administrative law judge will be holding a series of meetings in chambers with prosecutors and defense attorneys to see when a retrial will be scheduled and when it will fit in with the five other trials of police officers here in baltimore in the death of freddie gray. while people were here at the courthouse this afternoon waiting for the verdict that never came i spoke to one of freddie gray's lifelong friends. >> i'm one of freddie gray's homeboys and i just want to see justice. whatever kind of justice it is, but you all know how it go when you stand trial. it ain't what you did, it's what you can prove in court. >> reporter: protesters marched in front of the courthouse. the young man with the bullhorn was arrested for blocking traffic. >> this is a disappointment because it's the first one and i think people wanted the first one and it would keep everybody on track and the police can't get away with murder. >> protesters are upset that the

jury could not reach awe unanimous verdict on any of the four charges against officer william porter. the first of six officers to stand trial for the death of freddie gray. >> i think it's actually going to increase the prosecution's chance of conviction in future cases because they now understand the defense they're putting forward and they'll be better prepared for that. >> as a result of the hung jury and mistrial, prosecutors can decide to retry officer william porter. >> i feel as though freddie is standing trial more than our supporters. >> reporter: how does that make you feel? >> it's a slap in the face because we are here for officer porter. freddie gray is deceased, he's dead and gone. >> reporter: just moments ago freddie gray's mother, gloria darden and stepfather richard shipley stepped right here and talked to us saying they don't blame the jury and they are asking baltimore state's

attorney marilyn mosby to seek justice for them. >> we are hopeful that ms. mosby will retry officer porter as soon as possible and that his next jury will reach a verdict. once again, we ask the public to remain calm and patient because we are confident there will be another trial with a different jury. we are calm. you should be calm. >> reporter: and there, indeed, will be a retrial for officer william porter. discussions over the next couple of days with the administrative law judge. that's the latest live in baltimore. chris gordon. >> just after the mistrial news broke police started to form perimeters. we've seen officers take at least one person into custody. our team coverage continues now with news 4's jackie bensen in a neighborhood where things flared up back in the spring. jackie? >> yes. we're at pennsylvania avenue north and i'm going to show you what it looks like here. remember, this is a transit hub

for baltimore so some of the people you see here are waiting for busses. other people are on their way home. many of them weary from the long day and confused about this news that they heard earlier about the mistrial. across the street you see a lot of people gathered. most of those are journalists, television and print journalists and there's also a heavy presence here of religious leaders and people who formed coalitions after the terrible unrest that caused so much damage in this beautiful city in the spring and they are out here tonight doing their best and talking to some of the younger people who appear to be the most angry and the most visibly angry about the announcement earlier today, but right now i think that people have a feeling that they want to keep peace through this evening. they want to see peace. a short time ago we talked to a

man who has been working to build a religious coalition here throughout the last few months. his name is pastor angel nunez. here's what he had to say. >> we will not tolerate our city to be burned up like it was in april. we want to make sure that people have the right to protest, but not to destroy and not burn down our city. >> neither side got the answer that they wanted, but then again, we believe it's going to be a retrial and we're trying to teach people the process of the law. >> i understand we have some pictures right now of protesters headed toward the inner harbor. i'm assuming those were the protesters who were outside the courthouse and the inner harbor being the commercial heart of baltimore. that is the place that tourists see, a place that when we had the unrefrt in the spring was largely exceptioned by that. continues continue normal, but they are headed down there now

and a very symbolic bringing of their feelings into the commercial heart of baltimore. live in baltimore, jackie bensen, news 4. >> thank you. as the situation continues to unfold, we hope you'll stay with news 4 for updates and we'll have a look at the case against the other five officers that still are awaiting trial in the freddie gray case. that's on our nbc washington app. >> now to the mystery surrounding the murder of a secret service officer and the father of three. arthur ballot win is his name. he was shot and killed in broad daylight yesterday in southwest d.c. it happened just a few hours after he had appeared in court. mark segraves at d.c. police headquarters with the latest on this investigation. mark? >> jim, a mystery indeed. police still don't know what arthur baldwin was doing on that street in southwest washington and while they say they do believe they have a motive there are still many unanswered questions. >> reporter: his friends knew him as a.j.

