warriors. he and his wife jill went room to room to say hello to patients and their families and chatted with hospital staff. the vice president thanked the service members for their service and sacrifice. you can use christmas to teach your kids a history lesson. this is how hundreds spent the day wred, watching the re-enactment of george washington crossing the delaware river. he made the rossing on christmas day in 1776. it turned the tide of the revolutionary war. this is the 61st year the crossing has been re-enacted. >> certainly cold when washington it the first time. >> when washington did it was windy, blustery, there was snow and one of the actors yesterday, they were doing it in 30-degree weather, how cold it was and that they did this over a span of almost two days and keep in mind that the revolutionary war is eight years so they had many a winter of fighting in those conditions and only two of their soldiers died in all of that.

>> look at you, angie. >> big history buff. i know. i actually want to go back to school and to that. get my graduate degree. >> that's a good one for you. >> i will stop with the education lesson. right now we are just a minute shy of 5:00 a.m. "news 4 today" continues right now. and we're staying on top of breaking news at 5:00 a.m., news 4's melissa mollet is at the scene of a house fire in southeast d.c. >> reporter: we have several engines out here this morning. this is for a house fire. it's the left side of the duplex you are looking at here right now. firefighters will be 0 out here on the scene for some time. now if you could actually see beyond the tree right there, it is completely gutted up on the second floor, very dark inside. we had firefighters up there earlier. the call came out around 4:00 this morning and as i was telling you earlier i actually spoke with a homeowner. i spoke with them more at length a few minutes ago.

he said he was sleeping up in the second floor. he has lived here for 30 years. he woke up for some reason and saw and smelled the smoke. now he does not have a cell phone or a home phone so he ran outside and started knocking on neighbors' doors and some folks ended up calling 911. fire investigators telling us they are reporting conditions inside the home. it's going to take some time to kind of do the overhaul, go through the house, search, and make sure everything inside is saturated enough that they feel comfortable leaving. still have a lot of fire crews on the scene, going to be out here on the scene for quite some time just making sure everything is okay. the one man inside did get out just fine. back to you. >> all right, thanks, melissa. 5:00 now on your thursday morning. good morning. i'm adam tuss. >> and i'm angie goff. eun and aaron are off this morning. >> did you notice the? >> probably enjoying their christmas still which is nice. welcome to "news 4 today" on this thursday, december 26, 2013. we sure hope that you enjid your christmas holiday as well. but it is back to work for many

of you and we're waking up to breezy conditions as evident of the flagpole at union station there. >> a little breezy there. a cold start to the morning. amelia tells us it's going to warm up later on in the day. is that right? >> exactly, adam. temperatures will be a good ten degrees warmer than yesterday and it might be breezy outside right now like you saw at union station but you'll notice the winds even a little bit more later today. on storm team 4 radar i'm tracking some light snow over martinsburg and hagerstown, so i-81 this morning you're driving along that road. you could be dealing with some is flurries. areas to the north of washington have the chance of some light snow for the rest of the morning hours. washington, areas to the south, you are dry. temperatures right now, well, we're in the 20s. 29 in washington and by 8:00 a.m. we'll hit that 30 degree mark. however, for the morning hours, we will have plenty of clouds around areas like upper marlboro, not worried about flurries. later this afternoon more sunshine. i'll have your afternoon

forecast in ten minutes. maynard, how are the roads looking? we're looking at 95 in virginia. here is a look from the fairfax cou county parkway. a little bit more volume building but still moving at full speed and from quantico to the beltway just a 23-minute ride this morning so far. rails, metro is on time. marc and vre are operating on an s schedule. marc will be on an s schedule today and tomorrow and vre on an s schedule through new year's eve. >> new developments in a maryland man's kidnapping overnight. let's go to molette green at the live desk. adam, we've learned the state department is working very hard to try to authenticate this newest, latest video of a rockville man held in cab tift in pa -- captivity in pakistan. this is from two years ago, a picture of him when al qaeda militants kidnapped the development contractor from his bedroom in that country.

