get the mail out earlier and get the carriers home before dark. but first tonight, an elementary school playground turns into a crime scene. >> a young man stabbed to death on a basketball court bench for no apparent reason. >> and family members say the victim had challenges stemming from a car accident, and he could not defend himself. >> news 4's pat collins is live for us tonight in lanham with the latest on this random attack. pat? >> reporter: jim, according to court documents, this appears to be an unprovoked attack. it began with a verbal confrontation and it ended in a case of murder. the victim, 24-year-old douglas reyes, stabbed to death as he sat on this bench in the playground of the gaywood elementary school. douglas reyes was disabled. he was in a car accident when he was 5. he had a head injury. it affected the way he walked

and moved his arm. do you think someone took advantage of him? >> they did take advantage of him because he can't defend himself at all. >> reporter: charged in the case, 31-year-old alex james jones. he was arrested a short time after the murder. according to court documents obtained by news 4, witnesses say jones verbally confronted douglas reyes, produced a knife, stabbing him multiple times. the documents say jones made statements implicating himself in the stabbing. the suspect's mother says her son has multiple mental disorders. has he ever used drugs before? >> i refuse to answer that. >> reporter: has he ever been arrested before? >> no. no. he doesn't have a criminal record. he's not a criminal. >> reporter: has he ever done anything violent before? >> no, no violence or anything at all. >> reporter: now, the family has planned a vigil tonight at the playground for douglas reyes. wendy, back to you.

>> pat collins, thank you, pat. now to the winter storm system that's impacting millions of penal across our country. officials say the rising mississippi river and its tributaries are threatening to overtop 19 federal levees in the st. louis area. 13 people have died in floods in missouri. and although the rain has moved on, the swollen rivers are still rising. up in new england, that story is about snow. many are still cleaning up, but it's causing some travel headaches. we have team coverage of this wild weather as we look at what we can expect as we close out 2015. but let's begin with nbc's chris pallone with details on the thousands of flights delayed or canceled. he's at laguardia airport in new york with more on this. >> reporter: no snow today in new york city but sleet, fog and rain were enough to cause cancelations and delays at the major airports. >> it's frustrating. i've be in new york for 12 years

now and i hate to say it, but it's kind of par for the course. every time there's bad weather. >> reporter: a large system moving across the north and east caused a ripple effect for air travelers throughout the country. places like boston, chicago, and new york leading the list of cancelations and delays. >> been a very tedious process. it's been stressful. >> reporter: the snow and ice in the northeast come from the same system which tore through the nation's midsection over the weekend, spawning tornadoes and floods and leaving at least 43 people dead. it made driving treacherous in upstate new york, as well, new england, and dumped the first snow of the season on massachusetts just days after it saw record high temperatures. >> i was threatened last week, you know, you come outside, it's beautiful, good for the holidays and then all of a sudden, big change. i think winter's here finally. >> reporter: last winter saw the most snow ever recorded in boston leaving there people wondering if a repeat lies ahead. to put things in perspective, on an average day in the united states, fewer than 200 flights are canceled. yesterday alone in the u.s.,

2,900 cancelations. in new york city, chris pallone, nbc news. no major delays at any of our airports in this area, but change is in the air. temperatures are dropping as we head into the new year. and doug's in the storm center with a look at what we can expect. doug? >> guys, we have not seen a stretch of really cold weather so far in the month of december. looks like january, i think we're going to be getting that. as we look outside right now, nothing like that around our region. no rain to talk about. we saw some rain early this morning. that moved out very quickly. now we're left with dry conditions around the region. temperatures today got into the low to mid 50s in most areas. currently 53 in washington. virginia beach at 67. got to 80 degrees earlier today. 80 degrees virginia bateach. roanoke mid 60s. still on the mild side. that's the way we'll be the next two days. a couple more mild days. mild for now. more shower activity trying to move in tomorrow. i'll show you who has the best

chance for those showers. then as i mentioned, cold for the new year and maybe some extended cold. we'll talk about that coming up in just a few minutes. >> thank you, doug. donald trump is ramping up his attacks on hillary clinton tonight by reviving memories of her husband's affair with a white house intern. trump's comments come just days before bill clinton is said to campaign for his wife in new hampshire. meanwhile, in iowa, candidate marco rubio was under attack now. brian mooar joins us now live from capitol hill with the latest from the campaign trail. brian? >> reporter: yeah, jim, we're all counting down to february 1st and the iowa caucuses. so are those republican presidential candidates who are already bringing out the big guns. in iowa, a heavyweight endorsement straight from the u.s. capitol. >> i found my candidate. it's marco rubio. >> reporter: the support of south carolina conservative trey gowdy is a boost for rubio's campaign. >> this is a time for action, and that's why i chose to run for president. >> reporter: but rubio also

