good morning and welcome to news 4 midday. it's wednesday, december 11th, 2013. breaking news has to do with the arrest of a d.c. police officer. let's go to news 4's angie goff at the live desk. >> that's right. a d.c. police officer has been arrested in a prostitution case. this is the home of officer lynwood barn held.

it was searched after the 47-year-old was link to a prostitution ring. he was charged with pandering and he let officers inside where they found two females in a bedroom and one was a missing 16-year-old. court papers filed say the missing teen told officers she worked under the name of juicy as a prostitute and he got a cut of her money. he was assigned to the seventh district and has not worked in a year because of an injury. he is expected in d.c. superior court this afternoon. news 4 at 4:00 for more developments. back to you. >> the arrest comes hours after a d.c. police officer died after being pulled from the water overnight. mark washington was rescued before 9:00 last night and dieda the a local report. washington had just been releas

released on bond after taking pictures of a teen girl while on duty. a rental car was found with court do you means that belonged to washington. >> three men are in the hospital after a robbery and stabbing. prince georges county police say that someone at this apartment tower stabbed the men. right now one of the three is in critical condition. officers were investigating the case and do not have a description of people responsible. >> despite the threat of black ice, road conditions are pretty good. here's a live look at the beltway. maryland and virginia pretreated the roads. wet roadings could refreeze overnight. from the roads to the sky, air travel is getting back to normal

today. woo are seeing a few delays and cancellations. two at dulles and none at bwi. they report more than 150 flights were canceled after three airports yesterday. as travel gets back to normal, we are dealing with cold temperatures out there. in for tom, he joins us with the first forecast. how cold is it now? >> temperatures now in the low to mid 30s and expect a high today of about 38 degrees. that is below average. in addition seeing clouds move into the area. here's a live look where you see partly sunny skies and we will be partly to mostly sunny for the afternoon hours. temperatures most of the d.c. metro has cloudiness over it.

that will help keep the temperatures down. 30 in gaithersburg. for the rest of the day, we are looking at partly to mostly sunny skies and a high of about 38 degrees. we will hit that around 2:00 to 4:00 this afternoon. getting into the evening hours it will be cold. 8:00 p.m. we are down to 34 degrees. i am tracking rain and snow over the weekend so exactly what can you expect? i will be talking about that in ten minutes. >> we will see you here shortly. a memorial service is just starting here in the district to honor nelson mandela. it is happening at the national cathedral and invited guests include joe biden. joining us outside the cathedral with more now. richard? >> the vice president just walked in and his modor kad arrived up a few minutes ago. he is one of the many

dignitaries attending today. this is the official service for nelson mandela. there members of the public. the south african embassy put a limited number of tickets so many are being allowed to attend. many from the general public from south africa. they wish they could have been home at this time. this is the next best thing. >> you have a ticket for today? >> those wishing to celebrate a civil rights icon come together. they transcend international boundaries. >> very excited to be here. >> today nelson mandell's legacy is what most people are talking about. >> i was at his inauguration and i saw the announcement, the birth of a new nation right before my eyes. >> the south african embassy hosted several prayer vigils. hundreds gathered where

protesters called for the release from prison. beverly was among the crowd demanding his freedom. he said she can't believe the crusader against apartheid is gone. >> there is no man in my time that has sacrificed the way he did for the liberation of his people. >> she was privileged to meet mandela shortly after he was released from prison and believes his example will live on with the next generation. >> he was a people's person. >> i'm a south african so this means so much to us to come and be able to share this moment with the world. >> they will address the crowd

and many have a personal connection to mandela. the national cathedral is streaming the ceremony live on the website. richard jordan, news 4. >> thousands of mourners lined up to pay final respects to nelson mandela. his body will lie in state at the unions building in south africa for three days. family members viewed his casket first. mandela will vend have a state funeral and burial in his childhood village on sunday. jim vance is covering mandela's funeral. look for his report starting tomorrow here on news 4. >> in the coming decades, you can take the metro to georgetown. the transportation reporter is live in georgetown with a closer look at this proposal. adam? >> barbara, is it time to get a metro station here in

