police helicopter captures a raging house fire. two officers happened to be flying near mason university when they spotted the flames and thick smoke. >> looks like something is on fire. looks like a house is on fire. >> you can smell it now too. >> 76-year-old simone and her a great grandkids are sleeping in the house. they use gps. they alert. a dispatcher who called the fire department. >> when they knocked on the door, i wonders who was knocking at 3:30 in the morning. when they came out, the officer was already here. he said, you have to get out of the house. >> she wakes up her a great grandkids and they get out. >> looks like it hasn't made it to the actual structure. they tell us a light fixture

located under the deck sparked the fire. >> it could have turned into a tragedy especially this time of year. >> reporter: simone tells the plea this makes thanksgiving special. >> we say prayers often but even more. >> the smoke alarms were not working so this could have been much worse. a number of stores are opening today to hope you will shop there and lure you in with some deals. macy's, walmart, kohl's, and target all opening their doors at 6:00 p.m. toys "r" us will open at 5:00 p.m. jcpenney will open at 3:00 p.m. and on black friday. lowe's has sthaid they'll be

closed on thanksgiving. there will be more patrols both in full uniform and disguised as shoppers. some of the undercover officers busted four men for credit card fraud at tyson's on monday. in addition to shoplifters, they'll also be looking for suspicious activity given the increased concerns about terrorism. all right. 4:32 on this thanksgiving morning. if you're in the other room, good morning. they're in the kitchen cooking. >> those are the people who were up with us this morning getting ready for thanksgiving and chuck bell is also up with us with the forecast. >> i was wondering who aaron was talking to. >> i know. anyway, this morning a clear sky. nice way to get your thanksgiving start. it's going to be a very mild day to be outside as well 346789 in gaithersburg, 32 in the inner harbor. 45 in manassas. 34 in luray.

nice and mild. is upper 50s, low 60s. four things you should know about the weather indeed. liking it all. thankful for the sunshine. thankfully mild. good weather for shopping tomorrow. we'll get more for your black friday forecast coming up in a couple of minutes. the weekend, looking a little bit better. not a total washout. i'll let you know which day is likely to be impacts coming up in a few. a united airlines plane out of commission after a bird strike that took out one of its engine. that forced the denver-bound flight to return to sacramento shortly after takeoff. 114 passengers on board that jetliner. they landed safely where they were booked on other flights. that is the latest. back to you, eun. >> thank you, molette. traffic became snarled outside both 95 north and south were backed up for miles because of a tour bus crash last night. this happened about ten miles north of the baltimore beltway.

the bus collided with two other cars hurting two people and completely shutting down the southbound lanes for a time. everything is back open this morning. national security leaders say you are the best tool they have against a potential terrorist attack. president obama says there is no credible or specific threat against the u.s., but police are out in force for the long holiday weekend. officers with assault rifles at the union station and bomb sniffing dogs all over the airport. 47 million people are expected to go somewhere over the thanksgiving holiday. today there is a huge operation happening behind the scenes to feed families this thanksgiving. volunteers with food and friends in northeast have been up all night cooking and preparing dinner. "news4's" megan mcgrath explains where all the food is going. always a wonderful thing. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. yeah, it is really a wonderful event. you can see right now it's the

calm before the storm. we're in the kitchen of food and friends. we have the chefs at the island. you can see they're bringing out some of things they're going to use to prep the meals. we're waiting on the volunteers because this is quite an effort. we're talking about a moveable feast that will go to really hundreds of people in our area living with hiv and aids, cancer, other life-threatening illness. folks who necessarily wouldn't cook a thanksgiving meal for themselves or their families because they're not feeling well and that's what this organization is all about. they're going bring the thanksgiving feast to their clients. take a look. we've got an example here. it looks faechlkt we're not talkital talking about plate of turkey or a pie or two. you have an entire feast. look at that turkey. you have the gravy. we've got some numbers which are pretty impressive here. they're going to be delivering

7,850 pounds of turkey, roasted potatoes, over a thousand pounds. the whole magilla here. the idea is not just to feed the person who is battling a life-threatening ill bs but also give them the opportunity to invite friends over, family over, because that's what this holiday is about. we're going to have more coming up a little later. we're going to expect the volunteers to file in any time now. back to you guys in the studio. >> thank you, megan. >> a great cause. more than 3 million people are expected to line the streets of manhattan for the annual thanksgiving day parade. as the city expects record-breaking crowds, there will be a record 2,500 officers on the beach. a hercules team will be ready to move in at the sign of any security threat. the police chief says having fun is a strong attraction to terrorists. >> it's a time to really enjoy.

it's a way of push back on some of the events going on around the world. >> the floats for the 89th annual parade will come to life later today. you can watch all the action later on nbc 4. 50 million of you are expected to watch. coverage will begin at 9:00 a.m. and jay gray will join us in the negts half hour li from manhattan with the last-minute preps. >> checking out my favorites. following the parade on nbc 4, another thanksgiving day tradition. you can watch the national dog show live. john o'hurley will host. that airs at noon today. >> it's always fun to see that too. new details in the downing of a russian warplane. the proof turkey says that it has in trying to warn the pilot. and we also have news on the

baby left in the church in new york. why the mother will not be charged. what

you just heard new audio from turkey, the country that says it proves russian pilots were warned before their plane

was shot down earlier this week. they say the plane was violating their airspace. russians say the pilots never cross over the syrian border. today french president francois holland will arrive to de-escalate the situation. a mother will not be charged for leaving a baby abandoned inside a church. a minute nance man found the baby. the mother followed new york's safe haven law. it say as new born can be dropped off at locations include agriculture. without fear of prosecution. the attorney said the mother came back to the church to make sure the child was fed. the baby boy is doing okay. 4:41. our time right now, we want to check in with "storm team 4" meteorologist chuck bell. >> chuck, tell us what kind of day we're going to have. >> we're going have a fantastic thanksgiving today. the only thing that could make this morning better is if it already smelled like turkey cooking in the kitchen.

41 at reagan national and arlington county. hour by hour, planning out your thanksgiving day, a little bit of a chill in the air early this morning. it is late november, after all, but that chill won't last long. it will be in the mid-50s by anothertime and most neighborhoods will be above 60 degrees. nothing wrong with that. doing any traveling, dry roads and sunglasses is all you should need. i-95, i-81, and i-70 all dry within a 200-mile radius we could have airport delays in the midwest. we'll be talk about who could be having a worst thanksgiving day weather and all of that coming up. new controversy swirling around donald trump, this time over something in our own backyard. the event some say never happened. security is something on a lot of people's minds right now, especially when it comes to traveling for the holidays.

desk. this morning pope francis delivered a message to leader. the pontiff celebrated mass before 300,000 people at the university of nairobi. yougsv see him waving to the crowds from the pope mobile. he told christian and muslim leaders they have little choice but to come together. he brought up the recent attacks including one at west gate mall and university there. this is his first ever trip to africa. he is also going to be visiting uganda and the central african republic. aaron? >> thank you. it's 4:45. many airports in the country

don't pass through a security checkpoint each day. nbc news investigation reveal as what security experts are calling a gaping hole in airport security. this after suspicions that an airline employee may have played a key role. airlines itself decides which should be a screen and it's a dangerous security gap. >> when are we going to learn a lesson from the past. when are we going to be proactive than reaction active. dobld trump golf course, it centers around a small plaque that commemorates a civil war event he calls the river of blood but as northern virginia bureau chief reporter reports, historians say they never heard of the term or any battle there. >> reporter: far beyond the entrance of the trump national course, only golfers can see

this river of blood plaque, a civil war commemoration first reported by "the new york times." it reads many a great americans both of the new york and sogt at the spot, the rapids on the potomac river. it's my a great honor to have preserved the important section of the potomac rev, donald john trump. the trouble is historians say there was no battle there nor was the term "river of blood" used. >> that's not truchlt it say ms. soldiers died at this spot and that's not true. it didn't happen. >> reporter: jim morgan is an expert on another battle. it took place ten miles up the river from trump national. as his book reports, hundreds were killed and woublded there. >> so certainly there were casualties and certainly will were bodies that floated down past that golf course. >> reporter: morgan says, though, he's not terribly

troubled by the trump plaque. >> the history here is pretty well preserved. you have a monument that misstates some things. it wouldn't be the first. >> reporter: presidential hopeful donald trump says many times it was known as the river of blood but he couldn't name them. this man heard what a local historian had to say. >> it seems that mr. trump likes to exaggerate things. 4:48. metro's new general manager is about to start his new job. paul wiedefeld is taking over this coming monday. he's on a four-year contract. before that he held positions elsewhere. he has both financial and safety issues to tackle in his first several months on the job. he said he'll person le review a top to bottom job. now you'll want to double

and triple check. vre adding a new train now that the new spotsylvania station is open. vre says the fredericksburg and manassas lines have had to be adjusted. the butterball turkey hotline do. you know that? there's a phone numg ber you can call to ask questions ahead on how to cook a turkey or bake a turkey, they revealed some of the weirdest questions that they've gotten. one person wanted to know how to make the turkey look like it has a bee key any-shaped hemline. >> you put little triangles. never mind. it's just common sense. the yearly tradition. the butter ball hotline. >> aaron's losing it. >> it's just common sense. put a bikini on it. >> a small one. we know many of you are working on your thanksgiving

meal as you watch us this morning. good morning to you. now that the sides are nearly done, it's about time to get the turkey ready. they'll be open to take your crazy questions, even weird ones. this morning we're hearing more of the memorable calls into the hotline. all right. we're going to try to get you some of those crazy calls. the butter ball crazy talkline, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 50 experts. can somebody out there hug a turkey butterball. >> what are growing through? bikini on a turkey, hug a butterball. >> they have to take long shifts. >> you were up late. >> was. making an apple pie. >> and sipping something while she was doing it. >> we'll go with apple cider.

>> that right. >> you have so much to be thankful for. >> i have so much to be thankful for. laughter, joy, chuck bell. >> and warm weather, right? there's your segue, chuck. >> i give up. i was looking for a list. i'm thankful for my kids, my health. >> you know all that stuff. >> thankful i'm not working at the turkey hotline. >> yes. that's about it. beautiful thanksgiving morning. a little bit of a chill out there first authentic, but it is going to be a beautiful thanksgiving morning. nice and mild. perfect weather for sitting down and eating turkey inside or perhaps even out on the back porch. a good day to eat outside as well. temperatures mid-30s this morning in the shenandoah valley. right around 40 degrees downtown. look at that big jump in temperatures. 30s and 40s first thing this morning. we'll be above 50 degrees and above 60 degrees for all of your

afternoon hours. by then, highs today about low to mid-60s around much of the area. enjoy it, everybody. here's the feature weather. there are changes coming. the good news is mother nature is playing a little slo pitch with us here. full sunshine around the area. you need a couple of clouds around the northern neck but no chance for rain today. overnight clouds will increase just a smidgen, but that will keep us from being anywhere near as cold. a little bit of cloud cover by friday night. still rain-free, but skies are going partly to mostly cloudy. by the time you wake up saturday morning, full overcast from washington to the pennsylvania border and then during the day on saturday, clouds lower and thicken. any rain amounts on saturday will be incredibly light. a few hundreds of an inch. that's it. but shower chances slowly but

steadily increasing later on today. saturday and sunday looks like it will be a rainier day this weekend. if you're traveling today or you're expecting somebody to fly in, showers could bring delays to detroit and chicago and st. louis and back out near the mountain west could have delays near the denver airport or salt lake city as well. here's our frachlt 64 today, 68 tomorrow. dry both days. on the weekend, clouds both saturday and sunday. a chance for a sprinkle. most of the rain this weekend for better or worse comes in on sunday afternoon, which is actually the busiest day of the holiday. cooler weather next week. back over to you guys. >> all right. thank you. it's something that can't be diagnosed until after a person dies and we're learned one of the most famous names in the nfl had it. painting a new picture. the new push by an area museum hoping to become one of the most

the nfl is reacting to the suggestion that gifford has the concussion disease. they say the league has made 39 rule changes to, quote, enhance player safety at all levels of football. gifford died of natural causes earlier this year. cte condition k not be diagnosed

until after a person dies. it is not one of the most visited museums but it soon could be. >> the national portrait gallery has made efforts to draw more people in and "news4's" barbara harrison shows us a star-studded kickoff that shows us whose portraits are hanging there now. ♪ >> reporter: this stately columned building that houses the national portrait gallery was the scene of grand evening the other night that brought out washingtonians in gowns and black tie. the evening marked a new era for the gallery with its new director kim sayet. >> one of the things i'm keen on is breaking the frame. it's about people talking to each other.

>> reporter: this there's this video portrait of john lennon and yoko ono. so they chose five images of living americans and honored the real life subjects. baseball great hank aaron came up with his wife to see his almost photograph likeness on canvas. >> does it look like you? >> it looks better. >> carolina herrera is a photograph by the late a great robert thorpe. all of the photos you've seen, do you like this the most? >> robert thorpe, i admire him

because he's a great, a great photography. >> reporter: aretha franklin arrived. >> it's modern, contemporary. >> reporter: we recognize you. >> that's good. >> reporter: sculpturist maya lin showdown hers three-dimensional. and one of the most moving portraits of the evening of the five celebrated americans was that of corporal kyle carpenter. >> i can only hope when children see these, they don't see me. they see the scars and that they see service and sacrifice and a love for country. >> reporter: and it's the children that the museum hopes to attract. the evening hosts, katherine and

wayne reynolds, raised nearly $2 million. >> we hope kids can come here and be inspired by the life stories of the people hanging on the wall. >> reporter: barbara harrison, "news4," washington. >> not just the portraits be tu mediums representing each individual. it's really lovely. >> it really is. stay with us. "news4" continues right now at 5:00 a.m. hello. good morning, evan. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> good morning. i'm eun yang. nice turkey day. how about that? >> i'm all for it. "storm team 4's" chuck bell is in the weather center. >> everything. the food, the weather. it's thanksgiving after all, right, chuck? >> that's right. there's a lot to be thankful for. first you're up and going. you're going to make the mostof