arthur baldwin had a wife and three children. he'd been with the secret service for years and most recently stationed at the white house. he was found on southwest d.c. near the prince george's county border. >> he is an employee of the secret service and we do not believe he was armed at the time. >> reporter: baldwin was not armed because he'd been suspended in april after he was charged with destruction of property in trying to break into his former girlfriend's home. just hours before he was killed. baldwin was in d.c. superior court pleading not guilty to the misdemeanor of destruction of property charge and the more serious charge of trying to break into his girlfriend's home was dismissed. police don't believe his murder was connected to his job or the criminal charge. >> this time the motive that we believe is a robbery. that's the only apparent motive right now. >> reporter: now i did speak to several of his friends who did not want to go on camera. they say baldwin loved his children very much and that he

didn't deserve to die in this way. back to you. >> the secret service officer who was killed in d.c. marks a grim milestone. there have been 155 homicides in the city this year and that compares to 97 at this time last year which represents a nearly 60% increase. police have blamed that increase in violence on repeat offenders and access to illegal guns. now to politics, the senate intelligence committee is looking into weather senator ted cruz revealed classified information during last night's republican debate. if it happened it came during a testy exchange between cruz and senator marco rubio. they were talking about the fight against terrorism and change in the government's ability to monitor phone records. rubio is a member of the intelligence committee. cruz is not. >> the old program offer are covered 20% to 30% of phone numbers for terrorives and the new program covers 100%.

>> i don't think national television in front of 15 million people is the place to discuss classified information. >> senator richard byrd is the chairman of the intelligence committee. his communications director immediately sent out a tweet saying cruz should not have said when he did, but byrd told reporters today he is looking into the matter. >> hours after that debate the republican candidates were back on the campaign trail gearing up for their next big challenge. nbc's chris clackum has that. >> reporter: no real surprise out of last night's debate and a realization from trump he won't go third party. >> i am totally committed to the republican party and i feel very honored being the front-runner. >> reporter: trump's not the front-runner in iowa, ted cruz is and where marco rubio was on wednesday. >> we are 47 days -- 47 days away from being the first state that pronounces itself in this very important election.

>> reporter: analysts say rubio, like cruz, is positioning himself when or if the trump candaidacy collapses. >> what rubio is trying to do is fend off his fellow freshman saying i'm the alternative to trump. i'm the consensus pick. >> that's why cruz and rubio exchanged blows in the debate over defense spending. >> if you don't have planes and bombs to attack them with as well as immigration. he was fighting to grant amnesty and not to secure the border. i was fighting to secure the border. >> i would like to introduce the next president of the united states, hillary rodham clinton. >> democrats are also looking forward to iowa and hillary clinton headed there after a stop in omaha invited by billionaire warren buffett. >> you know, our economy does better when we have a democrat in the white house. that is just a fact. >> reporter: after the debate, trump went to arizona, comfortable his double-digit

lead in national polls will hold through the holidays. chris clackum, nbc news. >> also on the democratic side of the presidential race, bernie sanders visited a mosque and the first muslim-american to be elected to congress, keith ellison of minnesota. he called on all candidates to condemn anti-muslim rhetoric. a group of faith leaders gathered at georgetown university today in the aftermath of recent terror attacks, they spoke out against intolerance and a call for peace. tom sherwood now with more from that interfaith gathering which included a surprise guest. >> the vice president arriving unexpectedly hugging laila ruthers, she had just spoken out about intolerance around the

world. with choral music and speakers from many religions, today's goal was understanding and peace in a diverse world. >> muslim, christian, jew, sikh, jane, zohar, astrid would be our brothers we will not shun, put down, despise, exclude, denigrate, belittle, malign the other. >> biden specifically denounced some political suggestions to close america to immigrants out of concerns for terrorism and fear. >> exploiting that fear is unacceptable and completely counterproducti counterproductive. it's not just morally wrong. it's counterproductive. ♪ó$ >> georgetown university president john degioia said he decided to host the service because the region had not spoken out with one voice. >> in the context of recent

