. >> maynard, thank you. it is now 4:33. let's check in with molette green at the live desk. large crowds gathering in johannesburg now to honor nelson mandela. molette? yes, eun, good morning. right now in south aftrica the people there are celebrating the life and legacy of nelson mandela. in the streets there near his home, this is a live look from johannesburg. you can see the crowds there singing and at times they're dancing. no tears of sadness from these images. and although mandela's passing is no surprise, we've learned his daughters may have been told of their father's death while attending the premiere of the movie "mandela -- long walk to freedom." south africa's president is expected to lay out a form al

schedule in a day or so. mandela's body will lie in state for three days before a funeral is held. and the service could rival that of pope john paul ii in 2005 which drew five kings, six queens, and 70 presidents. there will be a large public memorial service and a period of visitation for vips from around the world. every living american president in good health is expected to attend including mandela's good friend archbishop desmond tutu. that is the latest now from the live desk. i'm molette green. back to you. molette, thank you. today the south african government the will make room in front of its embassy for you to lead tributes to nelson mandela. the embassy is under construction right now so there is a large fence in had front of

it, but that didn't stop any people last nate from putting flowers and candles at the base of the statue honoring mandela. >> i want to pray for his family. >> for my generation a leader we've all looked up to. >> a great fighter, a father, a gentleman. >> it was a different scene outside that embassy in the '80s. protesters gathered there to demand south africa free mandela and end apartheid. you can also honors mandela at howard university, they are holding a remembrance ceremony at noon today. we posted information about that on nbcwashington.com. you can see this exhibit while you're on the campus. it chronicles mandela's life and his accomplishments and is on display through april. >> it chronicles the life of nelson mandela and it chronicles the life of south africa, the last century, really, of struggle in south africa. >> now nelson mandela visited howard university in 1994. current students and faculty members held a vigil last night.

we will have more on nelson mandela's death throughout the morning. we have collected statements from former presidents and current congressional leaders. you can read them and see some photos of mandela at nbcwashington.com. happening today in alexandria, a memorial is service will be held for the late wife of a form er alexandra sheriff and real estate maven nancy dunning. dunning, who you see here, was murdered ten years ago on december 5. mourners will gather along mt. vernon avenue at 6:00. dunning's case remains open. her husband, sheriff james dunning, died in july of 2012. also happening today, those who want to pay final respects to radio one personality sheila stewart may also do so at the a local service. stewart sefbed as news and community services director until she died in a car accident back in october. those who would lake to say a final farewell can make their way to stewart's -- she was buried in north carolina's first

baptist church in landover at noon. 4:36 now. why you just might spot hillary clinton in d.c. today. plus what she said about the late nelson mandela. plus, new developments in the deadly attack in yemen. who is now claiming responsibility for killing more than 50 people? plus, wet roads on your raid to work. here's amelia. >> we're looking at scattered showers this morning but steady rain as this front moves through later today and big changes for the weekend including some

4:39 now and rae action continues to pour in from around the world to news of nelson mandela's death. former president clinton said mandela proved, quote, there is freedom in forgiving and a big heart is better than a closed mind. this was 1998, the video you see here. president clinton was in office then when mandela received the congressional gold medal. hillary clinton will be in d.c. today to accept an award. the former secretary of state will receive the 2013 lantos human rights prize. the lantos foundation is honoring her forroting haw man rights for women around the world. overnight she sent her condolences out about nelson mandela. clinton called him a champ ion for justice and human dignity with unmatched grace. a major expansion is set for the kennedy center. last night the kennedy center released new fund-raising

numbers. $90 million to build outdoor video wall and a memorial guard ep to honor president john kennedy. the work should be finished by 2017. coming up on 4:41 right now. 64 warm degrees. look at that ugly picture, though. >> don't get used to the warm temperatures. the cold weather is coming. storm team 4 meteorologist amelia segal is here with your forecast. temperatures are going to fall throughout the day today into the upper 40s by the late afternoon hours. i'm tracking some rain on storm team 4 radar mainly in northern virginia. this will continue to impact loudoun and frederick counties and northern montgomery county and areas back to the west at least over the next hour. for the most part inside of the beltway it is dry right now and i think inside of the beltway will remain dry for the morning rush. as we get into the later afternoon and evening hours, this rain moves through so a steady rain later today. keep the umbrella handy. again, temperatures right now in the 60s, upper 40s by this

afternoon. i'm talking about snow and freezing rain in ten minutes. so far the water that came in overnight, as you said, it's well above freezing so it's not going to slow you down too much. we do have a crash report 66 eastbound approaching route 15. and taking a look at route 50 at davidsonville road, your speeds right where they should be so that's not going to pose too much of a problem. back to you in the studio. >> maynard, thank you. another traffic alert this morning, the national christmas tree lighting could be a problem even if you're not making plans to attend. what streets will be shut down in the evening are rush r.a. a jarring way to learn about nelson mandela's death. how the royals found

