struck by a car while doing his job. i'm barbara harrison. new information about a crash that sent a local police officer to a hospital. it's the second time in less than a week this has happened. back in class, it's been a scary last few days for a college campus. and i'm kristin wright at the live desk. we have breaking news from baltimore. off the s the officer at the center of the freddie gray trial just took the stand. and plenty of fog out there a gloomy day. when could we see the sunshine? that's coming up. news4 midday starts right now. that breaking news, officer

william porter is on the stand right now in baltimore. this trial over the death of freddie gray. the defense arguments just began today. officer porter there is charged with assault and manslaughter in freddie gray's death. he just took the stand, we understand. he is charged with manslaughter and assault in the death of freddie gray. also in the last hour, a forensic pathologist testified that freddie gray's death was not -- or was an accident, not a homicide. back to you. good morning, i'm molette green live in gaithersburg. check out those tire tracks behind me and then not far away are the pink evidence markers, what's left of a wild scene here. for the second time in a week, a montgomery county police officer is hurt in a suspected dui

crash. a man police tell me they're familiar with is in custody now facing dui and first degree assault charges. this quiet residential street turned upside down after what started as a slow-speed chase that came to a flashpoint right here on grant chester place. a suspected dui driver pulled into a driveway, when the officers approached him on foot, the driver put the car in reverse, struck the officer with his car, prompting that officer to shoot. >> from what my neighbor tells me, they drove out through her yard here. i guess they went along behind the houses, between the houses and the fence and came out. >> reporter: police say the injured officer fired one round. it hit the car, but not the driver. and that driver, of course, making the getaway through the houses, out through backyards on to a main street before crashing a short time later into a pole

at girard and victory farm drive. he ran out of the car, but police caught up to him and arrested him, took him to a hospital to be treated for injuries that they say he suffered in the crash. the injured officer recovering at a hospital this morning. that's the latest live from gaithersburg. molette green, new 4. just into the newsroom, another montgomery officer hurt during a traffic stop last week remains in critical condition. officer noah leota was serving on the alcohol task force when he was hit by an alleged drunk driver. the 47-year-old driver ran into the officer with his car last thursday. he refused to take a breathalyzer test. officer leota was taken to the hospital with a serious head injury. on capitol hill, members of the senate are talking about how to fight isis. we're listening in on the armed services committee right now. this is a live picture of the hearing.

secretary of defense, ash carter there, says the battle against isis has intensified since recent attacks, and that the u.s. is making progress in driving the islamic state out of iraq and syria. a point of contention this morning, secretary carter says the u.s. won't put american troops on the ground. >> we could well turn those fighting isil or inclined to resist their rule into fighting us instead. as chairman dunford testified last week, isil would love nothing more than a large presence of u.s. forces on the ground in iraq and syria so they could have a call to jihad. also happening now on the hill, a big discussion on the visa waiver program and how to keep terrorists out of our country. the hearing is just now starting. more on midday at 11:30. right now, the first classes of the day at catholic university just started. but some students say they are not going because they're afraid

for their safety. they're a little unnerved after d.c. police responded to t two shelter in place orders. students have been posting that they don't feel safe enough to go to close. investigators responded to a report of a possible gunman on campus around 8:00 last night. that was not true. d.c. police did question a suspicious person. investigators tell us this is not the same person who prompted the first campus lockdown early tuesday morning. well, we have plenty of fog out there. look at this. this is our tower camera above our studios here at nebraska avenue. you can see nothing out there. visibility is cut down quite a bit. that's why the national weather service issued a dense fog advisory for the district. at reagan national airport, visibilities less than a mile. this fog continues to spread north. we had a lot to the south earlier. it's spreading north and lifting

as it goes. be careful. this is what we will experience throughout the day. that dense fog advisory until 1:00. i believe they will extend it. temperatures today, in the 40s. making it to the low 50s for daytime highs. we have warmer weather on the way. we'll show that you in a couple minutes. officials in alexandria are preparing to take a vote that could change your morning commute. the vote to add rush hour tolls inside the beltway on i-66 could happen at any moment. the plan only affects rush hour. this toll would let you pay to use the lanes without a carpool you can use the road for free if you carpool during rush hour. when rush hour is over, the tolls go away and roads go back to normal. it's a big event and long time in coming, but why this new place station in our area may not be up and running right away.

court justices are hearing an affirmative action case. abigail fisher said she was denied access to the university of texas austin in 2008 because she's white. the university says she was denied because she fell out of the top 10% of her class. the ruling could have an impact on the college admissions process. a story more than a decade in the works is nearing an end. prince george's county bureau chief tracy wilee wilkins reporn this station months ago, when the county said they could not afford to staff the station until next year. the station was in development for 13 years, after the story, the county made several changes. they say the station will be up and running next month. clearing up the bumper to bumper gridlock in a unique way. what's along a busy road that has a lot

it's not the prettiest day out there. that's our top headline. lots of fog, lots of cloud cover. fog sticking with us through the afternoon. clouds sticking with us as well. the good news is we have a gradual rise in temperatures. today we'll be above normal. not as warm as we first expected. as we go into the weekend, we'll be well above normal. plenty of rain returning on monday. a look at dense fog advisory for the district through the afternoon. for the next couple days, not looking too bad. those temperatures will be in the low 60s on thursday as well as friday. and it looks like we could be in the upper 60s for the weekend. that forecast coming up. developing in the pacific northwest, severe flooding right now. many areas declared states of emergency today ahead of heavy rain. this is video from washington

state. a landslide overnight trapped a man and the deputy who tried to rescue him. both men were rescued by someone else. a stafford county supervisor wants your help to end conge congestion on i-95. look at this sign on the highway near the exit for garrisonville road. the sign wants you to text the county about your traffic problems, but don't text at the wheel. the supervisor rented the sign to get your input on fixing traffic around the entrance to 95 express lanes. that according to freelance star. >> i'm sure he will get plenty of information there. we've learned new information on the california shooting that happened one week ago today. plus we're going in depth about what to do with the stress from a heightened

today chicago mayor rahm emanuel is apologizing for the city's troubled police department. in particular the killing of laquan mcdonald by police. a white police officer shot the black teenager 16 times. in these remarks rahm emanuel said the police force needs complete and total reform. >> we have a trust problem. so we, elected leaders, police officers, community and religious leaders, have a responsibility to earn back the

$ narrative. >> the justice department just launched a civil rights investigation into the chicago police department's use of force and practices. back to you. well, it is a little on the chilly side out there. with the cloud cover, it looks like temperatures will stick into the low, possibly mid 50s. for the area getting more sunshine. where i'm seeing sun is the shenandoah valley. otherwise we're seeing clouds out there and definitely fog. temperatures in the lower to mid 40s right now as we continued through the rest of the day. we have the dense fog advisory for the afternoon for the district including mondtgomery county and the greater washington areas. temperatures in the 50s. overnight, it won't be quite as cold. could have a few sprinkles tonight. waking up to clouds and fog tomorrow, but also warming temperatures. that weekend forecast coming up.

new information this morning on the san bernardino shooting suspects. moments ago the head of the fbi said both san bernardino shooters were radicalized at least two years ago. the fed says the couple may have spent three years planning the attack. syed farook and his wife, tash sheen malik trained at gun ranges in the area for a year. tomorrow lawmakers will sit in on a classified briefing about how and when the couple became radicalized. this morning we're hearing from the brave men and women who ran into the inland regional medical center when that shooting started. many of the officers say they can't believe a terrorist attack could happen in their city. >> my body went numb. it was overwhelming, surreal. the fact that corporal mike ernesto said as we were going in that this is real, immediately hit home this is not a training

drill. >> 14 people died in that shooting one week ago today. the attacks in san bernardino and paris have a lot of americans talking about terror. and as the country debates how to keep the nation safe, it's also leading to some stress. dr. joshua weiner joins me here today to talk about this. we talked about this before after the paris attacks. now with what happened in san bernardino, have you seen the level rise in anxiety over these kinds of things? >> no, i think we're seeing more concern. sky tell you i'm not seeing in my practice anyone calling me or coming in talking about specific anxiety related to this but it's fair to say people have concern. >> what are some of the signs that these kinds of things may be causing concern and anxiety for people? >> when you're talking about it causing anxiety and troubling anxiety what you'll see are problems with eating. problems with sleeping. problems with going about your daily tasks. some people, certainly if you're worried about leaving the house or doing things out in public or in crowded placeses because

you're fearful of a terrorist attack, that's the point where i would say you probably need to seek help. >> do you think that most people who are feeling some anxiety actually realize what it is? do they just think i'm feeling anxious now and maybe this is in the back of their mind? >> it could be both. for some people they will be able to articulate it, recognize it. for those developing new anxie y anxiety, particularly those people who are nervous in crowds, if i were seeing them i would be asking them about it. >> what about the kids? how do you explain to the kids? they'll see and hear about it. what do you say? >> are two different answers. for kids 7 and younger, you want to limit their exposure to the news. they might see these things and hear these things over and over again. for them, they may think this is happening over and over again. number two, you want to be direct and concrete. for those young kids, tell them you are safe. you have nothing to worry about. everything will be fine. for older kids, you can give them much more nuanced answers.

you can say there's no way for anyone to guarantee safety in this world, but the likelihood of anything really happening is low. as a parent you want to demonstrate you're in control and calm because kids take their cues from the parents. >> maybe using calming language will calm you as well. >> exactly. >> will you stay here? we want to talk fwto you about stress during the holidays. >> sounds good. now to a special holiday tradition which is underway. for nearly 20 years a district woman has been opening her home and cooking holiday meals for police officers. she does it to honor her son who was kill in the line of duty. we go live to southeast. hi, mark. >> hi, adam. this is the home where brian gibson grew up in hillcrest. he served in the united states marines, when he came home, he became a metropolitan police officer. 19 years ago he was gunned down

by a man who simply wanted to kill a police officer. he did so as brian was sitting in his squad car at an intersection. ever since then his mother, to honor her son, has been preparing a holiday meal for police officers. it started with just 25 officers showing up. now she's expecting about 400 police officers into her home. this is shirley gibson. she's been preparing food for several days. shirley, you have friends who have come from as far as south carolina, family members. >> yes. >> what does it mean? you have already seen officers coming in here, hugging you, thanking you. when you feel that embrace from the officers, how does that make you feel. >> i always feel like, when i hug them and i feel the vests, the service weapon, i feel brian again. and to be ability to have them come in and eat what we cook that really makes it special for us for the holidays. >> she's been making a special holiday for police officers in her home for more than 19 years.

>> yes, 19 years. >> we'll be here all afternoon. barbara, back to you. >> all right, thank you. well, in this case, i think you might say that santa is more naughty than nice. a man dressed as saint nick was caught on surveillance break nothing an office building. he went through two businesses in the office building in fresno, california last week. he didn't take anything from the first spot but took a few snacks from the second stop, a restaurant. the man is wanted for burglary. the big moment arrives. we'll take you behind some of the reasons "time" magazine picked its person of the year. don't forget, news4 midday is on the air even when you're on the go to watch us, open the nbc washington app and tap watch live tv now.