georgetown? that deal has been talked about for a long time, but there is new talk now and it's coming from metro. take a close look at this map being circulated by the planning department. a new loop around d.c. and a stop planned right here for georgetown. >> a great idea. i'm an urban planner. it promotes more business. >> metro is looking to the future and this is part of the plan for 25 years from now. it's still being drawn up. >> we are on an island out here. it would be great. >> charlie patterson would love to get off the streets and on a train. >> i have to take the bus and the kids are snarled in traffic. i would love a metro station out here. >> aside from adding a stop, they can circle the core of d.c. without having to go to the end

of the line. chicago has a similar system in place. this line would relieve crowding. some are not sure that the city and georgetown specifically needs the line. >> i think there tons of buses and other ways to get around. i'm not sure if i'm for or against it. >> back here live in georgetown, this new line would obviously cost a lot of money and mean a lot of construction delays. planners sayh the way the system is crowded now, something has to be done. reporting live in georgetown, news 4. >> thank you, adam. right now there new numbers just in on how many people have successfully signed up for health insurance through the affordable care act. the national zoo is reporting the deaths of three animals. what the zoo said is a problem they are dealing with. we continue the 12 days of giving and how you can help an organization as making a

difference in the lives of teenagers. stay with us.

new today, the obama administration is trying to find out what led to the disastrous roll out of the health care website. kathleen sebelius said she asked the inspector general to review the development. also new, positive news from the white house. more than 360,000 people signed up for coverage as of the end of last month. that's more than three times october's total. it's still less than a 30 of the 1.2 million people the obama administration hoped would be enrolled through november. the house could vote as early as today that would fund the government for the next two

years. >> we have broken through the partisanship and the gridlock and reached a bipartisan compromise to prevent a government shut down in january. >> democratic senator patty murray and representative paul ryan worked out the deal to partially repeal $63 billion and giving funding back to the national parks and the pentagon. it would also cut the deficit by $23 billion without raising taxes. the white house and john boehner praised the deal. >> good timing for the agreement. congress facing terrible approval ratings right now. a new "wall street journal" poll and mark murray editor has more on the results. let's start with more on the congress. >> it couldn't be anything worse. 51% say this is one of the worst congresses ever. that is the highest percentage on that question. a question that dates back to

1990. people are very fed up and angry at congress. >> any specific look at the republicans versus democrats or congress? >> congress as a total. >> now let's look at the president. >> he is ending on a sour and down note. disapproval rating is 54%, the highest it has been in the poll. 43% approve of his job. you have half who say they are dissatisfied or disappointed in the president. he has not responded, but the white house said when the website gets behind him, the health care and the botched roll out as you describe shaped impressions of the president. if they get good news when it comes to health care, that's better throughs for tnews for t president. >> there was a hand shake. >> president obama spoke at nelson mandela's memorial and he

ended up shaking raul castro's hand. a lot of folks including mostly coming from conservatives were critical of that hand shake. as we put it in our first recall, it was almost like how would you handle going to a funeral or loved one's funeral and all of a sudden you run into someone who you disagreed with in the past. do you snub them or shake their hands? president obama took the route most people would do. this is not about them or conflict, but about nelson mandela. >> you can see it would have been -- >> very awkward and probably produced more troubling things. >> i agree on that. lots coming up this weekend. you have a lot going on to cover. >> we are going to have more polls and breaking down everything going on. politics never stops. >> all right. thank you so much. more from mark and the rest of the news political team, check out first read on nbc news.com.

