holiday shopping round two. the returns, exchanges and brand new items in the bag. on this day after christmas,

it's shopper who is may benefit the most. plus, what may be the reason for even more holiday mail delays at least in our region? welcome to news 4 midday. i'm in for barbara harrison. christmas may be over, but you will struggle to find a park spot at the mall. for returns and exchanges and christmas deals. live at tyson's corner. >> reporter: the hol they day spirit is alive and well. we have a lot of people here. this mall completely packed. very different from what we were seeing a couple of hours ago. some of them even at 11:00 a.m., tuckered out. it was the day after christmas when shoppers were returning and

ek changing, bags and boxes big and small. >> usually people come on black friday, but the day after christmas the deals are so much burden. >> the garland still hung, some with homes of returning for prices more fair. the stores all open and serious shoppers out of bed. visions of sales dancing through heads. >> when we walked in they gave us $20 bonus cards. >> not just good as stores expected, though today they hope to make up for items once rejected. extra sales, slashed prices and a merry old time because this year many shoppers did their hunting online. >> about half and half. half online and half the store. >> nancy holds her coupons as courtney scouts a shop and billy returns knowing soon the craziness will stop. >> people are buying everything

they can get their hands on. 50% off everything. a grail deal to shop here. >> you want to come out now. inside it's festive i have to say. a lot of fun. makes me wish i brought a couple of bags to return a couple of things and perhaps buy more. they opened at 6:00 this morning and they are closing at the normal time at 9:30. news 4, back to you. >> thanks, melissa. mail may be running a little behind. check this out. a postal service truck overturned on i-270 outside of rockville early this morning. there were letters there scattered across the road. it shut down northbound lanes at shady grove for a couple of hours and that caused the back up. traffic was backed up for about a mile. if some packages were supposed to show up, they may arrive

today. two of the biggest companies are scrambling to get the surprise. gabe gutierrez has more on why it happened and this morning's apologies. >> it was supposed to be over, but the mad rush is back on. u.p.s. and fedex rushing to clear a backlog of packages of customer who is didn't get gifts in time for christmas. both companies blamed the delays on weeks of bad weather and soaring online sales even though a u.p.s. manager told janet shin lynn this. >> if you pick it up on the 23rd, we will get it to you by christmas? >> promise? >> promise. >> many customers like sarah in virginia are not laughing. she paid for rush delivery, but her family's presents never made it. >> it was definitely disheartening not being able to share gifts with others when the gifts were being opened.

>> many are sounding off and stand for undelivered parcel shipment. in response the company is saying the volume of air packages in our system exceeded the capacity of our network. that apology echoed by fedex that called it an extraordinary event. in north carolina, heidi grant, mother of three is looking on the bright side. >> christmas is going to last longer. they will have more gifts to open in a couple of days. >> that was gabe gutierrez reporting. some are turning to online retailers. one of the biggest, amazon.com said they processed all orders on time so it is compensating some customers with $20 gift cards and refunding shipping fees. let's take a look outside. a very chilly start to the thursday morning.

in for tom, she joins us now with the first forecast. >> good morning. morning clouds are clearing out of the area. we are in for a nice day. it was chilly out this morning, temperatures are warming up nicely and we will be noticeably warmer than yesterday. i hope you had a wonderful christmas holiday. the satellite and radar showing clouds thinning across the area. as we work through the rest of the midday hours, clouds continue to break up across the area. clouds giving way to increasing sunshine. temperatures right now in the 30s. 36 in washington and 34 in gaithersburg. as we work throughout the rest of the day, here's the day planner. plenty of sunshine into the afternoon. the high this afternoon of about 44 or 45 degrees. we are looking at mainly clear skies throughout the evening hours. we work our way into the 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. hours, temperatures fall into the mid 30s.

tomorrow will be a sunshine-filled day. how warm it will get tomorrow and talk about weekend rain in about ten minutes. >> thank you. new this morning, firefighters in the district are trying to figure out what sparked this fire at this home on m street in southeast. crews were called around 4:00 this morning and say one man did make it out of the house safely, but firefighters had to battle hoarding conditions to put the flame out. no word on how it all started. we now know what caused a christmas morning fire in silver spring. this was taken earlier. the fire at the home on narrows court started at a flammable liquid was used in the fireplace. a disabled veteran inside the house and two firefighters all were burned. people were forced out of the home as well. >> the stage apartment is working to authenticate a video purportedly showing a man held captive in pakistan.