events we thought very hard about how could we best respond. >> and donald isaac, head of mayor bowser's head of religious affairs said today's, vent was the kickoff of peace and unity. in the district, tom sherwood. news 4. >> up next, decoding the facebook messages of the san bernardino killers and what the fbi is saying about their ties to terror in the months before the attack. >> an overhaul to the terror alert system and there are warnings about potential threats. if the troubled street car program gets up and running here, should it be expanded? a candid conversation with mayor bowser coming up. back to the breaking news in baltimore now. a hung jury and mistrial declared as the first police officer is tried for the death of freddie gray. this is a live look as

protesters begin to arrive at the inner harbor. the crowds are going, but things

president obama plans to be in california on friday. he plans to stop in san bernardino on the way to his family's annual christmas vacation in hawaii. the president plans to meet

privately with families of the terror attack there. 14 people were killed. more than 20 were wounded in a shooting rampage earlier this month. we are learning more tonight about the married couple who committed that awful act of terrorism. while the federal government unveils a change to the nation's terror alert system. here's nbc's edward lawrence. nearly 700,000 students went back to school in l.a. today. >> kind of like scary to hear about that. >> reporter: a terror threat message that closed the system yesterday shows the new environment we live in as the fbi director outlined a new enemy. >> san bernardino, as with chattanooga, another terrorist attack that we've dealt with in recent times involve people consuming poison on the internet and radicalizing. online terrorist propaganda may have united san bernardino attackers syed farook and tashfeen malik. the fbi says starting two years ago. the couple used private instant

messages, but not social media to see if they were a terror match. >> they were both in those communications which we've been able to recover now demonstrating a commitment interest in jihad and martyr dom. >> in an effort to respond to evolving threats, homeland security secretary jeh johnson changed the terror alert system adding an online tool to unleash vital national security information. the first bulletin warns to look out for self-radicalized people. more strict screening for visa applications to move to the united states. >> consulting social media is something that since i've been secretary i believe that we need to do and we have begun that. >> all of this new information for the public led to this recommendation by the fbi director. >> don't let them win this by freaking you out. channel it to something healthy and live your life. edward lawrence, nbc news, washington. >> for the first time in nearly a decade, the federal reserve is

raising an important interest rate. the federal funds rate is going to go up a quarter-point cut. that will have an impact on your wallet. experts say the impact will be modest, but the interest rates on credit card and rare yabl rate mortgages could be higher. on the flip side of that, savings accounts will pay a tad more interest and the dollar might get stronger which will give more purchasing power to americans traveling overseas. the district says it's committed to opening the new start car program and soon. many wonder if street cars will be a useful option. our transportation reporter adam tuss broke the story first on news 4. now he's live along h street in northeast with more. hi there, adam! >> reporter: hey, doreen. i can show you the street car coming right now. they are running. this is called pre-revenue operations and they're testing them out to make sure everything's working and you know what? we caught up with mayor bowser

today to get her thoughts on the program and she offered some candid comments. she says she just wants to see it get going. >> residents are tired of waiting. >> we caught up with the mayor at a news conference today and asked her about the street car and her thoughts on possible expansion. listen to her tone. >> but i've got to tell you, i want this to work are you sure? >> yes. >> i'm the fourth mayor to work on it and that's water under the bridge. my job now is to get it up and running and make sure it's safe. >> vdot leader is emphatic about the program and i'm not starting something that's not going to finish successfully. there are still some issues. we actually took a walk along h street next to the street car today and made more progress on foot. we beat it from the union

station stop to fifth street in northeast. >> residents here are frustrated by all of it. >> at this point, a lot of people are kind of like, i don't even think they see its value or its use, you know? >> others say just get it open and the rest will take care of itself. >> we're getting used to seeing it up and down so motorists allow it for the street cars. i think a little time is good for it. some might say the program has had plenty of time. and back here now live along h street and northeast if everything goes according to plan this program could be up and running next month. jim, back to you? >> thank, adam. the search for more victims after a local detective killed himself as police moved in to arrest him for child sex crimes. >> plus a teacher died in custody after a confrontation with private security guards. why a local leader says more

