we're told one. victims suffered life threatening injuries. the cause of the crash is still under investigation. and a man is fighting for his life this morning after a hit and run accident on statin road southeast. according to d.c. police the driver of what might have been a gold nissan hit the man with the car and kept going. the accident happened near the parkway during rush hour. the man was air lifted to a nearby hospital. doctors say his injuries are life threatening. doctors don't have any leads on the driver. women are being told to walk with friends and be on the lookout near gal dealaudet university. a woman was assaulted and robbed over the weekend. the woman was walking alone at 2:00 in the morning when a man approached her from behind with a knife and forced her into a nearby alley and assaulted her. since the woman was attacked from behind, she was not able to give a good description of the attackers. extra police patrols have been sent to that area. this woman is wanted by police in maryland as a person

of interest. officers believe she may be connected to a violent fight at a mall on black friday. the attack happened at the annapolis mall. police say two people jumped a 17-year-old girl at a victoria's secret store punching her in the head repeatedly. she says the victim was unprovoked and she did not know the woman who did it. right now reagan national is already pretty packed even before the sun comes up this morning. this is one of the busiest travel days of the year. it's going to be pretty hectic for thousands of travelers. more than 250 flights across the country have already been canceled today. that's according to flight aware.com. we did just check with reagan, dulles, bwi marshall, none of them dealing with any major delays yet today. the upper midwest, new england, still feeling the effects of the winter storm that tore across the country over the weekend. the power is out in hundreds of thousands of homes. utility crews say they may not restore electricity to everybody until next weekend.

>> tom just told me we may see some snow, a little bit he said, this afternoon. it would be nice. seasonal. tom? >> yeah, we were just chatting about that, that there is an upper level disturbance coming in that might trigger that. this morning, we're off to a chilly start. the temperatures have dropped 25 to 30 degrees since yesterday morning. we're down at or a little bit below freezing. shenandoah valley, right around the metro area. generally we're above freezing south and east of washington. it's generally in the mid to upper 30s right now. but, yes, a possibility of some scattered snow showers and perhaps even a few flurries during the afternoon hours as temperatures climb into the low 40s and we'll have a northwest wind gusting 10 to 25 miles an hour. don't be surprised to see a few scattered snow showers this afternoon. then a cold christmas on the way. we're going to have christmas eve temperatures i think down into the 20s by dawn tomorrow morning. so a big drop tonight.

we'll have a clear sky and we'll be down, in fact, low 20s by around dawn on christmas day. then tomorrow, bright and sunny. temperatures though only reaching the mid 30s by mid afternoon and then christmas night should be clear and cold again. down into the 20s, but tomorrow we will not have as much wind as we will today. those blustery winds will make our wind chills down into the teens and 20s as we get into the latter part of the afternoon and maybe, again, a few scattered snow flurries around this afternoon. maynard edwards is in for danella. who how is traffic? >> traffic is light. all around the beltway things are moving very easily. here's a look at i-270 in maryland. as you can see, no problems or slowing there. here's a look at the beltway east of i-270. you have a nine minute ride from 270 to i-95. not going to cause you any problems at all this morning. good morning, back to you. >> maynard, thank you very much.

4:32. news 4's melissa mollet with news from the live desk. >> four people are dead after an explosion tore through a news desk in egypt. four people believed to be hurt. believed to be caused by a car bomb. a police station north of cairo. they're accusing the muslim brotherhood this morning for orchestrating the attack. melissa mollet, news 4. >> melissa, thank you. edward snowden says his mission has been accomplished. he told the washington post he's satisfied because journalists have been able to report about nsa's surveillance programs. he's not trying to bring down the spy agency, he's working to improve it. president obama said last week he would consider some changes to how the nsa collects data on millions of americans. and happening today at the international space station, astronauts will take a space walk on christmas eve for the first time in nearly 15 years. just after 7:00 this morning, two american astronauts will do

their second of possibly three space walks to remove and replace a failed cooling pump. the pair going out today was out on saturday and made so much progress they may be able to finish up the repairs this morning. last week's valve malfunction cut the station's cooling capability in half. target may have to help banks pay for any fraudulent charges that stem from that hacking of the credit card machines. banks have promised the 40 million customers who had their card numbers stolen that any wrongful charges will be reimbursed, but security experts say it's likely those banks will sue target to get them to help foot the bill. meanwhile, some banks are easing the restrictions they put on cardholders shortly after the hack. chase says customers can now withdraw $250 a day or spend $1,000 on purchases and the government is now stepping into the investigation. target says the department of justice has launched a probe into the breach. the retailer has launched its own investigation with the help of the secret service.