as you heard, this is warren winestein. he is begging for president obama to negotiate with al qaeda for his release. this is a third video he posted since he was captured two years ago. a bit of background. the 72-year-old was captureed from his home in 2011 in pakistan. he was working for je austin based in virginia and advises the pakistani business and government sectors. they will release him if the u.s. stops air strikes in pakistan, afghanistan and yemen. the white house said they won't negotiate with the terrorist group. >> two restaurants will have to argue their case in order to reopen their doors. police shut down rose cafe and puzzles event center saying that both were operating as nightclubs and did not have proper perms. rose ka 235i is.

both must remain closed until hearing. >> deadline for signing up for the new health care program. now today, new challenges and confoouz fusion for those who enrolled. >> snow, ice, and power outages in the holidays. the areas worst hit boy a winter storm and wha

. >> the white house is counting on thousands of uninsured americans shopping for coverage. daniel lee has more from capitol hill. >> this morning it's not clear who will be receiving health care from the federally run exchange and when. a healthcare.gov post told

people they will be considered if are coverage january 1 on a case by case basis. everyone else starting the sign up process can expect insurance in february. insurers say who enrolls is just as important as how many. >> the success depends on having participation in the market place and getting healthier people to balance out cost. >> they are intensifying with catchy ads, hoping to convince young people, obamacare is worth the investment. many of his friends have not. they are going to have to get the opportunity until you need it. then you panic. >> those who are enrolled can't relax just yet. >> lots of people signed up. they believe they have coverage. >> now comes the difficult task

of making sure the applications are correct. and processed. experts are advising you to call the insurer. >> talk about deadlines. premiums are due december 31st if you are getting coverage at the start of next year. insurance companies will give you until january 10th to pay. if you are uncovered, you have until the end of march to find insurance and avoid a penalty. thousands of people from michigan to maine have no power five days after a winter storm tore across the country. dylan drier has more. >> downed trees and power lines and ice that shows no sign of melting and freezing

temperatures. the brutal ice storm wreaking havoc. 150,000 remained without power christmas day. his wife mare none and his dog left behind their stockings to seek warmth at a nearby motel. >> we're spent christmas, our anniversary here yesterday. 23 years we got to spend in a motel. very romantic. >> they brought their stockings with them. >> everyone is having a tough time. we still don't have any power. we don't care. we are together. crews restored power to residents who have been without heat, some for five days. >> we have 800 men and women to get as many families and homes restored with power. we know how important it is to families. we are working hard. >> a home with heat a welcome gift even if it comes after christmas.

>> that is dylan drier reporting. it shows how dangerous a brush fire is in california earlier. it is burning right next to a highway. this is not far from l.a. firefighters are working hard to put the fire out before the wind shifts and causes the fire to spread and winds are not expected to die down until the weekend. more about the weather around here is amelia segal in for tom. great to see you. >> hope you had a wonderful holiday. >> i did. i like the weather even though it was cold. the sun was out shining and the sun was easing up. >> we had plenty of clouds and light snow making its way through the area. the snow has moved out and the clouds are falling behind it. here's a time lapse work throughout the morning hours and up to this point where you can see now we are looking at mainly

clear skies and at least from this vantage point. again, the morning clouds continuing to push out of the area and also here's the light snow that moved through earlier today. something to talk about. radar right now is showing a clean and dry sweep. it won't remain like that not only today, but tomorrow and saturday as well. temperatures are warming up nicely. we are in the mid 30s in washington. 36 degrees. 36 in menassis and 33 in rest on and rockville. we work our way into the afternoon, we will continue to warm hitting a high of 45 degrees around 2:00. it will feel noticeably warmer outside today than yesterday. working our way into the evening, temperatures start to fall. 5:00 we are at 41 degrees. 6:00 p.m. at 39. the kids want to get outside today. all they need is a comfortable

jacket and all they need is the heavy winter jacket. temperatures are typical. lows tonight will get chilly with clear skies across the area that is going to allow the temperatures to drop. a low of 29 and annapolis to about 27. those of you expect low temperatures around 20. it will be a chilly start on friday, but a sinny start tomorrow. start to finish. 10:00 a.m. at 38 degrees. sunny at 3:00. a touch warmer and a high tomorrow of 46 degrees. 6:00 p.m. around 40 degrees. as we look to the weekend, mostly sunny skies and a high of 51. saturday is looking like the better of the two weekend days. on suspected there will be plenty of clouds around and also rain is likely on sunday. it is looking like a system comes up the coast, likely impacting the area.

the best time for rain on sunday does look to be later in the day. starting around the midday and continuing on into the evening. veronica johnson will be in at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 continuing to track the system and updating the forecast. a temperature of 44 with mostly cloudy skies and tuesday we are looking at a cloud and sun mix and a temperature of 35. let's take a closer look at the all important forecast. the good news right now, we are not worried about rain or snow. i think the biggest concern will be how chilly it will be. 9:00 new year's eve night, a temperature right around freezing. midnight as we bring in 2014. we are looking at a temperature of about 30. it will be cold and recommend bundling up if you plan on bringing in the new year outside. gloves, hat, scarf and a jacket. 2:00 a.m. as they wrap up will

be in the upper 20s. for new year's day, a temperature of 40. not bad, but clouds around. quiet weather pattern this afternoon and it will be nice outside. it looks like our next chance of rain again will come on sunday and the chance of rain on sunday looking likely. today, tomorrow, and saturday, people have off and not a dad day to go skiing. >> if you want to do the returns and the shopping between now and for sunday, that would be a good time. >> absolutely. >> thanks so much. >> speak of that cold weather, we are now just 71 days away from the winter games in sochi. a u.s. athlete with ties that get a big send off in baltimore today. summer competes in luge. she has a father, grandfather and brother who work with the baltimore fire department. her family and the department will celebrate her departure for

russia. good luck to her. >> one little girl had a grand entrance into the world. why complete strangers helped a mom with this special holiday delivery. no ticket find here. why some people get money after police pulled them over for speeding. we will explain. first here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

>> per a new york family is celebrating a special delivery. a new addition couldn't wait to the hospital to be born. >> at just 7 pounds, 4 ounces, it will take baby alexandra years to realize the heavy

weight she placed on her parents and strangers. >> i almost did it myself. >> i was nervous, but we trained and the training kicks in. >> the mom was alone, finishing up shopping in west bury and just bought a car seat for alexandra supposed to be due in two weeks. suddenly mom felt a sharp pain. >> i started feeling contracts like every minute. >> karen called her husband who was painting the baby's room. the couple had four children. they knew every second counted. karen started driving, but had to pull over. >> i realized this baby was coming. >> karen called 911 from this great neck bank of america parking lot. minutes later police and emts arrived. >> this is a unique feeling. >> they raced to the hospital, but the baby refused to wait. the baby was born in the back of this ambulance 14 minutes after karen felt that first

contraction. for mom and dad, they have nothing but heart felt gratitude for the strangers, now friends who delivered this unexpected holiday gift. >> thanks, guys. fantastic. >> far alexandra she will realize how her grand entrance made the holiday memorable, but she is not phased by the cameras or attention. alexandra just wants to sleep. >> a beautiful baby. an arrest and what police say possessed man to run on to the tarmac towards a moving plane. plus, look at the video. a car on fire and a man trped. we will hear from the good samaritans who risked their lives. how much is the sun going to warm us up? is it going to help?

a man faces charges after running on to an airport tarmac on to a plane. this happened in phoenix. the southwest airlines plane just abdomen landed. he got up close to the jet and started hitting one of the engines. the pilot called for help and no one was hurt, but the man appeared to be drunk or high. police in newark, new jersey are looking for the person who shot and killed two teenagers last night. one victim was a 13-year-old girl. the other was a 14-year-old boy. police told us a third was also shot and is in critical condition. this was a second shooting in the area. someone shot three men in a strip club nearby. check out this. this is the aftermath from the crash in washington state. this is not the right video, but i will tell you the story.

there was a cop involve and a suspect behind the wheel. the deputy stepped away for a moment and he managed to climb into the front seat and take off in the vehicle. he didn't get far. police started chasing him a few miles down the road and he crashed into the tree and really left a mangled suv behind. the man charged with killing a tsa agent will be in court. paul ciancia will be arraigned on charges including murder. ciancia walked into the airport last month and pulled a rifle out of his bag. that is when he opened fire. he could get the death penalty if he is convicted. >> take a look at this crash on a california freeway. the-72-year-old driver in the burping car survived. that's thanks to the drivers that saw it happen. beverly white in los angeles

spoke to two of those heroes. >> traffic was light when they shot this fire on the 405. >> they said fire and i tried to break the window. they got three or four guys. >> one was don thompson driving southbound to work when he saw the fiery crash on the other side. he parked his rig and jumped two dividers to reach the driver. >> it doesn't feel real and you know you have to do something and save someone's life or watch someone burn to death alive. >> i felt the hands and they start pulling me over the rail and heard people screaming, the

fire is going to blow up. it's on fire. >> no explosion thanks to l.a. city fire guide i boot another witness. this slightly injured rescuer believe they spared the car's driver today. >> he had 10 to 15 seconds to be saved. out of the grace of got i was there. >> for this it was like a holiday mile an hour tele. >> i hope he is okay. >> you can say that again. beverly white reporting. the man was taken to the hospital and he had several injuries, but doctors expect he will be okay. today is the first day of kwanzaa. they include family, creativity and faith. the holiday started back in 1966, but its ideas are rooted

in ancient africa's first fruit harvest. kwanzaa actually means first fruits. it is one of the busiest shopping days of the year for other countries. it's called boxing day and looked like black friday in australia. hundreds of people there waiting outside stores for hours to get in on the great sales and deals. australians will get this, spend about $1.8 billion today alone. >> lots of children have their hands full playing with phones and tablets and computers found under the tree and joining a growing number of kids glued to mobile devices. some of those children are still in their diapers. >> kids are naturally drawn to the glowing light of electronic devices. parents reluctant to embrace the

revolution have given in to requests to hand their phones over, even if it's just for a few moments. >> whether we like it or not, the new devices are here to stay. >> james is ceo of common sense meet yachlt within the past two years, the percentage of kids under 9 who used smart phones and fablets soreed from 38% to more than 70%. this includes more than a third of kids under 2. >> you have toddlers and young kids from zero to 5 walking up to screens and trying to swipe them, thinking they are a tab the or a smart phone. some are designed for tiny hands. there is a seat outfitted for an i pat. the key is setting a good example.

>> if you are glued to your phone or ipad and not paying attention to your kids, they will watch your behavior. >> maybe they won't watch as much on the screen if parents reinforce intersection with the three-dimensional world. erica edwards, nbc news. >> another change that kids are not spending as much time on the computer, watching television or even playing video games because they do have these hand held devices. we want to check in with amelia segal outside bundled up. we had a cloudy start and i noticed the sunshine around you. >> wall to wall sunshine outside of the studios in washington. really nice outside. there is definitely a chill in the air, but with the sun it is really pleasant. temperature right now at 36 degrees. the winds at 10 miles an hour. breezy in spots and you might notice the winds are stronger later today. you factor in the speed of 10

miles per hour, it puts out a temperature in the upper 20s. you are heading out with a warm jacket if the kids are outside. a warm jacket and gloves and a great day for them to get outside. here's a look at the high temperature you can expect today. washington warms to 45 and culpepper 47. fredericksburg warms to 45 degrees. looking at the ski reports online, most if not all were making snow overnight. man made snow at the areas. a high of 46 degrees and

saturday will be the better of the two days with rain likely on sunday. >> oi couple days to enjoy ahead of us. >> police are searching for the person who stole this menorah from a man's front yard. this was video of the menorah from a few years ago. when he got to his home after work on tuesday night, it was gone. friends in the neighborhood told him that the menorah had been left in pieces in a yard, but when he went to collect the pieces yesterday, none of it was there. >> imagine making money for being pulled over for speeding. drivers in city had the chance to do that yesterday. police handed out scratch off lottery tickets with warnings to drivers that they pulled over. they bought them with their own money and say they wanted to spread holiday cheer while keeping the roads safe. it looks like a quick way to earn cash, but it's nothing but a scam.

we will tell but the rip off that might pop up in your e-mail. plus, why your slee

>> nbc news learned hackers may have stolen more information than thought in the attack against target. a senior payments executive for a major bank said encrypted bank pin numbers may have been stolen by the hackers. that would make it easier for them to make charges against customers's accounts and it means the hackers cracked highly sophisticated encryption. they deny that pin numbers were stolen. 40 million customers were impacted by the breech. a senator is hoping to guard against another similar attack to better protect your credit card from future credit card breeches. new jersey democrat announced a plan he said will better protect

you against credit card breeches. he introduced it outside a target store and said it will ensure you are protected if a retailer fails to safeguard your personal information. there is a new offer floating around the internet that promises quick cash for wrapping your car up in advertising. as our sister station found out, this is way too good to be true. >> an exciting offer via e-mail is what she got a few weeks ago. >> an offer to place an advert wrap on your personal vehicle. which i have seen. i have seen cars. this was monster energy drink. $300 a week. i'm figuring well, that sounds good. i can do that. >> she collects disability and looked forward to earning extra cash and replied to the e-mail.

they said great, you are interested and we need to go there is a check inside. that's it. just the check. that's pretty cool. >> she checked her inbox and found another e-mail with instructions for the check. that's where the tail gets fishy. >> what you need to do is deposit it to your checking account. once it clears, $1509 has to go to this person. >> in the philippines. george eastern said that was a red flag. she called monster to verify and the woman said oh, no, this was a scam. >> she reached out to us to get the word out before she or

anyone else cashes these checks. >> of course they have got my signature, my bank account number, and what would they do with it from there? >> most of you say you are ready to ring in the new year with optimism. almost afl of you think your fortunes will improve in 2014. their review is not quite as rosy. 20% say it was the one of the year than 2012. the country is split on how the year was for the nation as a whole with a quarter saying it was a good year and another saying it was bad. we may also see a number of new office makeovers in 2014. a company called regis that designs flexible work spaces predicts three trends. number one, increase in a 30 place to work. that's somewhere that is not the office, but is not your home.

second, a redesign of the open office plan. regis said workers are explaining about noise and the lack of privacy. some may get rid of office space and opt for as needed language. 2013 is not over yet. they know that the most popular destinations are for trend setters. the rental website said rio dejaneiro will be the hot spot next year. the city will be a popular destination because brazil is hosting the world cup in june. florida destinations round out the top five. miami beach, orlando, napeles and key west will be among the most visited spots in 2014. they say there is noplace like home for the holidays. we celebrate families created through wednesday's child. here's barbara harris with the stories. >> this was emani in 2005 when

we introduced her as a wednesday's child. eight years later she remembers how hard it was to move from place to place as a foster child. >> it was hard moving from place to another. it was sad. like i wasn't wanted. >> today she knows what it means to be wanted. she was adopted by peggy manly who saw her on wednesday's child. >> i watched wednesday child every sunday morning. >> when are jose was featured, a lot of families heard the story of abandonment and surviving on his own on the streets of d.c. this family responded. they were already parents of two biological children. >> when did you decide that adoption was an option? >> i when we met jose. >> paul appeared as a wednesday's child when he was 8 and 11. this year we loved learning that the adoptive mother of his twin sisters decided to adopt him

too. she has not regretted that decision one minute. it was 2008 when we featured them on wednesday's child. we told their story of wanting a home that would take all three so they could stay together. five years later, we caught up with this family of five. they saw them on our nbc washington website. >> clicked on wednesday's child and the new addition came out with the three girls. >> it has been a good year for many of the wednesday's children. we are happy to know they are surrounded by love in their homes for the holidays and always. barbara harrison, news 4 for wednesday's child. >> if room in your heart and home to adopt a child, call 1-88-to-adopt-me. in news for your health, the c