>> now to an annual holiday tradition in the district. thousands head to the national zoo to check out the sights of the season. zoo lights is free and open most days until 9:00 through january 2nd. >> doug is down there right now and we'll begin with veronica johnson up in storm center 4 and

the change for this unseasonably warm weather. veronica? >> our first change with the weather moving and the second change will be the cold and maybe that will help us think more about christmas and this festive time of the year to get into the spirit. right now we focus on the first system and that's going to bring some moderate to heavy rain to our area tomorrow. here's a look at the rain intensity for it tomorrow. so the early part of the day during the morning rush, just a few showers, but fog will be the first story for the morning rush and the afternoon rush will still be dealing with rain with a few pockets of moderate to heavy rain. scanning the area and not a drop to be found and ohio down through areas of tennessee and for our area, well, today, you've probably noticed the clouds moving in and those clouds will lower and the fog will form after midnight and widespread and dense, so you'll

have to get an early start out the door tomorrow. no issues with fog by the afternoon and it's moderate rain and the fact that there will be a lot of areas impacted right now. it looks as though it will be south of d.c. and that's where the heavy rain will be moving through. there is a look at 2:00 during the afternoon. st. mary's and calvert county and that rain kicks out of here with our temperatures rising into the 50s with moderate rain during the afternoon hours and a lot of cold air is set to move in early saturday morning. doug has more on that. he's looking ahead from the national zoo with zoo lights. >> reporter: the ninth annual zoo lights. 200,000 people came here to take a look at the more than 500,000 lights and the light show going on behind me and one of my favorite thing, the slide right there. that is cool and the best thing about this is this is all free, as you know and all powered by pepco. say hello, everybody! >> and a perfect night for it.

weatherwise, it could not be better. we even have panda claus. your cousin is bei bei. it's okay. i have a tough head. your cousin is bei bei. and do you have a naughty and a nice list. >> only a nice list. >> only a nice list. >> reporter: i just wanted to make sure, but of course, bei bei was here and we have the media viewing for bei bei that was here as well. bei bei will be out over the next couple of weeks if you want to come out and have the brand new panda, but down here they are open every single day between now and january 2nd except for christmas eve and except for new year's eve and christmas day. it gets rainy tomorrow and it getsold and the first rain we've seen so far in december. high temperatures, 56 and expect rain and tomorrow will be a weather alert day and saturday, a high of only 43 and windchills in the 30s all day and we do

rebound a little bit on southbound and we get warmer next week and veronica will have the seven-day forecast coming up at 6:45. >> next at 6:00, crowds protesting outside the courthouse after a hung jury in the freddie gray case. we're live on this breaking story. >> he investigated child sex cases and he became a child sex suspect. the hunter becomes the hunted. it had deadly consequences. several sheriff's deputies out of a job. they're just not that easily replaced. >> we'll report how that shake-up could lead to bigger changes in northern virginia. >> plus a new close-up look at bei bei amid a new effort to

this is the best block of all. it's like candy cane lane. i know. oohhh. oh, holiday ferris wheel. i kind of love it. look at those reindeer. jeffrey, you're awfully quiet back there. i was just thinking... maybe it's time we finish this test drive and head back to the dealership? that is so jeffrey... soooo jeffrey... so jeffrey... oh. elves.. it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. the volkswagen sign then drive event. zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit,

and zero first months payment on a new passat and other select models. we have an update on the situation in baltimore. a small group of protesters has gathered hours after a mistrial was declared in the freddie gray case. >> nbc's jay gray has the latest in what's happening in baltimore. the protests have all been peaceful so far, right? >> doreen, and jim, good to talk to you. let's update you right now. there are still a handful of protesters here, maybe two dozen and three dozen that continue to march in and out of traffic through the downtown area. as you talked about, doreen,

completely peaceful. two have been arrested one for using a bullhorn after being told by police that wouldn't be allowed and two people arrested at this point and no violence at all to speak of and there is a stepped-up police presence and it will remain, as you know, police are on 12-hour shifts now around the clock and will be for as long as it's deemed necessary here in the emergency operations center and there's also been open to help, and at this point everything has been peaceful and they'll continue to allow people to protest as long as they would like and that is their right here and they want to make sure that things stay calm and peaceful. we'll continue to monitor it, but right now that's the jim and doreen, back to you. >> tonight we are learning more about a manassas city detective and youth hockey coach accused of child sex crimes. david abbott, they worked to