and this newest video sent to select media including "the washington post." weinstein, who is now 72 years old, pleads for the obama add prgs to negotiate his release. we've learned this video was not independently sent to the state department or even weinstein's family. they got a copy from "the post." that is the latest from the live desk. i'm molette green. back to you. new this morning, police in new jersey are investigating a deadly shooting on christmas day. someone killed two teenagers. one was a 13-year-old girl. the other a 14-year-old boy. a third person was also shot and police say it was a child, but they did not release an age. that person is now in critical condition. police say the shooting happened around 10:00 last night in newark, new jersey. earlier in the day someone shot he three men in the same area but it was at a strip club nearby. calvert county investigators looking for the source of a deadly house fire that marred christmas morning.

check out the pictures of the aftermath taken by the baynet.com. the home in owings caught fire and quickly spread to three cars. one person in the home was found dead. firefighters say about 250,000 dollars in damage was done. they're still searching for the cause. we now know what sparked a christmas morning fire in silver spring that sent a disabled veteran and two firefighters to the hospital. investigators say the fire at the home started after a flammable liquid was used in the home's fireplace. one man in the home and two firefighters suffered burns. five people forced from that home. if you were expecting a present yesterday that never arrived, you were not alone. but it may come today. u.p.s. wasn't able to deliver all packages to customers on time. jackie bensen spoke to one local woman who is still waiting for one very special package to arrive. >> reporter: people tell us they noticed somethings wrong late tuesday afternoon. they went online to check the progress of their packages and noticed nothing was happening. jessica jackson spent tuesday

waiting and waiting and waiting for a package she'd ordered online from amazon.com to arrive at her montgomery county home. >> the tracking never changed on the website. it just said from 10:00 a.m. yesterday it said on the truck for delivery and i'm like this is just down in rockville. can i pick it up myself? >> reporter: the package never arrived. jackson was not alone. what retailers called an unexpected surge of online orders appeared to have strained the limits of delivery companies. late tuesday united parcel service which delivers around 45% of u.s. packages issued a statement saying it wouldn't be able to get some goods to customers by christmas. the volume of air packages in the u.p.s. system did exceed capacity as demand was much greater than our forecast. u.p.s. expect ed to receive abot 8 million packages monday but got many more. how many were not delivered is not yet known.

jackson has her fingers crossed the missing package had will be delivered thursday because it contains a very important gift, one she cannot tell us about. >> it's for my mom. she loves this channel so she'll probably watch the news, so i can't say what it is. >> reporter: in addition to refunding shipping and handling charges, amazon is also offering disappointed customers a $20 gift card. jackie bensen, news 4. 5:06 now on this thursday morning. the man charged with killing a tsa agent at l.a.x. will be in court today. paul ciancia will be arraigned. he was indicted last week on 11 charges including murder. prosecutors say ciancia walked into the airport last month, pulled a rifle out of his bag and opened fire. he could get the death penalty if convicted. christmas morning goes up in flames. still ahead, what police think caused the fire that killed three siblings. your morning commute could be getting more expensive. the move on capitol hill that could have you digging deeper in your pocket for getting to work. and amelia is here with the and the temperature right

now, adam, is 29 degrees. a windchill of 20 when you factor in the winds of ab

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of the national shrine of the immaculate the conception yesterday are for the noon christmas mass. cardinal donald wuerl delivered the mass and then visited guests at the dinner. they serve a free meal to those alone or in need. pope francis broke with tradition as head of the catholic church using one language to deliver that message. popes benedict and john paul ii would deliver the christmas mass in dozens of languages, pope francis spoke in just italian to address the 75,000 people packed in st. peter's square. he joined with atheists to work to a homemade peace. the pope also prayed for the end of conflicts around the world. quite a scene there. it's always amazing to see that christmas day mass in italy. >> and this pope more than ever received different crowds coming out. >> indeed. >> a wonderful day for that. right now we're looking at 5:11. we want to talk about what's going on outside because it is