d.c. said they are seeing a spike in the flu nationwide. more and more people are coming down with type a flu. it's known to be the least pleasant strain. the cdc is urging anyone over six months to get a flu shot if you haven't already. okay, men. listen up. let your wives sleep a little later tomorrow morning. it appears she may need the cleep more than you do. we have science to back it up. ladies or women tend to need more sleep than men because they do more multitasking throughout the day. trust us, you don't want your wife to be sleep-deprived. women who don't get enough shut eye often suffer from depression and become angry easily. take note. the time right now is 11:49. it can take a while for a new business to be successful, but

we will highlight the best to debut in 2o 13. cold temperatures today, but rain ahead for the weekend. storm team 4's amelia segal is tracking when it will move on in. >> hello. this is sergeant latoyo lewis from germany. i want to

. i'm richard jordan at the live desk. the new video of a u.s. contractor being held in pakistan. this video just released this week of warren winestein where he asked the president to negotiate with the captors. they are working to authenticate this video. he has been held for two years in pakistan being held by operatives and now the

operatives are saying they would release them if they stop air strikes in pakistan and yemen and release taliban suspects. he has been held captive for two years. the state department going on to say that they call for his release and he be returned to his family. they did not indicate that they are willing to meet demands. >> richard, thank you. another developing story at this hour are apologizing. u.p.s. and fedex say poor weather earlier this week caused a backlog of packages. most say they are overloading the systems and that is partly to blame. many customers are waiting on deliveries promised in time for christmas. they brought in extra workers to sort out the packages. amazon.com said they will refund shipping fees. they released a statement saying in part, every package is

important to us and we will continue to work doctor et ceteraly with customers to address any isolated incidents. in this weekend scene, hot new additions to the d.c. area. we have the best view restaurants that launched their businesses this is really exciting. you discovered small gems in the area making a big impact already. let's start with restaurants. >> one of the biggest trends was restauranting opening on 14th street. so many great places to east. one was rose's luxury. a lot of people know it's famous for bars. thises a fine dining restaurant from the chef who was not cooking before. he came from new york and the south. they are such respective restaurants bringing food and so exciting and the wait can be so long. it's so worth it. i love this spot.

it's beautiful and a great date night. >> if we were to move to local dives, there is also a rarity and local music that plays in a juke box. >> one of the great openings was show time. it opened in 2013 and a bar that looks like a dive bar already. one of the things they do is serve wine out of a box and two or three kinds of beers and that's what you get. the coolest thing is the juke box that is owned by a d.j. he lets folks come in and play songs if are free and they're great songs. oldies. >> is it a revolving thing that they change all the time? >> i'm sure he does. he is interested in music and he has a great collection. it's fun to put on an old song. >> if i understand correctly, it's music by local musicians as well. >> that's right. all in bloomingdale, another neighborhood we are seeing spring up in 2013. >> a lot of reconstruction going out that way.

i loved this project and tell us about it. we are taking a look back. >> the hirsch horn is cool called damage control. they had not seen at the museum here. they are exploring the issue of deconstruction. it will continue through may and they say it's one of our favorite exhibits to open this year. >> it's a neat contact. you are looking at it. >> these are things that people can visit in 2014. >> great inside. thank you so much for stopping by. remember for more inside for your weekend, logon to nbcwashington.com or "the washington post".com. >> we want to get a check on the weather with amelia.

>> temperature around 38 degrees outside of our studio and the high of 45. a really nice afternoon. plenty of sunshine tomorrow. sun from start to finish. we are not going to be noticing clouds in the morning like we did today. a high of 46 and saturday the better of the two days. a high of and mostly sunny skies looking to be like it will be a rainy sunday. you want to prepare for that and veronica will be updating the forecast. a quick look at new year's eve and a cloud and sun mix and temperatures in the mid 30s for wednesday and 2014. temperature of 40 degrees. >> a cold new year's eve. i don't think that will stop the party. thank you for joining us. tune in to news 4 at 5 and 6:00 later for all your weather and news. i will be back at 11:00 a.m. for

news 4 midday again. i hope you will join us. make it a great day.