>> if you were left off the first family's holiday card list, you can buy one on line. ebay has the card up for auction starting at $175 for that one card. just like in years past, it does not feature a family photo, but the family pets seen in front of a pop up version of the white house and features the signatures of the obamas. this year's version takes a politically correct approach and is not going to include the word christmas, hanukkah or kwanzaa or any other holiday. storm team 4's amelia segal and a look at the forecast. it is cold. >> cold today and tomorrow. high temperatures tomorrow not going to make it above freezing. above 32 degrees. sunshine around today, but right now the clouds are moving in. the main weather headline for today and tomorrow and in fact

as we work our way towards friday will be the chilly temperatures. dry weather to finish off the workweek. as we lock to saturday rain and snow likely. storm team 4 will continue to track the system and update you on timing. potential snowfall, yes, snowfall amounts with yet another system. here on satellite, the cloud cover is exploding across the area over an hour and a half. they will have the cloudiness around the mid-afternoon hours and return to mostly sunny skies. for the rest of the day, partly to mostly sunny and chilly. 35 in washington. 35 in college park and annapolis. 32 in leesburg and menassis. highs in the mid- to upper 30s. washington warms to 37 or 38 degrees around 2:00 to 4:00. through the evening, we will fall into the mid-and eventually low 30s. a cold night overnight with

mainly clear skies. here's how low it will get. a low temperature in washington of 28. the suburbs north and west will drop to the low 20s. areas will be in the mid 20s. a cold start on your thursday. coming up, the next timy see me, i will talk about the temperatures and the winds. what the wind chill will be. here are the highs without the winds. low 30s tomorrow on thursday with a mix of clouds and sunshine. that's for friday. a high of 39 degrees. partly sunny on friday. saturday a high of 38. sunday a high of 44. there will be warming for the second half of the weekend, but let's take a closer look at the weekend. what we are looking at right now. rain and snow is likely. the timing of this event looks to begin around the midday hours into the afternoon and overnight hours. most likely starting off as

snow. changing to sleet or cold rain with temperatures only in the 30s for highs and sunday is looking mainly dry with sunshine returning later in the day. monday mostly cloudy skies. a high of 39. look at the average thigh time of year. we are running below the average high. typically the high is 48 degrees. minute only 39 and tuesday a high of 43. today is chilly and a high of 30. the wind chills and how it will feel outside tomorrow. >> you don't see snow in our next few days. >> not in the immediate future, but it is consistent with bringing us some snow saturday and accumulation amounts. it's too far out to tell.

we continue to update the forecast. >> a fake at the forecast for nelson mandela. why the man providing sign language is being questioned this morning. >> what kind of milk do you have in your refrigerator. one kind might be more nutritious than another. here's a look at what's hot on

you may want to toss that kitchen sponge. a kitchen sponge harbors ten million bacteria per scare inch and can be 200,000 times dirtier than a toilet seat. there simple ways to kill the bacteria including soap and hot

water. you can wet your sponge and put it in the microwave or run it through a dish washing cycle. health experts say just to be safe, you should replace the sponge two to four times a month. in other news, organic milk may have a slight nutritional advantage over regular milk. organic whole milk has more omega 3 fatty acids. they have few omega 6 fatty acids that are tied to inflammation and diabetes. >> a woman moving to d.c. will set a new tone. debra will be the first female president at the performing arts center. she is am category after leaving the symphony. she will take over next summer. as president, she will oversee the orchestra and the washington national opera. the director of the national zoo

is defending the staff and said the recent deaths of three animals is proof they are stretched too thin. according to the post director dennis kelly made the comments following two internal reports. an antelope and gazelle both died after being spooked in their enclosures and a hog died from infections and low body weight. the issues stem from not having enough staff from the number of animals they have at the zoo. the zoo has posted explanations including the deaths on the website. >> right now here in washington investigators are trying to get to the bottom of what caused this plane accident. we are getting insight into what the pilot was thinking. it's almost 11:30 and still in the low 30s out there in most places. coming up, a look at the other areas of the country that are ufr suffering with us. we continue the 12 days of

giving. a look at how to help an organization as making a difference in the lives o

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. >> >> i'm angie goff. the week of tributes to the late nelson mandela continues in washington. right now we want to take you live in the washington national cathedral where the memorial service for nelson mandela has been under way for about 30 minutes. what we are looking at now is a prayer from the crist man tradition which was just told by reverend jim wallace who is standing right there in the white. he is the president and founder of the sojourners in maryland. he is among the many special guests that include vice president joe biden and the reverend katherine shorey.

it is held in conjunction of the south african embassy. local leaders as well. mayor vince gray arrived earlier. they are all gathering to pay tribute to mandela who died last thursday at the age of 95. while the ceremony continue, mandela's is lying in state in south africa's capital. today's service is streamed live at national cathedral.org. i'm angie goff at the live desk. back to you. >> there is a new report that the man who provided sign language interpretation was a fake. that according to the national director of the def federation of south africa. the man was moving his hands around, but there was no meaning in his hand movements. police in south africa say retired arch bishop desmond tutu's home was robbed while he

was at the memorial. it's not clear what was taken. this is not the first time he was robbed. the 82-year-old and his wife were asleep when robbers broke in in august. they were not hurt. a mother is asking for your help tracking down a man who hit and killed her daughter and another woman in a crash. ronald hayes jr. was trying to get away from officers when the crash happened. police responded to a report of shots fired over the weekend. hayes was speeding with his headlights off when he hit a minivan driven by brittany everett. the passenger was also killed. queen's mom said her daughter was ten weeks pregnant. >> if they know anything, please come forward and give information to help him be caught. because he not only took two lives, he took three.

>> if you have seen ronald hayes, call prince george's county police. montgomery county police want to get the word out about a man accused of having inappropriate contact with a teen girl. he faces several charges including sex abuse of a minor. the 30-year-old privately coach and tutored students in bethesda and potomac. they say parents and opportunities who feel he behavior should contact montgomery county police. >> deputy sheriffs defense team are preparing to make a case in his murder trial. they call the final witness in the case against craig patterson. he shot and killed julianne dawkin who is was drunk ask confrontational and he shot him in self defense. >> in about an hour, lawyers

will push for an appeal in the uva lacrosse case. he is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, yeardley love. his lawyer cite a number of issues for the appeal and is a judge's decision to continue the trial even though one of the attorneys was sick. they are also questioning jury selection and jury instructions. right now the ntsb is trying to get to the bottom of what led to the asiana airlines crash. it is holding a hearing on what went wrong before it crash landed in san francisco. the ntsb want to know what the airline teaches pilots about automated systems. they think the pilots might have relied too much on the systems. >> we do have the opportunity today to ensure that the lessons of this event are well-learned and the circumstances are not repeated. >> three people died in july's

crash. more than 150 others were hurt. new today, news 4 learned for the first time ever crews are going to move a street car on to the h street tracks in northeast washington. the department of transportation said it will move from the testing facility to h street on friday. the street car will be placed on h street near the hop scotch bridge in union station. crews will then test as early as saturday. you will however have to wait until next year to start using the street car service. a blast of air is rolling through the midwest. katie has more on the dropping temperatures in chicago. >> the mercury is deceiving. temperatures above on the maps are below in reality. >> you can see the wind chills.

>> wicked winds made for good walks. it shut down the national zoo and lincoln park is open for visitors. almost no one is showing up. >> it's so cold the polar bear is going back in her cave. she came out a couple of inches. >> the runners are weathering the weather, whether they like it or not. >> one of the best comp limits you can give a runner is crazy. >> schools in d.c. and canceled flights in new jersey and left some generally crumpy in new york. >> they jackknifed the semis and overturned cars and others are left spinning their wheels. >> this morning a look at how animals at the national zoo fared in our recent weather. it looked like all fun and games.