if you try to call target customer service, chances are you will find the phone lines jam ped. target says it has more than doubled the number of people answering those phones, but even with the extra help, they're still having a lot of problems. retailer says as of yesterday they had spoken with 17 million customers. coming up on 4:35 right now, and today really is your last chance to sign up for health insurance if you want to be covered when 2014 starts. the white house beings teextend deadline to enroll by one day. nbc's danielle leigh is live with another last-minute change. >> reporter: aaron, good morning. it's deja vu all over again. they're trying to create a cushion. anyone who tried to sign up for insurance but didn't get to it a chance to finish that job today. min vaughan is more than one million americans likely breathing a sigh of relief. >> are you married? >> yes. >> reporter: caught in

yesterday's scramble to get her father-in-law insurance, she now has until today to get her father-in-law covered. >> better to be covered and safe and not worried about it. >> reporter: this morning the website is advertising the one day extension granted in response to the number of visitors to healthcare.gov, so many, not everyone who tried could get through. >> we wanted to make sure that people who tried to sign up today were able to do it and get covered. >> reporter: republicans attacked the last-minute change. >> it's another demonstration this plan was not ready for primetime. there will be problem after problem. >> reporter: health industry consultants are also warning of problems to come. >> the insurance companies really need two or three weeks to process a normal number of enrollments. they're going to have a week to process an extraordinary number of enrollments with errors. >> reporter: errors that could spell headaches for consumers and insurers are warning, keep your paperwork. >> reporter: the next deadline is december 31st. that's when premiums are due. many insurers are giving

consumers until january 10th to pay. live on capitol hill, i'm danielle leigh, aaron, back to you. >> thank you. it may be too late to enroll in a plan if you live in the district. the d.c. exchange's deadline was last night. in maryland you have until friday. today is the deadline in virginia, too, since it follows the federal government's time line. not making the grade. the problems with dc public schools teacher evaluations that wrongly cost one teacher his job. also ahead, a holiday surprise. why the generosity of people in our region could help make the holidays special for extra families in need. after a taste of spring, the chilly temperatures have returned to our region. you'll feel it when you get out there. how things are sha

welcome back. at 4:39, another successful year for toys for tots montgomery county. in fact, it was so successful the organization had 20,000 extra toys to hand out. yesterday families that originally couldn't get into the program were able to take part. montgomery county toys for tots collected about 98,000 toys this year. that's compared to about 36,000 toys last year. head to national harbor this afternoon if you're looking for something to do with the kids. you'll see this guy cruising down the potomac. his elves will be there, too, and so will the grinch all on jet skis. the fun starts at 12:30 this

afternoon. it will be cold to be out there. >> it is a sure sign. you know christmas is here when you see them on the potomac. >> that's true. it will be chilly. will they have snow falling on them perhaps. >> everyone wants to know. coming up on 4:41. tom kierein is keeping an eye on the christmas forecast. tom? good morning. it's dropped 25 to 30 degrees since then. reagan national down to 37 under a clear sky. northwest winds around 5 to 15. wind chills are in the 20s. temperatures will be hovering in the mid 30s through the mid morning. lots of sunshine and clouds will be building midday. i think by noontime we'll have our temperatures around 40 degrees. winds will be gusting to around 20 miles an hour and as a result our wind chill, even though temperatures near 40, the wind chills will start to be dropping down into the low 20s and it'll feel like the low 20s. even though it's hovering between noon and 4:00 or 5:00. it's between 1:00 to maybe 4:00 that we could get a few

scattered snow showers, maybe a few flurries flying through the air. otherwise, just quite a bit of cloudiness for a time during the afternoon and the winds may be picking up a little bit more. i think gusting to around 25, maybe to 30 miles an hour by mid afternoon. that's going to bring in some colder air turning much colder tonight and for christmas day. how much the temperatures will drop, that's coming up at 4:51. now a look at the road conditions and travel around the metro area. maynard edwards is in. >> thank you, tom. good morning. wee have a single vehicle crash at falls church. we do have a disabled vehicle at georgetown pike causing the right shoulder to be blocked. as you can see with such light volume, not causing much of a traffic disturbance this morning. overall, very light and an easy commute. coming up, we'll take a look at your route 50 commute. aaron and barbara, good morning. >> good morning. >> thank you, maynard. 4:42 now. not in the spirit of the