still fairly cold for those of you coming up with your strat y strategy, right, amelia? you want to bundle up if you're heading out this morning. 29 degrees is our temperature this morning and it is a little bit breezy in washington right now. so the windchill temperature or how it really feels outside down to around 20 degrees. also this morning we're looking at plenty of clouds across the a area. here we are at 6:30 on future weather through 8:00 a.m. notice mostly cloudy skies, even a few flurries this morning north of washington. like getting into the midday and after noon hours, the clouds clear out and will be mostly sunny later today and a high temperature of 45. now tomorrow plenty of sunshine but how warm will it be? i'll have that forecast coming up in ten minutes. maynard. how are the roads? still a very sleepy pace. prince george's county beltway at 210. pretty empty right now. a few more cars here on the woodrow wilson bridge. again, the holiday pace

continu continues. we're dealing with closed michigan avenue in northeast between irving and franklin streets due to a water main break a. fire closing minnesota avenue southeast between nelson place and m place this morning. back to you in the studio. >> thanks, maynard. plenty of kids probably have some extra gadgets this morning. still ahead, how more and more young kids going high tech already. >> i felt hands just grab me. i heard some people screaming the car was going to explode.

the time right now 5:15. a u.s. drone strike could be responsible for killing militants in pakistan. they fired two missiles at a home near the pakistan border. initial reports say at least three were killed. so far this morning no comment from the u.s. about the suspe suspected strike. and today an ohio man charged with raping and killing a young girl will be arraigned. prosecutors say metzger killed

murphy earlier this month. police found the 9-year-old's body in a trash bin in the trailer park where they were neighbors. police are still looking for the man who shot five people outside a new jersey nightclub yesterday morning. three of those victims died. they include the club owner's son. detectives think the bouncer stopped the gunman from going inside. that's when he pulled the gun and opened fire. investigators say it's li likely a space heater to blame for a tragic christmas morning in louisiana. three siblings, a 12-year-old girl and two boys ages 12 and 9 were killed when a fire ripped through this mobile home. 12 people were staying in the home at the time. and there were no working smoke detectors. the father of the children was able to rescue one child but was severely burned on his arms and couldn't get to the other kids. at least 18 people are dead this morning after an overloaded sailboat capsized in the caribbean. the boats were carrying 55

migrants from haiti trying to make it to miami or the bahamas. police from turks and caicos intercepted the boat and were towing it to shore when it capsized trapping people underneath. five are still missing including a 10-year-old child. police say each person on the boat paid between $500 and $1,000 for the trip. take a look at this crash on a california freeway. the 17-year-old driver, 72-year-old driver of that burning car survived thanks to other drivers who saw it all happen. beverly white from our sister station in l.a. spoke to two of those heroes. >> reporter: witnesses say traffic was mercifully light when they shot this christmas day car fire on the 405. >> i see this guy trying to open the car and they said fire and trying to break the window. >> reporter: one of those guys from don thompson driving s southbound to work when he saw

the fiery crash. he parked his rig and jumped two divideers to reach the unconscious elderly driver. >> it tonight feel real when you're doing something like that and you know you have to do something and save someone's life or you're going to watch someone burn to death alive and you just have to do what you have to do. >> reporter: thompson unbuckled the man's seat belt and pulled him to safety as several good samaritans held him. >> i just felt hands grab me and started pulling me over the rail and i heard people screaming the car is going to explode. it's on fire. it's going to blow up. >> reporter: no explosion thanks to fast action. this slightly injured rescuer believes instinct and timing spared the car's driver today. >> he only had maybe 10 to 15 seconds to be saved and just out of the grace of god i was there and we had some good samaritans there.

he made it. >> reporter: for this witness it was more like a holiday miracle. >> a big christmas present for this guy. i hope he's okay. >> that was beverly white reporting. the man was taken to the hospital with several injuries but doctors expect him to recover. in news 4 your health this morning, a new study shows head injuries could affect brain function even if you don't suffer a concussion. researchers studied a group of colle college athletes before and after their seasons. 20% who played a contact sport scored much worse on postseason brain and cognitive tests than expected. scans showed the players also had damage to nerve signals connecting the right and left sides of their brains. if you ride a bus or train to get to work, you may be paying more for your commute next year. congress failed to renew a tax credit that rewards mass transit riders. the current law allows bus or rail commuters to withhold up to $245 a month in pretax income. that cap will fall to $130 a

month. congress could renew the credit when they return to washington january 6. it's estimated about 400,000 people use the transit benefit in our region. it's 5:20. crews are working through the holidays to get the lights back on to thousands who spent christmas in the cold and dark. more than 100,000 in michigan and more than 15,000 in maine and vermont still do not have elected tr electricity. it was knocked down in an ice storm. a messy drive in michigan yesterday. there were dozens of accidents out there. temperatures the have remained far below freezing making it very difficult for power crews to remove ice on power lines. to think we are not even a week into the official winter. >> you think your christmas dinner was bad because something burned but imagine not having power. >> five days ago. hard to imagine. take a look at our weather around here. a chilly start but looking like it will improve today.

>> absolutely. we are looking at cloudiness this morning that will give way to afternoon sunshine and not just clouds but also some light snow. some flurries falling well to the north. storm team 4 radar tracking flurry activity up around hagerstown. most of the area seeing plenty of clouds right now. putting the radar into motion, storm team 4, hagerstown, maryland. some very light snow there. elsewhere across the area is dry. the d.c. met the row area, you will remain dry today but, again, clouds will be around this morning. here we are at 6:30. you notice plenty of clouds still that last through 8:00 a.m. and then once we get through the midday, the clouds clear out. we'll be partly to mostly sunny this afternoon with a high temperature of about 45. we're at 29 degrees. by noon we'll break that 40-degree mark. for tomorrow a high of 46 degrees.

plenty of sunshine throughout the day. for saturday, mostly sunny. a high temperature of 51 degrees. so comfortable on saturday and that will be the better of the two weekend days. on sunday rain is likely. the timing of the rain now does look to be mainly later in the day. as we look ahead to next week on monday, mostly cloudy. a high of 44. new year's eve day is looking dry. a high temperature of 35 and on new year's day also still pretty kw quiet with the weather. plenty of clouds around. temperatures typical for this time of year. a high temperature on new year's day of 40 degrees. maynard, how are the roads? overall the roadways are in really good shape. still the holiday pace. a look at d.c. 295 and we do have a few folks heading into work or maybe heading to the mall. 395 at glebe road. a couple more cars still in the roadway but running at full speed and no problems to report. the rails, we're going to take a

look at those. metro is running on time. marc and vre on the s schedule, marc on the s schedule today and tomorrow and the s schedule on vre runs through new year's eve and coming up we'll check your commute from columbia pike and in montgomery county. back to you in the studio. 2013 not over yet but we know the most popular destinations for jet setters in 2014. vacation rental website flip key says rio will be the next hot spot next year. the city will be the popular destination because brazil is hosting the world cup in june. florida destinations round out the top five. experts say miami beach, orlando, can kissimmee, naples, and key west will all be among the most visited spots in 2014. at 5:24 we may also see a number of new office makeovers in 2014. a company called regis that designs flexible work spaces predict three work lace trends.

one is an increase in third place to work. that's somewhere that isn't the office but also isn't your home. second, a redesign of the open office plans. workers are complaining about noise and a lack of privacy. some companies may get rid of office space altogether and opt for as needed offices, things like a drop-in lounge. >> a lot of people telecommute so they're not working in offices. things are changing quite a bit. >> that might work. right now 5:24 and a lot of kids on santa a list probably found some things under the tree. >> a growing number glued to their mobile devices. some are still in their diapers. you successfully synced. >> reporter: kids are naturally drawn to the glowing light of electronic devices. even parents reluctant to embrace the kid technology

revolution have given had in to repeated requests to hand their phones over even if it's just for a few moments. >> whether we like it or not, these extraordinary new devices are here to stay. >> reporter: ceo of the nonprofit group common sense media. his group recently found a giant leap in the number of young children with access to mobile devices. within the past two years, the percentage of kids under age 9 who have used smart phones and tablets soared from 38% to more than 70%. this includes more than a third of kids under 2. >> you have all sorts of toddlers and young kids from 0 to 5 walking up to screens, tv screens, and trying to swipe them thinking that they're a tablet or a smartphone. >> reporter: some tablets are now designed for tiny hands. there's even an infant bouncy seat outfitted for an ipad. the key is setting a good example. >> if you're glued to your phone or your computer or your ipad

and you're not paying attention to your kids, they will do the same thing. they will watch your behavior. >> reporter: maybe they won't watch as much as is on the screen if parents reinforce interaction with the three dimensi dimensional world. erica edwards, nbc news. another change the report found kids are not spending as much time on the computer watching tv or playing video games because they have hand held devices. >> true story. >> we've seen that. >> my 2-year-old said we need to text daddy. what happened to the phone call, right? 5:26 on your thursday morning. coming up, credit card concerns. the new data some experts worry was exposed during the huge security breach at target. first this morning, watching a busy day for health care enrollment, even though the deadline has already passed. and we're staying on top of breaking news. you're looking live right now at the scene of a house update nex.

it's 5:27. breaking news. 5:29. a fire has torn through a home in southeast. news 4's melissa mollet with more on the investigation. >> reporter: take a look here behind me. they are upstairs where the homeowner tells me he was sleeping.

he woke up around 4:00 this morning, saw smoke, does not have a phone inside the house so came running outside and began ganging on his neighbor's doors. these firefighters going through things trying to determine what, in fact, started the blaze. both on the first and second floor is why it is taking them longer to go through things. took them about 20 minutes total to knock the fire down, again, the one man who lives inside the home has lived here for 30 years. he's still on the scene but not wanting to talk. they tell me because of the conditions. back to you. thanks, melissa. another big story as you step outside. you'll find the cold the moment you walk out the door.

you'll need whatever you can get together. a look at what we'll see today and when. hi, amelia. >> good morning to you, angie, i hope you had a wonderful christmas. it's chilly outside and breezy. we're tracking plenty of clouds around today. those clouds will clear so your planner for areas like manassas, 9:00 a.m., mostly cloudy. still plenty of clouds around for 11:00 a.m. at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. temperatures warm into the mid-40s. today temperatures a good ten degrees warmer than yesterday. even washington will see plenty of sunshine. >> we do have a problem with metro red line single tracking and that is going to slow that commute up a little bit. still a light pace.

east-west highway at colesville very little traffic at this point. and wisconsin avenue and bradley boulevard equally empty this morning. the roads still light. >> the white house expects this to be another busy day. it's counting on thousands of uninsured americans spending this day for coverage. danielle leigh joins us live from capitol hill. good morning, danielle. >> reporter: angie, good morning. today is going to bring a whole new set of challenges helping enrollees ensure they're covered and reaching out to people, the young invincibles who missed the deadline. a healthcare.gov twitter post tells those who missed the

deadline they'll be considered by january 1 on a case-by-case basis. everyone else starting the signup process today can expect insurance in february. insurers say who enrolls is just as important as how many. >> getting younger and healthier people to purchase coverage to help balance out costs. >> reporter: they are hoping could convince people obamacare is worth the investment. >> a lot of people go about it they don't care. nothing will happen to me until you need it and then you panic. >> reporter: consultants warn those who are enrolled can't relax just yet. >> lots of people have signed up. they believe they have coverage. there's lots of errors. >> reporter: now comes the difficult as it a being of making sure all those applications are correct and proce processed. the next step is making sure

your paperwork and payment have been received by the insurance company. if you haven't heard from them in about a week give them a call. i'm danielle leigh news 4. thanks, danielle. over to the live desk and molette green. >> adam, take a look at this video out in california. this is close to l.a. more than 300 fair fighters right now have their hands full b battling this brush fire. it's sheltered from the winds. residents are staying inside. of a report of a person. that turned out to be a false alarm. the fire danger out there is high with the dry conditions and summerlike temperatures. i'm molette green. back to you now.

5:35 right now. a u.s. senator hopes to better protect you. robert menendez will outside a plan outside a target store in jersey city later this morning. he says it will ensure you are protected if a retailer fails to safeguard your personal information. nbc news has learned hackers may have stolen more information than originally thought. a senior payments executive for major bank says that the encrypted bank p.i.n. numbers may have been stolen by hackers. that would make it easier to make fraud leapt charges and the hackers cracked highly sophisticated encryption. 40 million customers were impacted by the breach. the first day of kwanzaa. the seven-day holiday focuses on the african-american community that includes family, creativity and faith. and this is one of the busine

busiest shopping days of the year in other countries called boxing day. and it falls on the day after christmas every year. and looks kind of like black friday today in australia. hundreds of people waiting outside stores for hours so that they can get in on some great sales. australians are will spend, they estimate, $1.8 billion today. >> not this kind of boxing. this kind of boxing. >> there may be some going on to get the good deal. you'll probably find good crowds if you head to the mall here today, too. >> in fact, many people here will be returning gifts or exchanging them, not necessarily buying them. if you are going to try and make a return, check the fine print before heading over to the store. also remember to bring your coupons or your gift cards. you may get store credit instead of cash and you may have to use that credit right away so that's a good question to ask the cashier. you can also tray to return items online. some sites are offering cash or

gift cards for unwanted gifts. taking speeding tickets to a whole new level here. pou how police turned the table. and also ahead, a holiday heist. where the search is on for the person who stole a giant menorah from a front yard. and meet two sisters who are both mothers to this little girl. the result of a gift that will last an absolute lifetime. and on storm of washington

hagerstown. what can you expect this morning? imagine making money for being pulled over for speed iin. drivers in one florida city had a chance to do just that yesterday. police in melbourne handed out scratchoff lottery tickets along with warnings to drivers they pulled over. officers bought the lottery tickets with their own money and say they wanted to spread a bit of holiday cheer while keeping the roads safe. >> certainly not advocating speeding. that is not the way to hit the lottery. >> and a nice gesture at that. indeed. the morning weather looking pretty cold start out there. we have a few people out on the roads. amelia is here with a look at the forecast. it's a cloudy and cold start. some flurries showing up on the radar. sat late and ray tar imagery, you can see the light snow

activity in washington county making its way through wf of wf as well. now most of this will not be impacting you, just some light flurries possible in areas like frederick and loudoun county mainly through the mid to late morning hours. otherwise notice plenty of clouds right now. the good news those clouds break up as we work our way into the afternoon hours, so through 9:00 a.m., the chance of flurries north of washington and plenty of clouds but plenty of sunshine this afternoon and warmer. a high temperature of 45 degrees. any problems on the roads right now, maynard? >> none really to speak of that will slow you down. at the dulles toll road you can see things moving along very well this hour. here is a live look at 495 at the robinson terminal. a 12-minute commute to 95 and 395. we do have a disabled vehicle 95 northbound in virginia. the right shoulder just prior to route 123 but it's not causing a traffic problem at this point in time.

back to you in the studio. thanks, maynard. forced to shut its doors. why two local businesses are closed this morning after police forced them to shut down.

finally answer whether men or women need more slaep. president obama and the first lady spent part of their christmas day visiting with u.s. service members. the obamas stopped he at the marine corps base in hawaii. the president made a few remarks in the dining hall and thanked the military for their service. he took fphotos with the families. vice president biden spent christmas day in our area visiting with wounded warriors at walter reed in maryland. biden and his wife, jill, went room to room to say hello to patients and their families. they chatted with hospital staff. the vice president also thanked service members for their

service and sacrifices. 5:46 right now. this morning montgomery county police are searching for the person who stole this menorah from a man's front yard. this is video right now of the 5 foot tall menorah from a few years ago. the owner says when he got to his germantown home after work tuesday night it was gone. friends in the neighborhood told him it had been left in pieces in a nearby yard so he went to collect the pieces yesterday morning and they were gone. firefighters in massachusetts say a fire at this nativity scene on christmas day appears to be purely coincidence. they believe the fire was fueled by hay that surrounded the scene in medford. firefighters are looking at the elected t electrical wiring in the nativity scene to see if that is where the fire started. two restaurants in prince george's county will have to argue their case in order to reopen their doors. police shut down rose cafe and puzzles event center this past weekend. both were operating as nightclubs and did not have

proper permits. rose cafe is in capitol heights. puzzles is on stcht barnabas road. both businesses must stay closed at least until the outcome of an appeals hearing. 5:47 right now. and this is new video out of north korea. during the newscast the anchor asks the south korean government if it would choose war or peace. he then urges the south to pick peace. the newscast also shows north korean leader kim jong-un visiting an army unit. earlier this week south korea's president urged traps to retaliate mercilessly if north the dor korean -- one donated an egg to the other so she could have a baby. doreen gentzler on the relationship. >> a whole lot of god and then mommy did the rest.

>> reporter: that's how shea explains to her daughter how she came into the world. >> emma has been able to process that at her age. i don't know what what level but it's heard and repeated. >> reporter: she is referring to her egg donor, her sister, jennifer kimball, who offered the donation when she learned she wouldn't be able to have a successful pregnancy on her own. >> i wanted to help her. she helped me whenever i needed it. >> reporter: so that means both woman is both aunt and mom to emma who is now 4 years old. traditionally couples looking for donor eggs have turned to anonymous donors but they're seeing more and more people looking to family members. >> and many couples the idea of having a dounor within the famiy is appealing. most often it's a sister and there's the thought that thises to maintain a genetic link. >> reporter: dominion reproductive endocrinologist says using a family donor has lots of benefits. thi there is

knowledge about the donor's medical history and it can be a lot less expensive. an anonymous donors can get paid up to $10,000. with a family member the couple only pays for medical expenses. >> the right family dynamic and if the sister or another family member is a good donor it can work out very well. >> reporter: but for these sisters the payoff went much deeper than saving money. the two were separated when kimball was a year old. their mother was killed in a car accident and older sister left home. both ended up in foster care and they didn't reconnect until their father passed away many years later when kimball was an adult with only the vaguest memories. >> it's thrown us together. we spent so many years apart that i don't know that you can catch up with that in such a short period of time. >> reporter: how has this affected your relationship with your sister? >> just make a firm feeling of family and love and

togetherness. >> what you have been given, your lot, is not always the end result. you can make lemonade, and i think that what we've done is make lemonade. really good lemonade. and we've made emma. >> reporter: dore doreen gentzler. family dynamics can change and potentially cause conflict. it's obviously a big decision that needs a lot of discussion. >> great story. so many layers there. the time 5:50. and, guys, listen up. you may want to let your wife sleep a little later -- >> what? >> yep. let them sleep a little later this morning if that is possible. she might need that sleep a little more than you do. si scientists, we have recertificaresearch that proves this. women need more sleep than men and that's because they do more

multitasking during the day and, gu ys, trust us, you don't want your wife to be sleep deprived. searchers say women who don't get enough sleep often suffer from depression and become angry easily. >> you don't say? and if it makes you feel any better, she is probably asleep right now and we're here. >> okay, good. it's still very early. the other thing, well fed. you don't have your wife if she's not eating she's going to be angry. >> all after sudden up here, happy wife, happy life. >> i like how you think. so, amelia, hopefully you got some nice sleep -- well, you got a few hours. >> i slept pretty well last night and the weather today, well, it's going to be warmer than yesterday. it was chilly if you were outside on christmas at all yesterday. definitely noticing that crisp air. a high temperature of only 33 degrees. well, we're almost already at 33 degrees this morning. 29 is the it temperature in washington. highs today ten degrees warmer. a good ten degrees warmer than

they were yesterday. you can see by 11:00 a.m. we're near that 40-degree mark. 3:00 we'll hit our high temperature of about 44, 45 degrees. on storm team 4 radar i am tracking some very light snow just flurry activity this morning. potentially dealing with that activity. otherwise plenty of clouds around. satellite and radar showing these clouds moving in overnight hours. clouds last through the morning hours but look at what happens on future weather. so 6:30 this morning still plenty of clouds, maybe some flurries around north of washington for the morning hours. into the midday and afternoon hours, the clouds clear out. plenty of sunshine later today and, again, that will help to wam our temperatures. right now you we're at 29 degrees. again, by noon, we'll be around 40. now for tomorrow, similar

temperatures but sunshine throughout the day. tomorrow morning starting off 7:00 a.m., temperature around 30 degrees. by the afternoon sunny. a temperature high tomorrow on friday of 46. for saturday the better of the two weekend days, plenty of sunshine and a high of 51. sunday is looking like we will have some rain later in the day. a bit cooler. a high temperature object sunday of 47 degrees. monday we're dry. plenty of clouds. a high of 44. new year's eve day chilly but dry. a high temperature of 35. new year's eve night is looking dry. we're not worried about rain or snow. on for the new year, temperature around 40 degrees and mostly cloudy skies. maynard, still tracking problem free conditions on the roads? for the most part problem free. we do have metro problems. earlier track problem at medical center on the red line is cleared. but running slow in both directions. you can expect a minor delay.

closure michigan avenue northeast between irving and franklin street and that is due to a water main break. we just heard from them and that is expected to be closed six to eight hours. that will hang with us for the morning. here is a look at a disabled vehicle. inner loop of the beltway on the wilson bridge. looks like a tractor-trailer is slowing you down there and nice and clear on m street at the key bridge. back to you in the studio. thanks, maynard. this is a fun story. a connecticut town has adopted a new christmas tradition to pay it forward. since early tuesday almost every customer who has used the drive-through at this newington starbucks has found their order paid for by the person ahead of them in line. nearly 450 customers had paid it forward. the giving spirit will continue today. employees say $45 was left over so the first several orders this morning will also be free. great story there. the. >> pretty awesome. well, christmas is now behind us but the shopping deals

are far from over. rnbc's hampton pearson is here to tell us about the discounts stores are offering and they're trying to attract post holiday shoppers. >> reporter: angie, right you are. get ready for a second wave of holiday shopping. retailers are hoping for a huge after christmas surge. sales leading up to the holidays were lackluster at best. macy's has a buy one get one free offer on dress shirts and suits. walmart will have thousands of items at 25% to 50% off. and toys 'r' us has a buy one get 40% off deal on red-hot toys including sky lander's figures and all video games. the price of the first class stamp, however, is going up to 49 cents starting january 26. you can still buy those forever stamps at the current price until then. the higher rate is expected to last no more than two years to

help the u.s. postal service recoup nearly $3 billion in losses brought on by a drop in mail volume and higher pension costs. angie, back to you. >> hampton being thanks so much. i hope you had a merry christmas. >> reporter: i did and the same to you and your crew. >> thanks. well, time now 5:56. kids weren't the only ones excited for christmas morning. check it out. these animals at the little rock arkansas zoo got treated to their own christmas goodies. the bear enjoyed his gingerbread house complete with candy canes and honey drenched doughnuts. those do sound good. the lion's den was filled with wrap toys to open. they seemed too lazy to tear into them. some were just for kids making for a fun annual tradition. >> not too much, though. upsets the tummy. you can use christmas to teach your kids a christmas lesson. hundreds watched the re-enactment of george washington crossing the delaware river. he made the crossing in 1776. it turned the tide in the revolutionary war. this is the 61st year the crossing has been re-enacted.

and it was cold there and it's cold today, this morning. we're seeing temperatures a little bit chilly. they're in the 20s. >> but the big question, will it get warmer? we're going to let you know how high those temperatures will climb and we're also looking ahead to the chance for rain this weekend in your weather and traffic on the 1s. plus, we are following breaking news in southeast washington. a fire burned the home on n street. we'll show you the investigation under way right now. obviously a the lot of fire activity going on right there.