i'm molette green at the live desk. this morning we've learned who

carried out that deadly attack in yemen yesterday. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has claimed responsibility. the terror network tweeted this morning that it attacked the building because it accommodates drone control rooms at american experts. yemen's defense minister was not there at the time but here in washington for talks. 52 people died and more than 160 others wounded in this coordinated attack that started with a booby trapped car exploding at an entrance gate. gunmen then staged a fierce battle with security forces. that's the latest now from the live desk. i'm molette green. back to you now. 4:45 is your time. two of nelson mandela's daughters learned of their father's death while at a movie premiere. they insisted to allow the movie to finish before telling the

awed wrens. the audience held a moment of silence. that included the duke and duchess of cambridge. >> ex teamly sad and tragic news. we're just reminded what an extraordinary and inspiring man mr. mandela was. >> david cameron said he was a hero of our time. no one claiming responsibility yet for killing an american teacher in libya. someone shot and killed ronnie smith as he was jogging near the american consulate in benghazi. smith taught chemistry at an international school there. he was killed five days after an al qaeda group called on libyans to attack american interests to avenge u.s. special forces taking an al qaeda suspect in tr tripoli in october. this gym teacher in loudoun county will not be in school today. gregory winchin is on leave. a staffer at cedar lane he wi elementary in ashburn thought he was acting strange during class yesterday. deputies arrested him for alcohol possession on school property and driving u the

influen influence. students were never in danger. the loudoun county sheriff's department is look iing for the person responsible for a reported burglary and assault. police say it happened in the university station area of ashburn around 4:30 yesterday. apparently the victim came home to find a man in the house. the two people fought for a minute and the man who broke in ran. police do not have any leads at this time. caught on camera, montgomery county police captured the identity of the man responsible for two separate bank robberies just this week. the video was from a pnc bank at the wildwood shopping center in bethesda. yesterday the robber went in, implied he had a gun and demanded money. police believe he held up another bank in rockville monday. 4:47 now. dk it can mayor vincent gray is denying reports the district is dropping out of the running for the new fbi headquarters. "the washington post" reported the city's deputy mayor for economic development thought d.c. was eliminated from the competition. he thought the project needed

too much land. gray told our tom sherwood the city will continue to build on poplar point. happening today wall street will have an eye on washington as the government releases its jobs report for the month of november. many hope it will show the economy added 180,000 jobs last month. if that is the case many experts believe it could signal the job market is picking up speed. they expect it to dip to 7.2%. also today security will be tight around parts of downtown washington as people from around the world watch the annual lighting of the national christmas tree. megan mcgrath is live with what you need to know. megan? >> reporter: well, eun, the big show gets under way at 5:00 tonight. there's a preshow that starts at 4:30 this afternoon. all-star lineup. mariah carey, aretha franklin, all performing as part of the show. now i'm joined by jennifer with

the national park service. talk a little bit about this year's show and i should mention right now we're showing video from last year. >> oh, terrific. thank you for coming to one of america's national parks. we're gearing up for the 91st annual christmas tree lighting. we expect mariah carey, aretha franklin, arturo sandoval and folks can go to nationalparks.0 org to see the full lineup. let's just say that it will be in stark contrast to the gloomy weather. >> reporter: that is the policy on umbrellas? >> folks can bring umbrellas but, of course, we want everyone to enjoy the show and have their vau not blocked by umbrellas, so if you'd like to use an umbrella, head to the back if you want too much your umbrella up you. we're recommending that people plan to wear rain jackets. that way they'll be able it to stay in their seats and still enjoy the show. >> reporter: thanks for joining us this morning. you can see behind me here the stage is in place and a little

different than last year. they have some snazzy chandeliers hanging. of course you'll have this great view of the white house off to the side there. so always a beautiful event. of course we'll be bringing live coverage as it unfolds. 8:00 this morning is when they'll start the dress rehearsals so we'll get a sneak peek on that as well. >> looking forward to that. i like that chandelier, too, megan. thank you. tonight's big event could make a mess of the evening commute. take a look at the streets that will be closed starting at 3:00 this afternoon. d.c. and u.s. park police will direct traffic away from 15 and 17 streets away from the white house as well as a small stretch of 18th street. things will reopen after the ceremony. and you might had also want to check with metro if you take the bus home from work today. metro says more than 30 bus routes could be delayed or detoured tonight as a result of the street closures around the white house. almost a dozen bus stops will be closed during the ceremony. the agency suggests taking metro

rail to bypass downtown traffic. tough winter weather hit the midwest making roads more dangerous. scary situation there. scenes like that played out all over the midwest. rain like what we had today combined with freezing temperatures made driving very difficult for drivers through the day yesterday. the worst weather might be on 0 the way for many places including right here in our region. a layer of ice coated the south including texas, oklahoma, arkansas, mississippi, and several other states. the governors of arkansas and tennessee declaring states of emergency. hundreds of flights canceled, a the lot of schools issued their first snow day of the year. the temperature shift is a major swing seeing as texas was at about 80 degrees two days ago. >> ice is so dangerous. so many problems when you get ice. >> and, unfortunately, freezing rain is likely here sunday afternoon. so that storm system heading our way with the one-two punch.