. "time" magazine reveals its person of the year this morning. it is german chancellor angela merkel. she has taken the coveted title.

merkel was described as a woman who opened her nation's border to hundreds of thousands of refugees and managed europe's debt crisis. here are four things you need to know about the german chancellor. number one, the 61-year-old is the first individual woman to receive the recognition since "time" changed the title from man of the year in 1999. merkel started 2015 by standing up to vladimir putin, slowing down the russian president's attempt to see ukraine. merkel is the daughter of a pastor. she became chancellor in 2005, has a degree in physics and a doctorate in quantum chemistry. and, number three, she made her first visit to the u.s. in 2009 and received the presidential medal of freedom from president obama in 2011. merkel is m merkel's german supporters call her madi, which means mommy.

it seem like she can also mix a

we've got that dense fog out there. that advisory keeps moving to the north as the national weather service determines where we see the lowest visibilities. right now we can see them up through the district. coming through culpeper, manassas, up 29 and up through frederick county, maryland. this is the way it will be today. plenty of clouds. we will see temperatures in the low 50s. as we head into thursday, tomorrow, we are looking at temperatures warming up. we will be around 60 degrees tomorrow. looking good for your four-day forecast. a little on the warm side for the weekend. temperatures in the mid to upper 60s for this weekend. next chance of rain not until monday. guys? >> i'll take that warm weather. i love it. many americans are struggling to keep up with

skyrocketing rents. a record number of renters are spending more than 30% and in some cases half their income on housing costs. rents have risen more than 3% a year after accounting for inflation according to the study. homeownership rates are at 50-year lows due to lingering effects of the housing market crash, but improving job prospects for millennials has fueled a rental boom. a police chief gave a homeless family a christmas gift they won't forget. tim kahn and his family have been on hard times. kahn tried to buy a car but couldn't afford it. so the chief asked the three children if they would mind buying kahn a car with their christmas money. >> they said absolutely without hesitation. >> it brings tears to my eyes when i think about it. we'll call him our guardian angel. >> i think that's a moving thing he did.

officer easton said his daily goal is to show kindness, it's in honor of his compassionate wife who he lost months ago. right now on news4 midday, a police department apologizes what they did that had a lot of college students concerned. and it's the story we've been following all morning long. a local police officer hurt in the line of duty.

right now, catholic university is telling students it's safe to be on campus. d.c. police issued a shelter in place order last night after report of a gunman on campus turned out not to be true. this was the second campus lockdown in 24 hours. classes resumed at 11:00 a.m., but some students said they didn't feel safe enough go back. a montgomery county police officer is hurt after being struck by a suspected drunk driver. happened around 1:00 this morning on mid county highway. molette green is live in gaithersburg this morning tracking the story. what's the latest? that montgomery county police officer shoots at the striking vehicle which makes a getaway through these houses. >> it was sleepless night. >> reporter: on a residential street, grant chester place in gaithersburg became a crime scene just after 1:00 a.m. a 30-year-old suspected dui drir led them on a slow chase

through this driveway and struck the officer with his car as he backed out. >> i heard a shot fired. >> reporter: three houses away from karen's doorstep. an officer fired one round at the car but police say the driver was not hit and kept going, leaving tire tracks along his getaway path between the houses. >> from what my neighbor tells me, they drove out through her yard here. i guess they went along behind the houses between the houses and the fence and came out. the chase continued. so we're looking out the windows. >> when i got up, i heard the police got run over by a drunk driver and they were following him and chasing him. >> reporter: the suspect crashed into a pole a authorishort time on girard street and victory drive. the still unidentified suspect crashed about five minutes away on that street. tried to get away on foot but officers caught up with him. the driver is facing dui charges

and first degree assault charges in this case. he and the officer are recovering in local hospitals this morning from their injuries. that's the latest live from gaithersburg. no. d.c. mayor, muriel bowser and the police chief finished up a press conference updating the community about recent homicide cases that detectives were able to close. now mayor bowser said she chose the location because it's where 26-year-old arvelle stewart was murdered in june. in the last month, lanier said officers were able to make arrests. that's one of 12 homicide cases that detectives have closed in the last 30 days. violence throughout the city has spiked this year alone, d.c. has had 152 homicides. lanier says the majority of those cases are in the 5th, 6th,

and 7th districts. >> 110 out of 152 are in those three districts. the closures today are mostly in those same areas, because the communities are tired of the violence and they're working to bring justice to the families involved. >> reporter: chief lanier says her detectives are getting closer to closing two more cases. she released these two flyers with information about suspects they're looking for. this is john anthony james, wanted for an incident on eden road in southeast. she released this flyer here, this is of william lee lewis, he is wanted for an incident on the 5000 block of bening road in southeast. she is asking anybody in the community who has information about these suspects to come forward and contact npd. back to you. >> thank you. prince george's county police are apologizing for emergency tests that gave students a scare at university of maryland.

a loud speaker on the county helicopter announced take shelter and put your weapons down. it did include a message that said it was a test, but not everyone heard it and that prompted 911 calls. metro is hiring. they need someone whose sole responsibility will be your safety. metro started its search for a new chief safety officer. the cso will report to new gm paul weiderfeld and he'll strategize the day-to-day system, employees and riders like you. the former cfo resigned in september. there's a major construction project planned in greenbelt. there's a meeting to discuss design plans for a rebuilt interchange between the capital beltway and the greenbelt metro station. the meeting begins at 7:00 tonight at eleanor roosevelt high school in greenbelt. we have cloud cover out there. not going anywhere any time soon. you can see along i 81, there's

some sunshine trying to make its ways through. we have the clouds streaming in here and dense fog. dense fog advisories for the district. visibility is cut down quite a bit. we may see fog for the evening commute, and still low visibilities. take your time out on the roadways. i believe there will be patchy fog during the overnight and through tomorrow morning. and when you make your way into work tomorrow morning, again, dealing with the fog. coming home, we'll finally get that visibility back up to about 12 miles by tomorrow afternoon. so, looking good and sunny, but we have a warm up in store. we'll talk about that coming up. >> thank you, lauren. we'll take a moment to reflect on 2015. >> facebook released its top five topics for the year covering everything from good, the bad, and the donald. number five is the greek debt crisis. in fourth place, the nepal earthquakes. number three, you were posting

about the syrian civil war and refugee crisis. you may remember people switching their profiles to the paris peace symbol. the attacks were the number two topic. the hottest topic on facebook, a crowded field of candidates in the u.s. presidential election. >> not surprising. >> huge, as the donald would say. the next big thing in tv may not happen after all. >> which company just tossed out plans go head to head

apple has plans to offer a bundle of about 14 channels for $30 to $40 a month, but they ran into resistance from media companies who wanted more cash for their content. instead reports say apple will focus on being the marketplace for companies to sell shows and movies directly to customers through its app store. i'm landon dowdy.

the i-team investigation is about prison guards protecting us from dangerous criminals behind bars. could a staffing shortage put them at risk? nearly two dozen federal prisons in our region have 500 fewer correctional staffers than they're authorized to have. >> when you have hundreds of inmates confined, that's often the case, that's a recipe for disaster. >> a union rep for guards says attacks are on the rise. senator bob casey proposed legislation to equip more federal corrections officers with pepper spray to help them defend themselves. the final decision on his bill is expected next year. customers and politicians are divided over a proposed merger between pepco and epsilon. last night flyers were handed out opposing the merger at a town hall meeting. they say the deal is bad for rate payers and the environment.

the company says the merger would create jobs and increase reliability. d.c.'s public service commission initially rejected the merger proposal. it's now taking a second look after mayor bowser voiced her support. a family's holiday gift taken right off their front porch. coming up, why police didn't have go far

can you see out there? probably not. we have dense fog advisory through the region. look at that fog out there. hanging on thick throughout the day. spotty problems especially as the fog moves to the north. in the district, slow travel to hazardous. but we're staying cloudy, staying with low visible. if you travel outside the district and to the east or towards the west, a lot better in terms of conditions. the bus stop forecast, as the

kids come home, not too bad. temperatures in the low 50s. plenty of clouds. we will be dry. we'll talk about that rain coming up. >> police in central florida had no problem identifying the thief who stole a package off someone's porch. dana hager is the wife of a city police officer. the neighbor prosecutors say she stole from was another police officer and his wife. the packages contained presents for their toddler. hager now faces burglary charges. caught on camera, it's a moment when tempers boil over at aindiana. >> the meeting turned melee was over the firing of a town marshal. last night the board voted to hire a new town marshal, and the fists start the flying between the old and the new marshal. indiana state police investigating that incident. this morning everyone is

talking about controversial comments from donald trump. >> why his comments could soon get him banned from entering a major european country.

back to breaking news in the freddie gray case in baltimore. officer william porter took the stand in his own defense just a while ago. he is charged with man slaugsla

and assault. porter testified that he didn't see anything physically wrong with gray, and that he didn't buckle him into the police transport van because he had put more than 100 other suspects in the van before and never needed to buckle them in. porter is the first of six baltimore police officers to go on trial in gray's death. news 4's chris gordon is in baltimore at the trial and will have an update on new 4 at 5:00 and 6:00 today. back to you. thank you, kristin. more fall outfrom donald trump's idea to ban muslims from entering the u.s. critics are piling on here and abroad. one republican wants them to drop out of the presidential race altogether. tracie potts is following reaction and the impact on the republican party. >> it's time for donald trump to withdraw from the race. >> reporter: and he's a republican. party leaders condemn trump's muslim travel plan but not completely abandoning the

front-runner. will support whoever the republican nominee is, and i will stand up for what i believe in. >> i will certainly support the republican nominee for president. >> you can't turn your book on your nominee. whoever gets the nomination, the party will support. >> reporter: ted cruz condemned the plan but steered clear of bad mouthing trump. >> a lot of our friends here have encouraged me to criticize and attack donald trump. i'm not interested in doing so. >> reporter: the party has already taken a hit. hillary clinton is tieing in other candidates. >> their language may be more va veiled than trumps, but the ideas are no different. >> any republican who is too fearful of the republican base to admit is has no right to serve as president. >> reporter: there are no shortage of critics. >> condemning all muslims is a new low for him. >> i never thought loud and obnoxious comments are what we

wanted in a president. >> reporter: but trump is not backing down. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. thousands in the uk say they want to ban donald trump. a petition not to allow him into the country has more than 100,000 signatures. parliament must consider all signatures that garner more than 100,000 signatures for a debate. the government must also issue a formal response. it is a gloomy day out there. not the prettiest of days. hopefully you have the sunshine the last few days. no sun out there today. the good news is the bright side, if there is a little bit today, a gradual rise in temperatures as we go into the weekend. rain returns on monday. a few sprinkles late tochbnight. otherwise we're looking good temperatures will rise through the 50s. for wednesday -- i had friday earlier, now thursday. i forgot it's only wednesday. we have a foggy wednesday. we have that dense fog advisory

even going up through the district. we will warm up as we get into the weekend. temperatures in the upper 60s. next chance of rain on monday. >> that's because we're all looking for the weekend. have you wrapped up your holiday shopping yet? seems many of you have not even started. according to a new study by america's research, 75% of americans have not finished their holiday shopping. more than half of those will wait until christmas eve to get it done. shoppers are getting savvy to last minute price slashes hoping to score a deal. the holidays can unfun but also a lot of work. the stress to get shopping, cooking, wrapping down, eating, drinking, spending too much. dr. joshua wieiner joins me again. we want to talk about how to manage that stress when it happens. do you have any suggestions for us? >> plan ahead. have realistic expectation. don't try to make your house

look like martha stewart's. the other thing, particularly for spending time with family, the big stress is the family issue. people love their family but people get stressed out by the families. what i really think is the best advice is to invite somebody else to your house to spend time. this could be a friend of yours or some other family. the reason is everybody tends to behave better when they're around a stranger. you are much less likely to get into the argument, have the heated debate if you have that other eye looking after you. if you have a grudge with a family member, bring in another person who doesn't know about it? >> exactly. that grudge is less likely to escalate to an argument. >> what about somebody facing the holidays with a family member or friend missing for the first time? how do you handle that situation? >> people need to recognize this will be difficult for them. so when you're having your first

holiday without that loved one, recognize it won't be the same. you have to realize that that's what to be expected. and keep in mind, it's not always going to be that way. not every christmas or holiday will be as painful as it is in the early stages of having lost somebody. >> here's one i want to ask you about. it's something i feel. no time for exercise, no time to not eat the chocolate or the christmas pudding. you feel anxious about not doing the things you know you should be doing. >> give yourself a pass, say it's the holiday season. i expect to gain a few pounds. maybe i will engage in some unhealthy behaviors, i'll make it my new year's resolution, probably the most common new year's resolution any way, or take the other approach and say this tends to stress me out come the new year, i always feel guilty, i get on the scale and see i gained weight, let me try

to be more careful. get some people in my family to give me that little nudge or reminder that might say, you know what? maybe cut down on the chocolate. you had enough. call it quits for tonight. i'm reminding you so you don't get mad at me come new year. >> get up earlier and do your exercise before the day starts. >> that's good idea, too. >> thank you very much. >> thanks, barbara. >> we'll see you again. back to you. >> all right. thank you. santa claus napping on the job? hear why no one is complaining. and a

here's some of the stories lighting up social media. a santa in ohio decided to take a nap in support of a little boy who suffered from seizures. the 2-year-old boy who had battled seizures his entire life had taken a nap before visiting santa. so santa decided to get in on

the nap as well. this was the end result. a goat to that has gone viral and is the most perfect, adorable holiday snap. all right. drink up. a step back in time, back to the '90s. do you remember this stuff? crystal pepsi. it's not back in stores just yet. but you can still win some. download the pepsi pack app to enter the contest. there are 13,000 six packs up for grabs. the soda debuted in 1992 but was taken off the market two years later. glass's annual choice awards is here. it's highlighting the best places to work across north america and europe. the top ten are dominated by internet based companies. airbnb takes the top spot. a company that invites strangers to sleep in your home, followed by consulting firm zane and company. social media sites include facebook as well as linkedin. twitter is at 26th on the list. now back to you.

>> inviting strangers to sleep in your house. sounds nice. >> people love it. >> making some money. a family classic banned from the classroom. >> why one school wants to ban the muppets.

well, we've got cloud cover, a lot of it just streaming through baltimore, really on down i-95 a bit of clearing along i 81 and to the eastern shore where they are getting sunshine. we expect temperatures to maybe top out in the mid 50s. for everybody else, expect lower 50s. expect this fog to continue, dense at times. maybe a few sprinkles overnight. that's at 11:30, late tonight into the overnight. otherwise clouds and fog early tomorrow morning. we will get some clearing by tomorrow afternoon. it looks like we'll have a mix of sun and clouds by the time we get into friday and saturday.

a warming trend. my goodness, temperatures keep going up. upper 60s by the time we get to the weekend. next chance of rain, not until monday. >> you going break out your flip-flops? >> i might. they're still sitting there waiting. you will be using yours soon. >> absolutely. why would anyone want to ban the muppets? a school board member in wisconsin has found a reason. >> she says they're too graphic for kindergarters. here's the issue. mary carney wants the book for every child a better world by jim henson removed from kindergarten curriculum. she says the book contains im e images of children living in poverty and violence. the school board will have the final say. teachers are scheduled to use the book early next year. how you can hate the muppets? >> i know. i can't imagine. jim henson is a bright guy when it comes to kids. >> what did kermit the frog ever do to them? >> that's news4 midday for today

thank you for being with us. >> yep.

>> today on the meredith vieira show. trump is in the center of a fire storm over the proposed ban of muslims entering the u.s. why some supporters are refusing to turn their backs and others are demanding heet out on of the race. >> and the launch of 2016. then actress amanda peek is revealing the lesson jerry seinfeld gave her on comedy and it starts right now on "meredith". ♪ [applause]