found himself under attack as he and chris christie crisscrossed the hawkeye state in a series of dueling town halls. >> we do not want another president who sits in the chair in the oval office on the first day and spins around and says, gee whiz, isn't it great i'm president? where where was marco? >> reporter: rubio's experience the subject of a new tv attack ad by jeb bush supporters. >> over the last three years, rubio has missed important national security hearings. and missed more total votes than any other senator. >> reporter: donald trump bragging on twitter that his campaign's under budget says he's about to join the air war. >> we're going to spend a lot of money over the next four weeks and we're going to just -- we just want to don't wait to take any chances. we're too close. >> reporter: close on the calendar, too, with the iowa caucuses just over four weeks away. iowa is shaping up to be a conservative showdown between ted cruz and donald trump. that has the other republican hopefuls setting their sights on the next big prize, new

hampshire. wendy? >> brian mooar. and a new fight in the battle over gun control in the old dominion. a state senator down there wants to defund virginia governor terry mcauliffe's security detail because of the governor's stance on guns. the governor calls the senator's request, quote, a temper can trum. the idea follows the move by attorney general mark herring to stop honoring the concealed carry permits from 25 states and an executive order that bans open carry of firearms in state buildings used by the executive branch. and we're about to end the year with a grim milestone here in the district. two people were shot and killed last night. the first scene on savannah street in southeast. the victim there not yet identified. another shooting happened less than a mile away and police say darnell antonio mayfield was the victim of that killing on hartford street. no arrests in either of the cases. 162 people have been killed in the district of columbia this

year, that is a 54% increase compared to last year. sometimes it seems like there are more tour buses down on the national mall than monuments. and they often take up some precious parking spaces. one idea to create spaces for everybody would require major construction. our transportation reporter adam tuss has our story. >> reporter: around the mall, we're simply running out of space as buses flood the streets and take up parking spots, drivers themselves are pleading for more places to put their cars. >> build a parking lot or a basement. >> reporter: a parking lot or something under the mall. >> yes. >> reporter: he's not far off from what some are saying should happen, an underground garage right here under the mall. it could handle buses and cars. sarah and family on board. >> we probably spend as much time driving around looking for a parking spot as we have done walking around and touring. it took forever. >> reporter: if a garage won't work, other options are being considered.

hundreds of regular parking spaces along routes like jefferson and madison drives and independence and constitution avenues may have to be turned into tour bus parking spaces only. so that all the buses can fit. not good news for the drivers. >> that would cause a problem. >> reporter: now obviously tourism is a good thing, but consider this. of the 25 million people that visit the mall each year, a third of them get here by tour bus. there are now over 1,200 tour buses that pass through d.c. every day. these are numbers from the national parks service. dave snyder with the region's transportation planning board which is studying the issue says drivers need to look at the bigger picture in all of this and this is really a plan about moving more people. >> the overall trend in d.c. is that it's going to be more and more difficult to drive a single-occupancy vehicle. we got to realize that. >> reporter: right now it's estimated a lack of parking spaces for the buses around the mall translates them into driving around an extra 20 miles per day looking for parking.

it is big problem and back here now live on the national mall, now, any new measure that's put in place would be a pilot program so it would be tested first before it's actually put in place permanently. jim, back to you. >> adam, thanks. too close for comfort. a drone grounded after flying near president obama's motorcade in hawaii. it happened yesterday as he was heading back to his vacation home after a round of golf. the secret service spotted the drone. they say this man flying it had no idea the president was nearby. he will not be charged. captured in mexico. the so-called affluenza teenager back in custody with his mother, but it's what he did before leaving country that has sparked public outrage. a local family and their special needs son facing eviction. tonight the surprising reason why they may soon be on the street. bid adieu to styrofoam. details behind the ban that goes into place in d.c. and how much eateries could be

forced

this is one of the most shared stories on our nbc washington facebook page. that so-called affluenza teenager and his mother being held in mexico waiting to be returned to the u.s. after weeks on the run. nbc's chris clackum looks at the new trouble they are in and what they reportedly did before they