there is one of the red pantas. you can get out there and see how they enjoy the cold weather. what do you guess the temperature is out here? >> about 35 degrees. it's trarchg will right now with no wind and we are looking at a cloud-sun mix right now. tomorrow it's going to be colder and breezy. it's feeling chilly today. get ready to bundle up more tomorrow. radar is showing a clean sweep and tracking clouds over the area. we will have partly sunny skies with us through the mid-afternoon hours. i think we will become mainly clear again. 35 right now in washington. many locations only in the low 30s. leesburg and menassis and below

freezing right now. this is the wind chill. how it's going to feel tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. about 16 in washington. low teens and about 15 in a nap sis and through the morning hours, woo e8 continue to see chills in the teens and single digits and the high of 30 degrees. high of 39. coming up, the next time you see me we will talk about the rain-snow mix that is looking likely for saturday. >> great. we will see you in a few minutes. thanks a lot. today we continue our 12 days of giving. each day we spotlight organizations that are making a difference in our community and finding out how you can lend a hand. today we talk about speak life. here to talk about the difference. good to see you. what is the i am program?

>> it's a program where we have programs where we topic confidence and self esteem to young ladies in the juvenile detention centers. >> what do teens get out of the program? you have been a member? >> i am help iing and from the behind the scenes aspect. what they get out of this, self confidence and going forth and know that they are better what they say about them and negative influences say about them. >> is it just for young women? >> right. >> who do you serve? women who are actually incarcerated at the moment or coming out of prison? >> the i am program is geared towards the women that are currently in the juf 23450i8 detention centers. we go to the programs in the centers and assist them there.

we also have a program when they are out of the facilities. >> if anybody is listening who is out, how can they get involved? >> one weekend they can contact us at speak life and we have programs to sign up there and every fourth saturday at the temple hills library, we are there with our programs as well. >> have you seen the results of this? >> very much so. we have seen them become not only more respectful of adults and their fellow teens, but going back to the community and helping those around them and their fellow classmates and citizens as well. being able to be better so to speak. >> what's the average age of the kids that you are working with? >> around 14 or 15 years old. we are getting them where it's time to help them and assist them in being productive adults.

we make sure they have ged programs and make sure they have goal setting and really the speak is the faith principal of speaking life. they are in a negative situation whatever it is, we give them the tools to turn it into something positive. >> how can the viewers be of help? the donations and volunteers and they can go to the website. go to volunteer as well as make donations. as well as sending out youth in the young ladies that they feel could benefit as well. >> we certainly do want to help. how many girls are you helping at the moment? >> we have about 20 girls in the program. we are getting ready to start applications in january and we want to double that this year. >> why don't you give us your website.

www.speaklife-inc.org. >> thank you very much for coming in and telling us about the program. sounds like a terrific idea. for more information on how to help, check out our website at nbcwashington.com. from e writers to the latest from tivo. we have great gadgets for the holidays. you want to see this and lots of praise for pope francis. the latest h

you may want to play the mega millions lottery. no one matched all the numbers so the estimated jackpot is growing to $400 million. the next drawing is this friday and it will be the biggest prize since last year's $656 million jackpot.

don't be surprised if you see d.c. councilmember tommy wells riding a bike or walking today. he is living on minimum wage for the next week and taking the challenge many across the country have been taking. he said meals are not his biggest concern. it's getting around. he is running for mayor and he campaigns and has council events across the city. >> "time" magazine is naming the people who had the most influence on the world this past year. this morning the magazine revealed the 2013 person of the year. >> it's pope francis. he stood out to someone who has changed the focus. he changed in an extraordinary way. >> this was the 30 time they selected a hope as the person of the year. they said pope francis is not looking to become mo but if

it spreads the gospel, he is happy about that. the first runner up was edward snowden. they poled the readers, but made the final decision. despite good news from here in washington, stocks are lower today. let's get the latest from hampton pearson. good morning. >> right now marks are not quite through. what to make of the do you is down. they did reach a modest two-year agreement that restores about $63 billion on the automatic spending cuts. it would all but eliminate a shut down in january bringing stability to congress after a year of bipartisan bickering and politics seeing a lawmaker's approval rating fall to single

