with karen and they will deliver it to your house if you live within a certain facility. or better yet, you can just call and the stores will deliver it same day, no charge. but not 6th store opened early. this rare signed. closed thanksgiving day. thursday is for family, friends, food, and football. enjoy the holiday. we found shoppers taking advantage of the early black friday deals. montgomery mall in bethesda opened at 6:00. mall officials expect to see 100,000 shoppers today. plus, keep an eye out for the merry makers. they will treat people with with unexpected acts of kindness. >> here is when some of the big stores will open. home depot and lowe's opened at 5:00. 7:00, sam's club, t.j. maxx.

we want to see some of your pictures. tweet us at nbc washington. we have a new holiday gift guide on nbcwashington.com. check out the photos of the coolest toys for kids. all you have to do is search "holiday". today on the busiest shopping day of the year, workers at walmart plan to walk off the job. they will strike to ask for better pay and full time work. it begins at 8:45 this morning. more than 1,600 protests are planned today around the country. >> you want to pick up something you can actually use today, a coat would be a good idea. >> and amelia also mentioned a hat. >> i would say so. it's going to be breezy throughout the day. when you factor in the winds throughout the day, about 10 to 20 miles per hour, it will feel like temperatures are only

around 30 at best. right now 35 degrees. we'll drop from 7:00 a.m. down to 32. it's breezy through the midafternoon hours until about 2:00, 3:00 p.m. after that, the winds will die down. plenty of sunshine throughout the entire day. skycast 4 actually showing you what the sky is going to look like. it's barely even bringing in any clouds through lunchtime, heading into the afternoon and evening hours. clouds will increase overnight tonight. our temperatures actually continue to warm heading into the hole take weekend. so you'll be hanging holiday lights or cutting the christmas tree, i'll have is that forecast in 10 minutes. alexis tracking issues with traffic lights not functioning. >> looking good in maryland and virginia. now to the traffic lights. wood mont and montgomery avenue.

they have placed stop signs to help you through the area. no problems at connecticut avenue. as you travel in virginia robinson terminal, all lanes open and no delays >> new this morning, d.c. police are investigating two overnight stabbings. the first happened just before midnight on hayes street in northeast washington. police say a man and woman were stabbed in the chest. they are expected to be okay. this happened in the first floor hallway of the building on savannah street in southeast. dozens of people are hoping to return home after a massive fire tore through a prince george's county apartment building. it started as some people were sitting down along good hope avenue south of suit land parkway. derrick ward has more from temple hills. >> residents's cell phone video and firefighters's video showed

the first moments just before they had taken fate into their own hands. >> they observed occupants hanging from the fifth floor balcony. they were swing withing themselves down to the fourth floor and then to the third floor >> a good samaritan with a truck helped get some to the ground. cassandra massey and nieces may a last minute run to the store before dinner. >> we seen the smoke. then we came back and this is what we come back to. >> a fire with plenty of fuel in the apartment where it's believed to have started. >> they got inside the second floor unit is and saw excessively filled with stuff. >> 200 or so people home at the time, for the masseys

thanksgiving dinner will be delayed. >> all the residents are accounted for. miraculously, none of those swinging from balconies were injured. >> so the plans for families to spend a warm thanksgiving went up in smoke. they're all together. >> i'm thankful we're all safe. >> the cause of this fire remains under investigation. but part of this building will remain uninhabitable for some time. luckily, nobody was seriously injured. in prince george's county, derrick ward, news 4 >> d.c. police trying to figure out what caused a deadly crash on alabama avenue. just before 8:00 last night, a man walked into the street and was hit by several cars. he died. police shut down the road for hours in the area around 18th street southeast >> and police are looking for a masked gunman who opened fire in an apartment building in column

pia, maryland. the man inside was hit several times and had to be flown to the hospital. investigate issors say they don't think the shooting was random >> they caught the man who was targeting women in northern virginia. darion robinson was arrested wednesday night. he car jacked a woman at the vienna metro two weeks ago, forced her to withdraw cash from several atms before he let her go at the new carrollton. we looked into his criminal record and he has served time for a car jacking back in 1996. today is your last chance to sign the condolenc ebook for marijuana yon barry. stop by and sign it between 9:00 and 5:30 tonight. he will lie in repose for 24 hours next thursday. on friday, a public procession that ends at temple of praise in southeast. saturday morning a public funeral at the washington convention center will be

followed by a private burial. if you plan to use metro today, here is the schedule. trains and buses will operate on a regular weekday schedule with normal fares and parking rates. the regular weekend schedule will be in effect for saturday and sunday. all right. it is an annual tradition around here. when you can get a look at the light display at the national zoo. really nice. >> street protests in ferguson have calmed. but a unique protest today that can hurt retailers.

today an annual holiday tradition kicks off. the first night of zoolights is tonight. more than 500,000 environmentally friendly l.e.d. lights are transforming the zoo into a winter wonderland. the show begins at 5:00 p.m., lasts until 9:00. it will be on every night until christmas. and it's free. all right. and i'm so excited to take part in the 24th annual holiday pa parade and tree lighting ceremony. in restin. this is last year's ceremony. join me and doug kammerer. you can take part in a

single-along or horse-drawn carriage ride. tree lighting at 6:00 p.m. break out the skis. ski resorts are opening this weekend. three ski and snowboard resorts will open. liberty mountain will open this morning. whitetail on the tuscarawas mountains and lewis berry. >> liberty fired up snow guns last week. on top of that, they got four inches. so it will be a ski lovers, snowboard lover's dream. >> when you're headed to the mountains or headed to the malls. >> an uphill battle. >> it really is. >> it's going to be cold and breezy. at least we will have mostly sunny skies throughout the day. satellite and radar right now.

d.c. metro and areas off to the east, absolutely no cloud cover. overall, the sun wins out today. we only warm to 40 degrees in washington. 37 in frederick. when you factor in the wind it will feel like temperatures are 30 degrees. it is breezy, not windy today. if you plan on hanging up holiday lights, cutting the tree, try to hold off. the better day would be saturday. still chilly. temperatures in the mid-40s. so gloves. temperatures warmer. near 60 on sunday. that will be the best day. if you actually consider skiing or snowboarding i would recommend saturday. slushy snow on sunday. >> right now we are looking very good. no major delays on the beltway, maryland or virginia. route 50 into d.c. looking did as well as 66. we do have malfunctioning traffic lights in bethesda we

want to make you wear of wood mont and north lane and wood mont and montgomery. they have stop signs placed to help you get through the intersections. in sa vvirginia, traveling out dale city, no problems. more fallout from the bill cosby sex assault allegations. steps being taken by his alma mater to distance themselves in the wake of the scandal. shoppers are hitting the stores for big black friday deals. we'll look at whether this year

the white house christmas tree will be delivered today.

it will be presented to the first family at the north portico of the white house. black friday frenzy is on. right now shoppers are hitting the sales across the country. nbc's jay gray is inside the mall of america with a look at the overnight shopper bonanza. >> overnight, a mad dash. >> i'm here to shop. i'm here to get my kids christmas gifts. why not go out. >> this has become a holiday tradition, braving the elements for bargains. >> i think for some people it's just -- they're adrenalin junkies. they want to get the best deal. >> and there are deals. >> pillows for $1.99. >> analysts say more shoppers will spend more money today than over the last few years. >> the national refederation is preticketing a 4.1% jump over

last year. that accounts for november and december. we're anticipating about $616 billion in sales. a new toy came out, the skylanders. it is 50% off. that's a good deal. i wanted to buy it for my little son. >> that's exactly what this day is all about. >> and live inside the biggest mall in the united states. a couple of other black friday fun facts. first of all, on average, shoppers today will spend $418. guess who they are shopping for? it's not for grandpa or the kids. 76% of those shopping on black friday are shopping for themselves. that's the latest. live here at the mall of america, jay gray. pack to you, angie >> that sounds about right, jay. thanks so much. before you head out to the storesed today, we want to help you find the perfect gift for

everybody on your list. seven "holiday" on nbcwashington.com >> i'm molette green at the live desk. take a look at the video. this is cell phone video inside this mall in west st. louis county. demonstrators walked with their hands up as you can see in protest over the grand jury's decision in the michael brown case. police came in. they told them they were trespassing and else skorted them off the property. no incidents there. richard, back to you. molette, thank you. lawyers for darren wilson say the ferguson police officer will probably never be in law enforcement again. the grand jury decided not to indict wilson in the michael brown shooting death. he needs to go back to school and start a new career for his family.

>> you have to try to live your life. >> the violent protests seem to have calmed down over the holiday. police say there were no new arrests overnight. a group of protesters facing charges after trying to stop the macy's thanksgiving day parade. a scuffle broke out near the barricades. one protester tried to run toward a float. they were upset with the michael brown ruling. they organized yesterday's protest through twitter using the hashtag stop the parade. more fallout against bill cosby. the university of massachusetts amherst is cutting ties with him. more than a dozen woman claim cosby tried to sexually assault them or rape them years ago. his attorney says these claims are unsubstantiated and coming from 30, 40, even 50 years ago >> icy roads are to blame for a

50-car, 50-car chain reaction crash on i-90 near niagara falls, new york. it closed the northbound lanes of the niagara throughway at the north eisland bridge thursday evening. none of the injuries appear to be life threatening. this is the fourth largest power outage in history. >> they were making parallels at how they celebrated the first thanksgiving back in the 17th century. yeah. unfortunate . but for the most part, things hopefully looking on the up for them. outside for us, though, things still very chilly. as you take a live look outside,

the good news, things look dry. >> yeah. it will be dry throughout the entire day today and the rest of the holiday weekend. our next chance of rain monday night. no worries of rain or snow in the forecast. but it is cold today. high temperature of 40 degrees when you factor in the winds it will feel like temperatures are in the low thirty. temperatures warm up tomorrow. they will continue through monday. a chance of rain monday night. right now temperatures are coming in for the most part in the 30s. 35 in washington. we will fall a few degrees until 7:00 a.m. we will slowly warm back up the rest of the day. 10 to 20 miles an hour throughout the day. feels like teams in the suburbs. by lunchtime, temperatures feel like they're in the upper 20s, low 30s across the area.

remember, though, plenty of sunshine. getting into the afternoon hours, still feeling chilly. only 33 in washington. the winds die down when the sun goes down, around 5:00 p.m. temperatures cold even without the winds. clouds will increase overnight don't. tomorrow morning, mostly cloudy skies. getting into the afternoon hours, the clouds will break up a little bit. partly sunny skies by your saturday afternoon. high temperatures tomorrow about 5 degrees warmer than toda temperatures continue to warm through sunday. high of 60 on sunday, looking like better outdoor weather day. if you go to one of the local ski resorts, they are all now open. can you believe it? saturday would be the better day. monday, high of 63. most live cloudy skies. chance of rain monday night.

temperatures go back down from monday to tuesday. a better chance of rain on wednesday. next thursday, high of 55. partly sunny skies. alexis is keeping an eye on road conditions. tracking any issues, alexis? >> good morning, amelia. we are, in fact. an accident westbound 66. the good news, it's not causing any significant delays. elsewhere, 270 southbound out of montgomery village avenue looking good there. no delays. all lanes are open. 95 southbound at route 212 in maryland, also looking good. 95 in have va, no trouble spots. angie and richard. >> a alexis, thank you. >> we are work to go keep your money safe and secure. erika gonzalez talked to the president's former cyber security czar. how he protects his money when he shops online and the extra layer of security you can get on

your smartphone >> an early look at this year's

welcome back. now to holiday shopping and keeping you safe and secure while shopping online. >> erika gonzalez sat down with the person in charge of

safeguarding all computers. >> online shopping. at the office, the coffee shop, or in the comfort of your own hope. >> really convenient. it's a lot easier to do it online. >> wait until the last minute and get something delivered in two days or so. >> easier? yes. safe? that's on the heels of recent retail security breaches. >> i know there are risks out there. i take everything i can do on my side to protect myself. >> those words from a former cyber czar howard schmidt the first ever cybersecurity czar working for president obama's administration in 2009 to oversee the cup's cyber safety. >> what's new is the fact that you are now being singled out. they are more focused. it is not like a major enterprise. it's just a local system.

and these bad guys get into those systems, steal your credit card, steal your information >> so what does the former cyber security czar recommend to protect your information? >> if you receive an e-mail with a link to get you to shop, don't. type in the address and make sure you're going to a secure site. >> a that's a connection between you and the company. it is safer from doing it from a desktop where you click e-mail and everything else. >> third, avoid typing out your credit card information. use pay pal or apple pay or google wallet. >> it's going to give the ability to distance myself of having a financial transaction with individuals as it goes through the big services they parade for finances. it is not only safer but they

have built-in protections. >> fourth, when shopping online, make sure you can see the site is secure. >> on the address bar oftentimes it will be green. it indicates a secure system between their computer system and your computer system. third, a lot of people forget about this, there's a little lockdown. >> finally, get an extra layer of security through a free security app called symantec. this is what schmidt has on his phone. >> it has a six character number that changes every 30 seconds. >> online shopping can be convenient. just make sure that you take the right steps and stay safe and secure. >> we have reached a point where we take care of everything online. >> erika gonzalez, news 4. >> when they say just use one credit card for all your

purchases online. it limits the amount of potential fraud. >> if you have any problems, you can just shut down that one hard. you don't have to go through all your cards. and i know you have a lot of cards. stay with us. news 4 at 5:00 starts now. oh, this is what we're waking up to. a live look at springfield town center. shoppers have been going at it all night at the mall, which just reopened earlier this year. >> be sure to bundle up as you get ready to hit the stores. temperatures in the 30s this morning. amelia has the timing of the warmup. good morning. i'm richard jordan. >> aaron and eun are off this morning. heading into work this morning, not so often we see it on the roadway. a lot of people out there shopping after this thanksgiving, november 28th, 2014. feeling awfullyol