holidays? the surprising message a sandwich shop owner sent to his employees just before christmas. also ahead, have you finished your holiday shopping? if not, you're not alone. the crowds lining up at area

i'm melissa mollet at the live desk. a bomb has kept the former pakistani ruler from his treason case hearing. this is actually happening in islamabad. a bomb and two pistols were found along the route he was taking to attend that first hearing that has now been delayed until january 1st. the treason case extends from his charges. 15 before the hour now. today an appeals court in utah could block same-sex weddings in that case. a u.s. district court judge

overturned the gay band. yesterday the judge agreed to let same-sex marriages continue while the state appeals that. for now utah joins d.c. where same-sex couples can legally wed. 2014 could be a better year for a d.c. teacher fired last year. the school system is trying to hire him or her back. it turns out he or she was hired because of a poor performance review. the problem is that rating should have been higher. there was a mistake in how the value he or she added to student achievement was calculated. in fact, 44 teachers in the district received inaccurate evaluations. the new head of prince gorges county schools has hired some help to improve students' performances in the classroom there. kevin maxwell added four new executive level positions. they cost the school system more than a million and a half dollars though. maxwell says the new positions will help make the school system more organized. a chicago sandwich shop is not in the holiday spirit at all. the boss there fired all the

employees sunday night via e-mail. the firings come a few weeks after workers for snarks sub shot participated in the fight for 15 raleigh seeking higher wages. the owner says it had nothing to do with that strike. they said they are blamed on the slow christmas season. the e-mail says the restaurant will close for a month so it can become remodeled and become a burger joint. employees can reapply for their jobs after the restaurant reopens. right now people are finishing their lists and checking them twice because today is the final day to shop for those last-minute christmas gifts. several big-name retailers are staying open until tonight allowing shoppers to find everything on their list. for the first time, kohl's will be staying open until 6:00 this evening. for all of you parents out there, ties are us will be open until 9:00. the extra hours in stores are getting some people in the giving spirit. >> nothing like seeing a smile on the kid's face when he owns that on christmas morning.

>> macy's and k-mart will also be holding extended hours today. thirteen before the hour now. he doesn't even know the families he's helped this christmas quietly paying off their lay away debts. one secret santa hopes his actions inspire you. northern virginia bureau reporter has that story from sterling. >> reporter: when you see stories with a shadowy figure like this, it's often because the person is scared to speak out but this person who we'll call nick isn't afraid, he's humble. >> any investment you make in the happiness of a stranger really pays a return 100 fold. >> reporter: we tracked nick down after hearing of his generosity. last week he walked into this toys"r"us in sterling, bought just a few presents for his kids, and dozens more for at least seven other families. his second time this month paying down the lay away. but why do it? >> i would say the bigger question is why not? i heard of people doing it so i went to the manager and asked if i could do that. they said, yes.

they printed out a list of people's lay away items, all the ones that were going to be due within a week. >> we checked with our affiliates and found nick's not alone. in wisconsin a mystery person walked into walmart paid for 13 families who had gifts on lay away. in florida this man went straight to the lay away counter and covered the debts of 76 people. >> the dollar amounts doesn't matter. it's the act of trying to make a difference when you hear somebody in need. >> some things you should know about nick. he lives comfortably, but he's far from ostentatious. just a few gifts under his tree for his family and he wants his actions to spread. >> i would say if the story touches you, that you should take up my torch and its light will lead you off the path of cynicism and indifference and its fire would warm your heart and it's warmed mine. >> in sterling, virginia, i'm david culver, news 4. >> that is such a wonderful story, isn't it?

>> doing good things just because you should do good things. >> it makes people feel good. it's chilly out there this morning, tom. it's hard to get up. >> the spirit of the season is upon us and it certainly is feeling like winter again after that balmy pattern we had those last few days. tremendous drop in temperatures overnight. in fact, we've dropped about 25 to 30 degrees since yesterday. >> ouch. >> at the same time. incredible change. the sky has cleared out. here's a look at the view from space here. storm team 4 satellite radar not showing anymore rain. it's long gone. we've cleared out here. just a few high clouds over the bay in the eastern shore. as a result of the rain yesterday, we've got a little bit of ponding of water around in some areas so watch out for that. it might freeze up a little bit over the next couple of hours. no travel problems up and down the eastern seaboard. maybe a few showers in florida later today. there's a few snow showers here in western new york state, around buffalo and into western

pennsylvania. sh shouldn't be causing any travel problems. cleveland, detroit, a few snow showers. that's a disturbance coming over us today. light snow across montana, idaho, montana. no travel problems. texas over to southwest and along the pacific coast and from los angeles all the way up to seattle should not have any travel problems so pretty good travel day for travelers heading out and coming into to washington, too. right now a cold morning. we are at or below freezing northern western suburbs. around the bay it's generally in the mid to upper 30s. and it's just near 30 degrees shenandoah valley into the mountains. upper 20s. parts of northwestern maryland and western maryland and west virginia. as the day progresses we'll have our temperatures hold steady here in the low to mid 30s through 8 or 9:00 with quite a bit of sunshine. we'll have clouds building. should be near 40 by then.