digits. warehouse operator costco reported disappointing earnings due to higher expenses. the stock is down more than 1% today. first quarter sales topped $24 billion, but that was nearly a billion below estimates. the chief rival wal-mart has seen declining same-store sales for three straight months as well and expected low profits in the holiday season. mastercard's stock is up about 5% after announcing a ten for one stock split, nearly doubling the quarterly dividend and launching a stock plan. the world's number two credit card increase. more than 60% as more and more people around the world --

>> trying to get the holiday shopping done. if you have a techie, we have great and everything we need to know and top tech gifts this year. thank fist are stopping by. >> i put together these gifts. >> i am wearing it right here. just out this month. they have a clock. the only place i could find it, very cool. about $129 or so. the next brand-new is the tivo romeo. this brings them and 450 hours

you can save. they are right on the device wherever you are. this can record up to 500 hd movies and no wires or web or no problem. without using a wi-fi environment. three people watch three movies at the same time and streams it to the android smart phone and what not. >> i was going to ask, 500 movies divided among people. >> if you are going on a long trip, this is the library of muys. >> this is the coffee ala carte. it will do a cup or full caraffe. it goes under the cabinet and it's not too high. a smart gift ideas can a lot of technology.

this is an lcde writer. it appears right away on to your wireless device. you got it like that. an artist. >> this is called the motion control battling robots. remember rock em sock em robots. here's wireless. they pound each other out of here. the hostility and all wireless. very, very cool. it's available at wal-mart and target and toys 'r us. of course there is my holiday hat here.

>> happy holidays. happy holidays too. 11 time 51 now, new information about the quarterback controversy. amelia segal will be back with another check on the forecast. stay with us.

>> we just might have seen robert griffin iii play for the last time this season. kirk cousins will start for the redskins this season. mike shanahan said earlier that rg 3 could sit out for the rest of the season if he doesn't lay this week. at the weekly news conference,

they will also face tough questions about the future with the team. our own diana said his son kyle may be behind speculation that he wants out as skins head coach. kyle is the team's coordinator. mike shanahan may have to choose between keeping his job and keeping his son on the staff. we are following several big stories here. a d.c. police officer will be in court this afternoon after he was arrested in a prostitution case. officer linwood barn hill is charged with two counts of papdering a minor. investigators searched his apartment and he was found with a teenage girl who had been reported missing. humans of people are at a special memorial for nelson mandela at the national cathedral. joe biden is speaking right now. it's in conjunction with the south african embassy. time for a final check on the

forecast. amelia segal is here to tell us what we can expect into tomorrow. >> cold today and tomorrow and we will jump into the weekend. people are starting to ask what's going on this weekend. snow and rain are likely for saturday. the exact timing we still need to iron out. we will update the forecast, but right now it looks like the system will begin as snow and transition over to maybe a wintry mix ending as rain overnight saturday or sunday. sunshine returns and temperatures will be warmer on sunday. as far as today, part low to mostly sunny and a high of 38. cold tomorrow with a high of 30 and breezy and windy at times. wind chill tomorrow morning will be in the teens and single digits. make sure the kids have the gloves and the scarfs at the bus stop. friday we are dry and saturday is when the rain-snow mix is likely. >> did you make a snowman?

>> i didn't. did you? >> tonight at nbc 4, we will announce the winner of the latest snowman challenge. here's how it works. you make a snowman and tweet your picture to us. the most creative attractive snowmen will be recognized with an initial snow stick. there is a collins look alike, snow pigs and snow bunnies and snow cats. find out if you won and we will have fun seeing the snowmen you got. >> lots of good entries. >> a lot of great ones. next time. we thank you for being with us and invite you to tune in at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. we will be back at midday. have a terrific day and see you in the morning. ♪

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