arrest him. news 4's pat collins is in manassas with more on this story. pat? >> reporter: doreen, it is a twisted story. a cop that goes after child sex suspects becomes a child sex suspect himself and it has deadly consequences. 27-year-old timothy bott bottenheimer. he was an assistant ice hockey coach for the washington capitals. last week bottenheimer sentenced to 50 months in jail for possessing child pornography and lissitying a cop who was posing as a 12-year-old boy. now one of the cops who worked on that case was this man, 29-year-old david abbott, he's a detective with the manassas city police department. he, too, is a youth ice hockey

coach. yesterday at his home in gainesville abbott shot and killed himself as police were moving in to arrest him. >> the charge, indecent liberties with young boys. police say both victims, ice hockey players coached by david abbott. one victim, 13, the other 18 and police say this goes back seven years to 2008. >> david abbott was a longtime coach with the ice hockey organization. r.j. zigler is an official there. he says they're doing what they can to help the boys on the team deal with this. i talked to him today by phone. >> the police has offered grief counselors that actually met with that affected teen yesterday evening and it was it was a very productive session. >> each though david abbott is

dead, the case has been closed and police are looking to see if there are more victims here. jim, back to you. >> pat collins. thanks, pat. we have an update now on the safety of highway guardrails in virginia. critics say that the heads of those rails which are made by trinity industries and those rails can impale cars rather than absorb the impact. the virginia department of transportation shows that the guardrail system passed most of the tests, but they say there are problems when cars hit those guardrails at a specifican e. a they'll continue to replace the rail heads in the high-speed areas of highways where the impact could be the most severe. the company, trinity called the tests in virginia questionable and unreliable. questions remain tonight about the death of a man in the custody of two private security

officers in the district and one elected leader wonders if race may have played a role in what happened. we showed you the body camera video released by d.c. police. it shows officers trying to revive alonso smith last month. after he was found unresponsive in handcuffs put on him by security officers and licensed by the district and hired by the apartment complex, la ruby may believes this might not have happened in other neighborhoods of the city and wonders if there is a double standard. >> what i believe is more predominantly white properties had armed security guards then they would be less comfortable delegating the security of those officers to a third party vendor. >> wherever you live or whatever color you are we want to make sure that the police, our own police have the training and resources that they need and certainly any security guards that are licensed in the

district. >> police are investigating smith's death as a homicide, and so far no charges have been filed. there is a new effort to drum up information about the murder of a young man in maryla maryland. the family of darryl king held a candlelight vigil and released balloons into the air. police later started a door to door canvas in the neighborhood where that young man was f shot to death this summer. the murder happened after a house party back in july. police say they have no suspects nor do they have a motive. tonight a relative made a plea for help. >> we need justice so our family can be at ease, at peace. if anybody knows something, please come out. somebody say something, if it was their family member, they would want justice, too. police say there is a $25,000 reward in that case. >> the country's second largest school system closed because of a threat. new numbers reveal how many millions of dollars the los

angeles school district plans to lose. >> a shake-up within the loudoun county sheriff's office has local politicians questioning why several veteran deputies were let go. i'm david culver in leesburg, coming up, why one politician wants to see this office split into two. >> i'm meteorologist doug kammerer down here at zoo lights. one of the warmest first halves to december in our history, but will the second half be just as warm?

>> the los angeles county school district stands to lose $29 million after that shutdown of schools yesterday. the kids were back to class today after an email threat was deemed not credible. the amount of money that the schools received from the government is based in part on how many student attend class on a given day. that means a full closure of all

the schools is particularly costly. the school district plans to apply for special credit because of the emergency nature of that closure. >> virginia governor terry mcauliffe unveiled a budget for the commonwealth public cools and it's the largest the state has ever had. the $1 billion coverage covers fiscal 2018, adding 2500 new teaching physicians. a 2% raise for teachers and spending $50 million on programs for at-risk students such as dropout prevention, parent engagement and pre-k education. folks, our young children's future should not be dependent on their parent's financial condition or their zip code. it is right to start them out early. >> governor mcauliffe laid out his plan in mark twain middle school. he will unveil his entire state budget to lawmakers tomorrow. faster and more reliable bus

service will link arlington and alexandria next spring. that is -- that's the promise of the people behind a crystal city potomac yard transit way. it's a 4 1/2 mile-long between metro. it approved an opening in spring, and they approved it at their meeting last night. >> next, a shake-up in a local sheriff's office and some say it has nothing to do with their performance. what a local leader wants done to keep this from happening again. >> also new video from the national zoo and a

a shake-up at the sheriff's office in loudoun county. several veteran deputies are out of a job. now one politician is calling on the county to create a new police department. bureau reporter david culver explains why. >> reporter: in loudoun county it's the sheriff's deputies who handle just about every aspect of law enforcement. they patrol the streets, investigate crimes, responsibilities other counties leave to a police department. loudoun deputies serve under their elected leader mike chapman. it doesn't mean they all supported his recent reelection and we learned some of those who backed other candidates are now out of a job. if it is something that's

politically motivated i would hate to think that's the case. >> steve simpson was here for 16 years. he ran against him and lost. he questions how deputies were just let go? they have a right to vote to who they want and support who they want as long as they're not actively trying to undermine them and move on. >> simpson acknowledges that the sheriff is acting within the law. we cannot comment specifically on personnel matter, but the sheriff has and will make decisions on staffing that are in the best interest of the agency as a whole. >> i would just ask him why. i mean, there really don't seem to be good reasons for doing this. >> past loudoun board candidates say they're impacted and it supports, giving officers more rights, he argues. >> we've become such a complex

and sophisticated candidate and it's time to have a police agency. >> i did reach out to the deputies impacted by the sheriff's decisions and they're now spending this holiday season looking for a job. in leesburg, i'm david culver, news 4. news 4 has learned that the man accused of killing a student at the university of mary washington will use an insanity defense. steve has been charged with killing a grace man. a defense team at a psychiatrist evaluated grill and prosecutors are expected to ask for their own exam tomorrow. concerns from capitol hill tonight over the national zoo's plan to cut its hours. congress woman eleanor holmes norton is asking the zoo to reconsider that or at least compromise with residents. beginning on january 1st, the zoo gates will be open from 8:00

to 5:00. right now they're open at 6:00 a.m. people who live near the zoo are upset that they won't be able to walk or run through the zoo in the early mornings. morton says officials should have asked for input from the public before they made their decision. well, the zoo's biggest star is getting ready for his public debut today. we got our first in-person close-up look at bei bei. how cute is he now? the giant panda cub will go on public display a month from today and bei bei now only 4 months old and he's got his new teeth in and is walking more and weighs 14 1/2 pounds. if you want to see more head to our nbc washington app. >> not behind a cage, fortunately, doug kammerer with a look at the holiday lights. >> i certainly hope not. >> my goodness. the holiday lights down here could not be better. >> you guys know how it can go.

two years ago we were dealing with freezing fog here and right now, temperatures still in the 50s. it has been a beautiful afternoon and great night to come out to zoo lights which goes through january 2nd and they're loving the weather. all of these lights, 500,000 of them powered by pepco. did i say that right, with pepco? >> good job. good job. yes. >> nine seasons. zoo life, powered by pepco. led lights and it's all about energy efficiency. that's why we initially got involved and it's for the community and every year is just fantastic and tonight it's pepco family night and a lot of folks are out here with their families and we're just happy to be out here again. >> this wasn't an event that was a paid event and they wanted to make it a free, vent. >> absolutely. so, you know, during the christmas holiday season, you are spending money giving gifts and this is our gift to the community to continue on as a free event and you love the zoo,

and everybody loves coming here. >> especially with the nice weather that we've been having. they're on pace for record attendance last year and almost 200,000 people came out throughout the region and this year it has been absolutely phenomenal and it looks like for the most of the rest of december in towards early january it's also looking quite warm. we do have a couple of cold days including one weather alert day and veronica johnson, we've been talking about for a while with the rain and the more important thing is going to be the cold that comes in behind it. >> that's for sure because early saturday morning our windchills will be down into the low 20s so the rain will be the story for tomorrow and moderate impacts for early part of the day with fog and showers and by midday, moderate to heavy rain so high impacts on area roads and it is so sloppy as we get into the 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 hour as we head home tomorrow. right now storm team 4 scanning

the area and you can see how quiet it is and again, early on, we're sloppy and you'll need the umbrella and rain boots as well as the raincoat for tomorrow and make sure that you have something like rain boots at least and you don't want to mess up your good shoes. >> waldorf, fredericksburg and more moderate impacts to the north and we being get out of this system anywhere from a half inch to as much as three-quarters of an inch of rain. early saturday morning those windchills in the 20s and we go from 50s tomorrow to very cold early saturday morning and our high temperature and 43 and 47 on sunday and it will be short lived because next week, christmas week, temperatures go right back up again and we have more on our nbc washington.com page. >> we'll get into the christmas spirit on saturday. >> hold it for the week. >> through the warmth. desean jackson sitting out.