the first today in the form of rain. the second wave arrives sunday into monday. areas of rain today. keep the umbrella handy. the steadiest rain into the overnight hours. for sunday it's likely we'll see snow arrive around the midday hours, transitioning over to freezing rain during the evening hours and then for monday temperatures will continue to warm, likely seeing all rain on monday. tricky travel conditions, i think, are likely in our area later sunday into very early monday. we're going to continue to track this system. you can follow all of the storm team 4 on twitter for the latest updates. we'll continue to be here throughout the weekend updating the system. so right now i'm tracking rain in portions of fairfax, montgomery county and areas back to the north and west. inside of the beltway is dry. maybe light showers, hit or miss showers are for the morning and midday hours. steady rain later today as this front pushes through.

that will pull our temperatures down. we're at 61 degrees right now but getting into the afternoon and evening hours temperatures fall into the upper 40s at 2:00 p.m. 46 degrees at 6:00 p.m. and, again, rain becomes more steady during the afternoon and evening hours. now i want to take you through your forecast on sunday with future weather because tomorrow the break day. do what you need to do tomorrow. here is what we can expect sunday. 10:00 a.m. we're looking at snow to arrive around 10:00 a.m., continuing to fall through noon. we can't rule out accumulation areas back to the west, thinking maybe two inches insigned de th. metro area. here is where the big problem comes, though. that snow changes over to freezing rain during the aft afternoon hours, freezing rain continues during the evening hours. especially areas west of the i-95 corridor. rain mainly around the eastern shore. a high temperature tomorrow of 43. sunday 44.

continuing to track the system and i'll continue to have updates thought the morning. maynard, how are the roads looking on this friday morning? >> the road conditions are damp. shouldn't slow you down too much. we do have a serious crash in arlington between south 20 street and south 23. we're just getting information on this one. you are going to run into that one. and also another serious crash coming in from maryland from baltimore spes cifically, 95 southbound is shut down just prior to the baltimore beltway for a very serious crash, a couple of suvs overturned. it could be a while with that road closure still. back to you in the studio. the price of shipping is about to be more expensive. exa exactly when you'll have to shell out more to send a package and how much more it will cost. a goldrush of sorts happening today. why starbucks will have thousands of people in a hurry to get one

starting today there is a new person in charge of the u.s. park police. today the agency's deputy chief becomes its acting chief. the commander of the agency's homeland a security division has been with the park police since 1991. he succeeds outgoing chief chambers who announced last month she was retiring after 35 years on the force. 4:57 now. we all know the phrase see something, say something. this morning state police in have virginia want to make it easier for you to do just that of the

the agency is unveiling a new see something say something app that lets you report suspicious activity by snapping a photo or se sending a text to police. the app is being rolled out with a new public service announcement that you will see in northern virginia movie theaters starting today. looks like fedex is waiting until after the holiday season to raise its rates. it will take place january 6. ground and home delivery rates will go up 5% on average. fedex smart post rates will also change. and you'll soon be able to loerp the cost of your cell phone bill if you're an at&t customer. starting sunday you can switch to a cheaper data plan if you buy or bring your own phone. that means paying more up front for your smartphone in exchange for saving a few months every month on your bill. the new plan will save you about $15 a month. what do you get the person who has everything this holiday season? aaron. how about a starbucks luxury metal card n. about eight hours the starbucks status symbol will go on sale. take a look at it.

the coffee giant is only making 1,000 of these cards this year and only available on the website guilt.com. if you want one, be prepared to hand over $450 for a starbucks card but, okay, you have to listen to this. it comes preloaded with $400 ready to be spent at any starbucks. last year starbucks made 5,000 cards all of which sold out in six minutes like that. >> none of them are in my wallet. >> how long does it take to drink $400 worth of coffee? >> a double shot espresso with chip -- the $291 million mega millions dlaug will happen at 11:00 tonight. right now the $1 ticket gives you about a 1 in 35 million chance of winning. last october some changes came to the game including giving players more numbers to choose from.

now if there isn't a winner tonight the jackpot will roll over bringing it up to about $330 million. the highest previous jackpot was $198 million in may. >> get your tickets. >> going to have to. >> you want to split? >> split the ticket? >> the money. stay with us. "news 4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m. i cherish the idea of a new south africa where all south africans are equal. remembering one of the greatest crusaders for human rights. this morning world reaction after the death of nelson mandela including a growing tribute hear in washington. and some rain now but that's nothing compared to what we'll have later. you could have a messy morning commute and another one on the way home. good morning, everybody. it's 5:00 a.m. straight up. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang.