together. jul julie? >> reporter: well, prince william county detectives only started working on this case a day ago when they learned of inappropriate communications between detective abbott and a 13-year-old boy that he met as a youth hockey coach. that led to knowledge of a second victim. and in spite of abbott's death today, investigators are now going to go through all the items they seized at his townhouse to determine whether there could be more victims. dave abbott, a decorated detective, a member of the internet crimes against children task force, a youth hockey coach. but early this morning prince william county officers came to his townhouse in force to arrest him for sex crimes against children. the commotion awakened some neighbors. >> after 3:00, the dog starts barking and he usually only barks when he sees somebody. and i came down and a police officer was there. >> reporter: police were there to serve a search warrant and an arrest warrant accusing abbott of inappropriate contact with two boys he met through his role as a coach in the prince william

hockey league. abbott barricaded himself in the townhouse where he lived with his sister. neighbors tell news 4 they could hear negotiators urging abbott to surrender but around 7:00 a.m. he took his own life. residents were urged to stay inside and only later learned what had happened to the neighbor they called a very nice guy. >> i knew he liked hockey because he has nice hockey signed shirts on the walls. really nice, quiet guy. totally shocked. totally shocked. and, you know, if people have that kind of trouble, seek help. >> reporter: abbott had been involved in several high-profile sex crimes cases. one brought him both national attention and ridicule when he sought photos of a young man's private parts to use in a teen's sexting case. but tonight, badges in the manassas police department are are shrouded in black. a statement calls this a tragic day and reads in part "in spite of recent developments regarding the serious allegations against him, we are grateful for the contributions detective abbott made during his time with manassas city police." now, the hockey club where

abbott coach also issued a statement saying its members are saddened by his death and adding that they're taking steps to meet the needs of children and families in the potomac patriots organization. back to you, vance, in the studio. >> thanks, julie. no verdict tonight for the first baltimore police officer tried in the death of freddie gray. the jury ors went home a half hr ago a couple hours after telling a judge they were deadlocked on the chargers against that policeman, william porter is his name. chris gordon in baltimore now with a report on what we might expect tomorrow. chris? >> reporter: well, behind me withdrew see a group of protesters here at the courthouse. they're few in number. they're not loud or violent, and quite frankly, they are a bit confused about the events of the day. it all began at 3:30 this afternoon when the jury sent the judge a note saying they're deadlocked. the judge sent the jury back to resume deliberations after they sent him a note this afternoon

saying they were deadlocked. the judge is encouraging them to discuss the case in attempt to reach a unanimous verdict. if that doesn't work -- >> if they can't, then there's a mistrial. and then the prosecution will look at the divide among the jurors, and usually if the divide is in the prosecution's favor, they will retry the case. >> reporter: there are only a few demonstrators at the courthouse this evening. they were surprised that the jury said it was deadlocked. >> we all saw video. we saw this video of this young man hog tied, bent backwards and people screaming in the background, he's bent like a pretzel! and then dragged lifeless and put in the van. that is not even referenced in this trial, and if this jury only goes with what they're seen in the courtroom, they're not going to have enough to work with. >> reporter: the jury of five women -- seven women and five

men will return here tomorrow to the courthouse at 8:30 in the morning and they will try to reach a unanimous verdict on any or all of the four criminal charges facing police officer william porter. that's the latest live in baltimore, doreen, back to you. >> chris gordon, thank you. developing in d.c., police just released their first body camera footage showing a man who died in the custody of special security guards here. his death was later ruled a homicide. news 4's mark segraves is at the wilson building with more. mark? >> reporter: that's right. this is the very first time in the short history that d.c. police have had body cameras that they've actually released footage, footage of the man who now his death has been ruled a homicide. in the medical examiner's report, it noted that alonzo smith sustained compression injuries to his back and this video supports those findings. we are not going to show you all of this video because of its

graphic nature of a man dying in police custody. but the video does clearly show when police officers arrive that two private security guards are detaining alonzo smith, he is facedown on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back and one of the officers has his knee on the victim's back. and now today we spoke with both the chief medical examiner and the chief of police about the video and about that scene where you see the man's knee in his back and here's how they described it. >> we also have evidence of the compression of the torso with the blunt-force trauma we're seeing on the back that's within the report. there's some evidence of that physically, not just on the video. >> he did have a knee on his back and in terms of training there, we don't train people, police officers or security are not trained to do that. obviously when our officers arrived, they're arriving at the end of a pretty significant struggle. the security guard is clearly

very winded and out of breath and in the midst of just completing a struggle, so i can't pass judgment as to what happened prior to us walking in but that's not the way we are trained. >> reporter: now when police first arrived, the security guards told d.c. police officers they thought the suspect was high on pcp. that turned out not to be true. he did have cocaine and marijuana in his system. tonight the victim's mother is complaining that police took so long to release this video and they still haven't charged anyone. we can tell you multiple sources confirm to us that there is a grand jury right now hearing evidence in this case. it is unclear whether charges will be forthcoming. more surveillance video, or body cam video from this incident is expected to be released in the next few days. jim? back to you. i'll pick it up here at the live desk where we're keeping an eye on how the nation's two largest school districts hand ld threats to their schools today. the reaction couldn't have been more different. right now investigators are still searching schools in los

angeles. the superintendent abruptly shut them all down this morning after someone e-mailed a threat to the city council. officials in new york city received a similar e-mail, but police commissioner bill bratton said the threat wasn't credible. we're learning that e-mail threatened a massacre, quote, all students in the district and allegedly came from a class mate who had been bullied. still not clear schools will re-open in l.a. tomorrow, but we've got a live report from there coming up in about ten minutes. this afternoon white house press secretary josh earnest said people shouldn't second guess the decisions by either school district. vance? >> thanks, chris. tonight, the first republican debate since the terror attacks in san bernardino and in paris. national security has become a top priority for american voters. donald trump's controversial stand on immigration has helped fuel his rise to a commanding national lead, but ted cruz is rising quickly as a real threat in iowa. steve handelsman is in las vegas

with our report. >> reporter: ted cruz comes to las vegas leading in iowa polls and closing in on donald trump in national republican surveys. is the truce between the texas senator and the billionaire front-runner over? at the debate tonight in this hall at the venetian hotel on center stage, trump and cruz will stand side by side and cruz expects attacks as a senior aide. >> i think he'll get more time tonight. i think people will come after him. >> reporter: trump showed his temper last night when his rally was interrupted. >> get them out. >> reporter: trump supporters cursed. one with a nazi salute. gop insider says the vegas odds are trump attacks the texan tonight. >> ted cruz is easing in on his territory. he is the outsider. he's the flavor of the month. he's the guy with all the momentum. >> reporter: and cruz could tangle with marco rubio, the florida senator polls the best of any of the 14 republicans in a matchup with democrat hillary clinton. >> another three or four

earlier. not a single one of them is being investigated by the fbi. >> reporter: donald trump claims he's heard everyone will go after him. >> they're saying, man, this is, like, crazy. who's going to attack trump first? >> reporter: in a debate that comes on the same day that los angeles went on alert, the focus is sure to be on the dangers of terrorist attacks on america. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, las vegas. >> and if you'd like to do some research before tonight's debate, we have boast posted th candidates' stands on a couple major issues on our nbc washington app. with that, we invite you to use the search term "on the issues." the man in charge of donald trump's virginia campaign says he thinks trump is a transformational candidate. corey stewart is the chairman of the prince william county board of supervisors. he's taking a hard stance on undocumented immigrants much like trump. stewart met privately with trump at a recent rally in manassas.

stewart told news 4 he's not seen this level of enthusiasm about a republican since ronald reagan. french police just made arrests linked to two separate terror attacks in paris. three people are in custody. one is a man who is described as having a peripheral link to the attacks that killed 130 people in paris last month. separately, police arrested a man and his wife in connection with the deadly shooting attack at a kosher market in paris in january. police believe the couple supplied the weapons to gunman k kul bali. vincent gray, a campaign ended without any charges being filed against gray. as tom sherwood reports now, gray believes the investigation cost him his job as mayor. >> reporter: vince gray was conducting something of a media blitz today. angry at the now ended federal probe lasted so long and

prosecutors destroyed his political reputation. he told news 4 -- >> they owe me an apology. i think they owe the people of the district of columbia an apology. >> reporter: the prosecutors ended the probe but didn't specifically exonerate gray. >> the prosecutor's statement was they didn't have enough evidence to go forward didn't suggest that you were exonerated. does that make a difference to you? was that just boilerplate u.s. attorney -- >> i can't speak for them, of course, but what i can speak to is the fact that no charges were brought against me. >> reporter: draw lost his re-election bid last year to muriel bouwser. he said voters lost trust in him. >> they thought i was going to get indicted and said, look, i don't want to vote for one of these other people so i'll stay home, i won't bother to vote. >> reporter: prosecutors did get a half dozen convictions in the shadow campaign case. now gray is openly hinting he will run in a few months for the d.c. council either for at large or for the ward 7 seat he once

held. >> i think i would stand a great chance in either one of those elections, and which one would be the better one, that's something i'll have to figure out in the weeks ahead. >> reporter: gray won't rule out a rematch with bowser in 2018 to avenge 2014. >> i think i would have won, period. so, you know, maybe we should have a do-over. >> well, there are no do-overs in politics, but there are comebacks. and vince gray seems to want e. >> expect him to run, don't you? >> yes. everything suggested it. ego, by the sense he feels like he was wronged and the path is wide open for vince gray if he wants to get back into elected politics. >> thanks. still ahead, schoolchildren line the streets as hundreds paid tribute to a fallen officer. what's being done to honor his legacy in a community he died trying to protect. they promised to rebuild after rioting took over their streets. now people tell us what they

hope will come out of the freddie gray case. he lived in a cave. 12 feet below ground. but they took his home away and now he's in jail. and so people are banding together to try and help out the caveman of fairfax city. i'm pat collins. the story coming up. news 4. rather windy today but still on the mild side. tomorrow one more really nice day, but then we see areas of heavy rain move in and the cold, the cold finally gets here and we're talking about windchills in the 30s. the coldest day so far this

breaking news after a threat to los angeles public schools today, superintendent there tells reuters that schools will re-open tomorrow. nbc's jennifer bjorklund is live in los angeles with the latest on a decision that's getting a lot of analysis tonight. jennifer? >> reporter: yeah, doreen, we're just getting word of that, ourselves and are expecting the superintendent to announce that in a press conference within the hour. that's the news. that's the good news. but it was an abundance of caution that closed those 900 l.a. schools this morning at about 7:00 a.m. school district campuses all closed and that affected about 750,000 students.

just after 7:00 a.m., parents started getting notifications to keep their kids home. the immediate concern, terrorism. >> we're wondering if this is actually real, so right now i'm pretty sure i'm not the only one that's afraid. >> reporter: a threat which law enforcement confirmed appeared to come from overseas was credible enough for the superintendent to shut the district down and send s.w.a.t. teams to some schools. >> based on past circumstances, i could not take the chance as it relates to one student or our staff that serve our students. >> reporter: another threat sent from the same i.p. address and containing some of the same wording also was sent to new york city schools. new york police commissioner bill bratton, the former los angeles police of chief, says his department is investigating the e-mail as a hoax. a vastly different reaction than his cross-country counterpart. >> this is not a credible threat.

it is not something that we are concerned with. what we would be concerned with is overreacting. >> it's also very easy to criticize a decision when you have no responsibility for the outcome of that decision. >> reporter: lapd chief charlie beck defends the decision to leave hundreds of thousands of potentially unsupervised students out of school. >> southern california has been through a lot in the recent weeks. should we risk putting our children through the same? >> there's been a lot of school shootings and i was just worried about my brother. >> reporter: and happy to be holding loved ones just a little bit closer. that e-mail threat mentioned explosive devices and weapons and also appeared to originate from frankfurt, germany, but officials say they could have been a fake i.p. address that was bounced around the world and could have been masked and the suspect's origin could be much, much closer than we first thought. i'm jennifer bjorklund live in

los angeles, jim back to you. >> thanks, jennifer. a d.c. school teacher has been accused of assaulting a third grader and now police want to know if there might be other victims. his name is cameron lewis. he's a teacher at turner elementary school in southeast d.c. he was arrested this morning. court documents say he physically pulled an 8-year-old child out of a classroom squeezing his arm so hard that it left a mark there. lewis has been charged with cruelty to children. an emotional day in montgomery county today where the community honored a young police officer killed by a suspected drunk driver. noah leotta died after being hit working on an alcohol holiday task force. today his sacrifice was honored by people outside the church where his funeral was held and on street corners near the cemetery. meagan fitzgerald with a look at the somber good-byes. meagan? >> reporter: and doreen, at the funeral service today officers

passed out these programs here attached to it wases a red ribbon from mothers against drunk drivers. the family says they're hoping that the community will be reminded of noah's mission to stop people from driving while intoxicated. there's so few ways to express the pain of losing one of your own. when you're a police officer, it's shown by the number of brothers and sisters in arms who show up. >> we often say we have blue blood running through us, and, you know, we feel that in our heart. >> reporter: hundreds of officers came to honor 24-year-old noah leotta. many never met noah, but they didn't need to because they know on any given day, they can also die in the line of duty. >> there's no such thing as a routine traffic stop because anything at all can happen. withdrew can be shot. you might have to fight someone who's on drugs. >> reporter: and on december 3rd, officer leotta was hit by a car while conducting a drunk driving detail. investigators believe the driver

who hit leotta was drunk. at his funeral service, his family talked about his passion to keep drunk drivers off the road. they remembered his smile and kindness while fighting back tears. officer rose says she tries to comfort families like leotta's with graphics she makes to honor fallen officers. >> to me, that's the greatest way that i can honor their memory. to help those left behind heal. >> reporter: it's something she's done for hundreds of officers killed in the line of duty. she just wishes she didn't have to do it for a young officer who was just getting started. >> we give our lives for each other, or citizens at any moment. when we lose one of us, it's like losing a part of yourself. >> reporter: meagan fitzgerald, news 4. new rules in place after maryland firefighters were caught fighting on the job. details behind the local turf battle that has the fire chief taking action. an outpouring of support for

a homeless man who was living in a secret cave under a park. we'll tell you who's stepping in to help after that story went viral. and we'll look back at some of our favorite moments both on and off the air as tv legend, willard scott, retires.

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sunday to the weekend looking real good. 73 degrees right now. humidity 64%. the air quality was fair. 37 today. on our big map, see the stationary front depicted below north carolina. that low with -- >> pretty fancy weather gear then, huh? that's our longtime friend and colleague, willard scott who officially retired today after 65 years at nbc. willard was our weatherman here in washington for many years. he worked alongside vance way back in the '70s. coming up at 6:45, we're going to pay a special tribute to willard. hope you'll stick around for that. first, though, want to deal with the weather that we have right now. doug, you know i remember one time when that board he was

pushing around -- >> wouldn't spin. >> stuck. wouldn't go. and he stood there for 40 seconds trying to tug it around. things have changed drastically , haven't they? >> things dying on us, computer not responding. you've seen that happen to me. >> we enjoy it when it does. >> i know you guys do. you always have a good laugh with that. i got to tell you, great thing for willard, very happy for him on his retirement. congratulations. as far as the weather is concerned, you know, it's not bad at all. this tame of year, our average temperature is 46 degrees. we're well above that again today. we had a little bit of a wind, but that's about it. 56 the current numbers. winds out of the northwest at 14 miles per hour. they were gusting upwards of 30 to 35. that's no longer the case. the winds beginning to subside a little bit. down to 48 gaithersburg. 56 in fredericksburg. 52 in leesburg. incredible warmth so far this december. if it was to end right now, we would shatter all-time december warm records. it really is incredible. no rain to talk about across our region today but we are are going to start to see a change

in the weather pattern over the next couple of days. not coming tomorrow, so not much from d.c. back to chicago, back toward kansas city, not a whole lot going on. look back here toward denver. big-time snowstorm. up to a foot of snow in parts of the denver region. that same storm will move up to the north, it will grab moisture out of the gulf and out of the atlantic and that means for us, rain. it's not going to be snow. it's going to be rain. wednesday at 1:00, tomorrow afternoon, a beautiful day tomorrow. a nice afternoon. little cooler than today. but still, quite nice with plenty of sunshine. here's thursday at 7:00 a.m. notice the shower activity starting to move in. and we could see some heavier showers in the morning hours right on through noon and most likely through early afternoon. some of that rain could be heavy at times. maybe upwards half an inch to an inch and that's why we're going for a weather alert day during the day on thursday. so that's what to expect. periods of rain. some of it heavy. weather alert day, yeah, not going to have a major impact. this is not a huge storm, but, again, it will have an impact on your day. you will need to bring the umbrellas out there for sure.

tomorrow, no umbrellas. 55 gaithersburg. 60 degrees down toward fredericksburg. little cooler, 54 martinsburg. 53 backoward hagerstown. not bad. temperatures tomorrow on the nice side. all in all, the impact will be much lower. more sunshine, still mild. that impact starts to work its way up here on thursday, friday and saturday. thursday because of the rain. that's why we have that weather alert day. friday and saturday because of the cold turning much colder as we head into the weekend. i'll break down those temperatures for you coming up at 6:45. >> doug. the story went viral and now support is coming in from all over the world to help a homeless man who's been living in a secret cave under a local park. i'm tracee wilkins, we're live in baltimore where the jury will come back tomorrow to continue its deliberations. meanwhile, anticipation is

deliberations will continue tomorrow morning in baltimore as armored vehicles and police are stationed all over the city ahead of a verdict. officer william porter is the first officer to go on trial for the death of freddie gray back in april. gray died after he was injured in the back of a police wagon. today was the first full day of deliberations. the jurors said today that we were deadlocked but the judge told them to keep trying. parts of west baltimore are

now dedicated to freddie gray's life. moving, handpainted murals cover several buildings in his memory. but tonight thoughts are also on the jury's impending decision. news 4's tracee wilkins is live in baltimore with that part of the story. >> reporter: doreen, it's all about healing. that's what's happening here behind me, actually. there's a christian group, they have been singing this evening and also feeding the homeless. another part of that healing. it's no mistake that they're here in this area. it was the heart of the riots that happened after freddie gray, but what's happening now is folks are anxiously anticipating what that jury is going to do. >> tensions are very high, e moep emotions are are very high. >> reporter: mondawmin mall was a site of looting after freddie gray's death. thoughts are are on the jury's deliberation and the trial of officer william porter and there are mixed expectations. >> i don't think that this particular guy really had played

a really big part in what happened. >> when they showed the videotape of freddie gray being dragged to the van, he was already unconscious. his feet were being dragged. >> reporter: the deadlocked jury is expected to return and continue deliberations tomorrow. >> i just pray and hope that this comes to an end very soon. >> reporter: news of a deadlocked jury just raises anticipation in the heart of baltimore's inner city where freddie gray lived and died. >> coming from around here, we just trying to uphold one another. we still praying for justice to be served. >> reporter: as we drove through the city's streets, we saw murals dedicated to gray, his death, and the city as it worked to redefine itself. some of the murals were marking points where the police van carrying gray reportedly stopped to pick up other detainees while gray sat in handcuffs unrestrained. >> actually beautiful, actually telling us, i mean, showing us, i mean, how we fought for justice. >> reporter: now there is hope that violent demonstrations are

in the city's past and there will be calm regardless of what this jury finds. >> they don't find him guilty, there are probably some issues, but he's being judged by his peers. you know what i'm saying? you can't change that. >> reporter: deliberations are expected to continue tomorrow morning. reporting live in baltimore, tracee wilkins, jim back to you in the studio. >> thanks, tracee. tonight the strong reaction to a fight between firefighters in prince george's county. the chief says if it happens again, people will be fired. news 4 broke the story last week. career and volunteer firefighters involved in some pushing and shoving on the front porch of a house that was on fire in loudoun. we're told the fight began with an argument over who was in charge. in a video provided by the fire department, the chief announced some new rules of conduct. >> these actions and behavior are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. i will not tolerate violence in

the workplace in any way, shape or form. >> four firefighters were involved in that altercation. they are all on desk duty now pending an investigation. some are calling him the caveman of fairfax, virginia. a homeless man who police say built an elaborate underground dwelling in a city park. tonight there is an outpouring of support after police arrested the man and filled in the structure. our pat collins talked with some of those who want to help him. pat's in fairfax now with our report. pat? >> reporter: jim, they took away his cave and they threw him in jail. now it appears help is on the way for the caveman. his name is yosue rios, the caveman of fairfax city. for some time he lived 12 feet below ground in a cave. a cave he carved out himself. in the woods behind police

headquarters. this week in the name of safety, he was evicted. his cave filled in. and mr. rios arrested on destruction of property charges. now comes a helping hand. last night, our julie carey did the story and catherine valez in connecticut saw it and set up a gofund me page for mr. rios. today i talked to miss valez by phone. >> i felt so badly for this guy. he clearly was, you know, trying his beth to take care of himself in a very different situation, and just the fact that, you know, they had arrested him and destroyed the only home he had just absolutely just pulled at my heart strings. >> reporter: now off to the lamb center, a faith-based group that helps the homeless. hay say mr. rios was a regular there. >> i've just been impressed by his efforts of building that

cave because really -- i find that really amazing and really sad, too, that he would have to go to those lengths to find a place to live. >> reporter: and they say people from all over have called to try and help him. >> it's a pretty impressive response. >> it is. i would say it's gone viral. >> reporter: now mr. rios has to deal with that destruction of property charge here in fairfax and an old traffic charge in arlington before he can get out and begin searching for another place to live. doreen, back to you. >> all right, pat collins reporting. thank you, pat. after months of delays, local leaders take a big step forward to try to get st

i'm adam tuss in tysons corner where there is an unbelievable development boom going on. take a look at the skyline that

is developing here and every time you come here, it seems like there's something new to take a look at. well, some people say that tysons, just tysons now, you drop the corner, is on par to be a place like seattle soon in just a couple of years. and wait until you hear what's going into some of the buildings here. biospheres where you can actually have a garden in between floors. people here say it's a new way of thinking. >> brand new thinking. brand new thinking. brand new energy strategies. brand new space utilization. >> reporter: the population, alone, in tysons expected to double in just the next 10 to 20 years. back to you. >> adam tuss, thank you. a final step in d.c.'s troubled streetcar program. tomorrow morning at 6:00, streetcars will be simulating normal service, but they will not be picking up any passengers yet. it's an extra level of testing that's as close to the real thing as you can get. transportation reporter adam tuss first broke the nauz ews o twitter. this testing period will last 21 days and a safety group will determine if the streetcar is

ready to start picking up riders. if abrpproved the streetcars cod start carrying riders next month. still to come tonight, we are digging deep, way deep, into the archives to relive our favorite on-air moments as our dear friend and former colleague, willard scott, has retired. >> as jim pointed out, he's a special friend of mine because he has the same problem i do.

you may have heard willard scott retired today. he's 81 years young now. it seems like we've known him around here for that long. before he went off and became a great big old network star, he was our weather guy right around here and around here we still think of him as ours. for decades, more than half a

century, willard scott has been among the most beloved persons in the entire dmv. thousands grew up knowing him as bozo the clown or commander retro or even as the original ronald mcdonald. yeah. the original. beginning in the mid '60s on wrc radio, he and the late ed walker ruled the airwaves as the joy boys. it was appointment radio for many years. and if all that wasn't enough, in 1968, willard began a more than ten-year run as the weatherman on wrc tv's 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. news shows. i don't know how willard spent his last night before his exit from the "today" show but i can bet you it wasn't like what he did on his last night before he left here at wrc. back in those days, my office and that of great jim hart's was across the hall. willard's office, though, was right here. he had his own office with these windows here and big old roll-top desk in there. on that night, willard came into my office with jim hart and i

were just sitting and talking. he brought with him a mason jug like this with what looked like water in here and three cups. he sat down and what we soon learned, that wasn't water at all. that was moonshine that somebody had made and buried 25 years earlier. willard poured us all three cups and warned us drink it quickly before it deteriorated the cup. and so we did. several times. and then we went into the 11:00 show. the likes of which no one has ever seen before and never should again. thankfully, no record of it exists. lord have mercy, what a show that was. willard's always been known as a guy who knows how to make an entrance. let me tell you something, he also knows how to make an exit, too. part of his appeal was you never know what he was going to say or do. like the time because he felt like it, he brought in a violinist to provide background for his weather report.

>> very slick surfaces all night trying to get home because freezing temperatures down to near 23 degrees tonight. >> reporter: willard loved his work, but no more so than his farm out in virginia. he raised all kinds of things there including chickens which, by the way, provided income. we sat for an interview one day maybe 20 years ago. let him tell the story. >> sold eggs. >> are you kidding -- >> every friday. >> i made more money from that angle. i didn't need a lawyer. i didn't need an accountant. >> you made a bundle. >> you bought those eggs. >> i bought them every friday. better than safeway. >> that's where they came from. [ laughter ] >> reporter: for more than 25 years, we here in washington loved claiming willard as our own. then one day in 1979 -- >> washington's loss is the nation's gain. willard scott joining the "today" family this morning, first time. you've been at wrc how long down there in washington? >> 29 golden years. >> reporter: willard spent more than a quarter century commuting

between his farm and manhattan where to his credit he didn't change a thing. what changed were the numbers and the ilk of those who grew to love willard. >> can you believe this? >> you wanted to jog with me. >> i'm ready. >> thanks. >> how about that? i've been kissed by the best. >> reporter: yep, that was the first lady of the united states, barbara bush, who just had to stop and kiss willard. one thing willard did add to his repertoire from the "today" show was his signature weekly salute to an american who had reached the centennial mark and was lucky enough to be celebrated on network tv by willard scott. and if i may, you saw the violinist that willard brought into the studio, the rest of us sitting here didn't know that was coming. nor were we aware the night he brought in a full-grown bear then kissed it and then a great big longhorn steer. we needed some big shovels in the studio after that.

his crew was really upset. once he brought in a big monkey. maybe it was a chimpanzee. i don't know. it did its business of the worst kind all over the front of the anchor's shirt that night live on tv. >> eww. >> that poor guy stunk for days after that. nearly every day of our tenure together willard brought to the set cakes, cookies, pies, all of the above, goodies people sent hoping he'd promote their worthy cause which he did willingly and eagerly, and then, here's the deal, he gave the sweets away to the studio crew, the newsroom, us anchors. willard rarely ate that stuff. we rarely did not. willard scott is a one of a kind, once in a lifetime good man. happy retirement, my friend. god knows you've earned it. >> oh, yes. congratulations. willard scott is a party everywhere he goes. >> yes, indeed. the jolliest man i've ever known in my life. >> i tell you what, i'm not unhappy that you haven't brought

any wildlife on the set, doug. >> what you have is technology now that is just absolutely amazing. >> and we have the technology to go back to that moonshine night. let's take a look at it. vance, moonshine night back in -- yeah, we don't have it. >> we don't -- there's no record of that. >> he's looked. let's look at what's happening around our area. great stuff happening all the way around. this is the bull runs festival lights out toward centerville. our chopper was over that area a little earlier. this is one of the be areas to go toward portions of northern virginia, fairfax, prince william county, around loudoun county area, too. a great time to get out there. of course, you can drive your car right on through there. now, another great place, zoolights down there at the national zoo. yeah, i will be down there tomorrow if you want to come out and say hello to me. you know, he may have had -- i'm going to have a ball tomorrow night. i've got everything right at my fingertips tomorrow night. i'm going to be down there at zoolights at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00

and 7:00. come on down. actually we don't have a 7:00 show but we just added one. evening planner tonight. take a look at the numbers. 56 degrees. we're dropping through the 50s to the 40s. still extremely nice for this time of year. temperatures 51 degrees in reston. 54 in camp springs. now, next couple of days we are going to see a change. 56 on thursday. the rain coming down. some of it heavy at times. 48 on friday. high of only 43 on saturday. windchills on saturday only in the 30s all day long. saturday, cold, but look where we go next week. up to 60 again tuesday and dare i say 70 on christmas eve. >> all right. >> we're loving that. >> no, we're not. >> i am. >> it's wrong. >> no, it's not. it's good. coming up in sports, what you need to know about the new tight end for the burgundy and gold. and why a lot of eyes will be on the opponent's bench at the georgetown game tonight.

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this is the xfinity sports desk brought to you by xfinity. your home for the most live sports. >> doug and doreen and i wish it was -- >> three times, tlhree season-ending injuries. i don't think it's going to happen. let's be clear, though, jordan reed is the starting tight end for the redskins. he's having a career year and the skins are thrilled with

everything he's doing minus some penalties, but he does have some durability questions. they needed another backup. they got it today. in comes alex smith, a ten-year veteran. smith does have familiarity with some of the redskins. this is a videoof him catching a touchdown from colt mccoy when they were with the browns. the bigger connection is with jay gruden who smith played for in tampa and cincinnati. we're going to get our first look at the new tight end at tomorrow's practice. redskins in a first-place tie, best team in the east, second most points in the entire nhl. according to nicklas backstrom, the success is thanks to, quote, our best player every night, braden holtby. that's what nick is saying. holtby's latest stellar performance coming against rival pittsburgh. a season high 44 saves in a 4-1 win over the pens. you thought last year was amazing, this season even better. leads the league in wins and goals against 9 -0-1 in his last

ten starts. we're going to see if he can keep it going tomorrow night when the caps host the senators. yeah. merry christmas. there you go. >> this is today. tis the season for doing some good. the entire caps team today visiting the pediatric ward of medstar georgetown university hospital. lots of pictures, lots of hugs and smiles. yeah. there are a lot of guys in there. big boost for the kids, though. came away with some souvenirs and a lot of memories. >> if you think about it, that five or ten minutes we were there might last for the next, you know, next couple hours, next couple days, can be something they can talk about hopefully and enjoy and time moves slow when you're in the hospital so you need whatever you can to try and distract you. whatever kind of joy that we can bring and sometimes we don't realize how big of a deal it can be. so, yeah, it's pretty special for us.

>> let's get a big smile. >> i mean, how cute is that, right? oh my goodness. >> pretty cool. college hoops might see a show if you're going to watch georgetown at verizon center tonight. hosting monmouth. a small school from central new jersey. their bench has taken the country by storm. team on the court, though, isn't too shabby knocking off guys like notre dame, ucla already, but that bench. the guys get pretty pumped. even have routines. this one they're going to call the big catch. like, you know when you're fishing you take a picture. then there's football. here's the football. and then how about the human hoop? what do you think this one's called, you guys? don't look at the prompter. don't look at the prompter. what is this? resuscitation. okay. how about this one? >> i don't know. >> jousting. >> ding, ding, ding. and for ten points -- >> rowing. >> row boat. monmouth bench tweeted a few hours ago, keep an eye out for

presidential d.c.-oriented celebrations tonight. >> they are really -- >> i know. >> they are. >> fun to ride the bench. >> "nightly ne

tonight, a massive school scare shutdown in los angeles. threats to new york and l.a. trigger the sudden closure of hundreds of southern california schools now being called a hoax. did l.a. officials overreact? is this the new normal after san bernardino? fight night in vegas. trump versus cruz. cruz versus rubio. and fireworks on the strip, as national security takes center stage. targeting brain cancer. a new device that's prolonging lives. doctors calling it the most promising treatment for brain tumors in years. weather whiplash. record snow in the west. record heat in the east. businesses hit hard. and a major lawsuit over a hugely popular line of hair care products endorsed by celebrities, now hundreds of women say