during the afternoon, even though we're hovering in the 40s, winds gusting 25, 30 miles an hour. it will feel like 20 to 30 degrees. a disturbance might trigger a snow shower maybe between 2:00 and 5:00. then we turn much colder tonight and by dawn tomorrow we are going to be down into the 20s. so a clear christmas eve this evening under a clear sky down to the upper 20s by midnight and then low 20s by dawn on christmas morning. christmas day, sunshine. highs just mid 30s. christmas night should be clear and cold and then by dawn on thursday the mid 20s. but thursday afternoon ought to hit the mid 40s. partly sunny. highs again mid 40s. as we get into the weekend, saturday looking sunny as well as sunday. partly cloudy to sunny and highs upper 40s saturday, low 50s on sunday. morning lows still below freezing each morning as we get into the first part of next week. a little bit chillier.

low 40s with increasing clouds. maynard edwards in for danella with our traffic. >> good morning, tom. here's route 50 at 301. as you can see, very light volume. no problems at all. heading on into the district on route 50, here's new york avenue at leesburg road. very light volume. if it's business as usual, that memo hasn't gotten out to everyone. we are dealing with a single vehicle crash in falls church. idle wood road appears to be closed. aaron and barbara, good morning. >> maynard, thank you. good morning to you as well. well, if you are up watching us at this early, early hour, chances are you didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. >> that's right. you're not alone. coming up on "news 4 today" at 5:00, how much shut eye americans are admitting they get at night. first, the special holiday surprise for a family thanks to a group of prince gorges county firefighters. this is lieutenant davis here in afghanistan.

i'd like to wish my mom, my two brothers, my dad, my girlfriend

>> announcer: "news 4 today", your emmy award winning morning newscast. 4:56 right now. and later today cardinal donald whirl will celebrate a christmas mass. mass starts at 10:00. tomorrow the noon mass will be led at the basilica at the

national shrine of the immaculate conception. well, today francis can fryers will kick off the seven nights of lights. they will bless 1,000 luminaries. that's on quincy street in northeast, d.c. volunteers will then light the candles. they will stay lit through new year's eve. each luminaireia is for a person. firefighters in laurel teemed up with santa to deliver gifts to a family in need. they collected information about families in need. earlier this month they chose one family to help out and the kim family won. >> we were at the point where we wasn't celebrating christmas. it makes me happy that we get to celebrate now. >> the firefighters brought food baskets for everyone and toys for the three boys. this tradition has been going on

for several years now. and the countdown is officially on now. >> that's right. any minute now you will be able to start tracking santa with norad's santa tracker. satellite's already tracking the big guy as he delivers toys all over the world. this year there are a few extra things, like a secret file about the santa tracking mission, games the kids can play, and even santa's favorite music. the talking santa app on the iphone and android will let kids speak directly to santa. that app is free. things change, don't they? they didn't have apps 20 years ago. >> no, but i do remember norad having this as a child and watching it on tv and being anxious to see it, see where santa was. >> that website never crashes. they're always ready for everybody to be looking at it. >> you often wonder, how does he get around and get to all those places. >> there you have it. >> yeah. figure it out. stay with us. "news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. >> announcer: "news 4 today"

starts now. a busy road shut down for hours after a frightening crash that left a car wrapped around a pole. what we're learning about the conditions of those who were in that vehicle. >> plus, banks are easing their restrictions on target customers this morning as we learn the retail giant is now under investigation for the massive security breach. welcome to "news 4 today" on this tuesday, december 24th, christmas eve. i'm aaron gilcrist. >> i'm barbara harrison. a lot of government workers aren't heading home because of schedule. opm says the government will remain open today despite tomorrow's holiday. opm says that's been their standing policy for years when christmas falls on a wednesday. the government has remained open six of the last nine times it happened since 1946. well, if you are heading off to work or maybe out to the malls to do some last-minute shopping, a lot of folks doing that, you will need to bundle up today. we are dealing with a big-time return of winter this