trent williams sitting out, but trent's injury is a bit of a mystery to his head

>> we have sports tonight.

what's going on? >> one injury you might want to be concerned tonight, and he'll play on sunday, desean jackson. >> okay. no matter what you felt about the redskins coming into this season or even during the season, you have to appreciate the fact that it all comes down to the final three games and despite a slew of injuries and the next man up attitude has worked out pretty well for jay gruden's squad and with more on the skins from ashburn, here's carol maloney. >> burgundy and gold prepping for buffalo. these two teams have the same record and same aspirations. skins trying to wib the division, bills, they're holding on to slim playoff hopes. >> washington will need all their weapons. desean jackson side lined today with that knee injury. jay gruden confident that he'll be ready to go on sunday and trent williams also sat out today with a foot injury. >> trent williams, foot. you don't get which foot. all you get is foot.

[ laughter ] i don't know. i'm not even going to guess. he just said his foot hurt. >> skins are pushing a post-season carrot is theirs for the taking. skins hungry for back-to-back wins which would be a first this season. >> part of the reason why we're 6 and 7 and not better than that is because we haven't been able to consistently win and you know, i'll be the first one to tell you that that's got to change and much like winning on the road. we have to be more consistent putting a string of games together. >> we do know we have another monk to get off our back with two wins in a row and we're excited to do it and we're playing for some in december and i know the energy will be there. >> i'm carol maloney, news 4 sports. >> today we got our first look at number 83. the new tight end, smith. >> he relied on mostly the blocking tight end and he's been in the league since 2005 since he's not played since week two

in the 2014 season and he's more than happy to get the phone call with the skins. >> and i saw the injuries think across the league and it happens every year and you're just waiting for a chance and i hope to get that opportunity and fortunately i got one here and i want to capitalize on it. and it you see the familiar plays and instead of thinking and to worry about your assignment and in that aspect i was able to play and get my feet under ground. >> let's move on and talk about the capitals and barry's team is the top squad and they took montreal in the standings and the fellows have yet to lose back-to-back games and no one in the conference is better playing on their home ice than the capitals and there is a reason for that. >> you have a good mindset and a lot of it comes from the coaches. a lot of it comes from a lot of guys with experience here now. >> we're winning games in different ways and sometimes we're winning games that we shouldn't win and regardless of how you play, you get the win

and you want to keep pushing it with us. >> we're confident in ourselves and we can be a top-level team. obviously, we can do that and we're trying to put it together consistently as much as we can and build as good of a playoff. >> the capital, they play at home tonight against the senators and the wizards are on the road in san antonio. let's talk basketball now for a moment. bethany academy in bloomington, minnesota held a fund-raiser and the family who raised the most money, and the half off, and grace raised the most money and her mother angela took the shot and the half-court shot and that's her mom, angela. not the greatest of form, but hold on -- >> come on now! come on now! >> how about that bounce. angela in complete disbelief. the crowd's going nuts! she doesn't know why. her daughter and she can't believe it. they counted the shot.

good for her. half off tuition. that might be the best half-court shot this year. >> remember what's h

epic plays! epic comebacks! and now epic meatz! i love football...and pizza. get our new epic meatz pizza. with five meaty meatz. just $12 for a large. better ingredients. better pizza. better football. papajohns.com

breaking news tonight, a hung jury in baltimore. calls for calm in a city ravaged by violence as the first officer charged in the death of freddie gray walks free in a mistrial. the cost of borrowing more expensive as the fed hikes interest rates for the first time in years. what it means for your mortgage, car loans and credit card. >> flying high. we're all access with marco rubio after the fiery debate exchanges with ted cruz. and donald trump, and who he is taking aim at today. no surgery needed. a game-changer in the way we change people treated with appendicitis. what doctors say might work just as well for many.