took off. >> reporter: with his blond hair dyed black, 18-year-old ethan couch was taken into custody in mexico monday along with his mother, 48-year-old tanya couch. texas authorities confirmed tuesday they had leads the two had fled there nearly three weeks ago after ethan's apparent probation violation. >> we followed those leads and eventually led to puerto vallarta, mexico, where they were taken into custody. >> reporter: couch's case gained worldwide attention after he killed four people while driving drunk in 2013. during sentencing his attorney claimed the teen did not understand the consequences of his actions because of his affluent upbringing. a judge agreed and gave him ten years' probation, sparking widespread anger. anger that reignited earlier this month when cell phone video surfaced that law enforcement says shows couch at a party and though not seen drinking, alcohol use would violate his probation. they say that's what led his

mother to load her son in their pickup and flee. >> told us they'd probably driven that to the border then crossed over. >> reporter: but before crossing over into mexico -- >> they even had something that was almost akin to a going away party before they left town. >> reporter: texas officials can't say when the couches will be returned to the u.s., and unlike his vehicular homicide case, he'll likely face jail time for this and so will his mother. chris clackum, nbc news. new developments tonight in two high-profile police shootings. in chicago and cleveland. our chris lawrence is here now with the fallout tonight. chris? >> yeah, jim, let's start in chicago in the case involving that dashcam video that sparked protests throughout the city. today an officer pleaded not guilty in the murder in a black teenager. officer jason van dyke is charged with first-degree murder in the death of laquan mcdonald but took nearly a year for officials to release the dashcam video of the shooting.

van dyke's attorney says he does want to tell his side of the story so he's not seen as a cold-blooded killer. the attorney is also seeking to move the trial out of chicago as the city faces more protests and fallout from another deadly police shooting this past weekend. people are still demonstrating in cleveland after a grand jury's decision in the tamir rice case. protesters have been blocking traffic downtown and the crowd has grown to about 100 people in the past few hours. yesterday, grand jury decided not to indict the two patrolmen who shot and killed rice seconds after they came up on him carrying a pellet gun. rice was 12 years old, but the officers thought he was older and say they acted based on what they knew at the time. rice's family is suing the city of cleveland so the tensions between police departments and some citizens far from over tonight in those midwestern cities. jim, wendy? >> chris lawrence. cautious optimism as military officials report more progress in the fight against isis. today we got confirmation that recent air strikes killed ten

islamic state leaders this past month. that includes several people linked to the paris terror attacks. and others accused of actively planning new attacks on western countries. defense officials say air strikes also helped the u.s.-led coalition regain control of a dam in syria that serves as an important logistics route to isis strong holds. >> we're striking at the head of the snake. we haven't severed the head of the snake yet and it's still got fangs. we have to be clear about that. there's much more fighting to do. >> nbc news also learned of a terror plot that was just foiled in belgium. two people have been arrested accused of planning to carry out an attack on new year's eve. these arrests come after a series of raids this week across belgium. searches found isis propaganda material, but no weapons. authorities say this investigation is not tied to the paris attack. a popular dupont circle

restaurant is back open tonight, bu bub and pop's closed last week after the owner's son was killed in afghanistan. peter taub was one of six u.s. service members killed in a suicide bombing attack. a sign now hangs on the front of the restaurant in his honor saying, "might his be the last death." a big change coming to restaurants and carryouts in d.c. starting this friday, the city is banning styrofoam containers. news 4's tom sherwood explains why. >> reporter: it's everywhere. best known by its trademark name, styrofoam. as of friday the district joins other jurisdictions like montgomery county in banning the product. this seattle transplant at faragat square today approves using substitutes. >> everywhere in seattle uses them, companies switched to them, wasn't a big deal. cost more money, but frankly they're awful. i'd be much happier with

something else. >> i'm cool with it as long as my food is covered. >> reporter: it's a big change for the restaurant industry here, worked with the city two years to get ready. "we certainly support and encourage members to be aware of sustainable practices" says washington metropolitan restaurant association director, our members are in support of the change. styrofoam does not break down, can clog city waterways and sewers. environment director tommy wells told news 4 the city wants compliance but his enforcement office says violators will first get 30-day notices then a fine of $100, then $200 and up to as much as $800 for more violations. >> hopefully all these stores and restaurants that are currently using styrofoam are phasing it out right now. >> reporter: customers already using paper products are ready for change, too. >> i think it's a good move. i mean, right now?

>> reporter: again, the ban starts friday. new year's day. in the district, tom sherwood, news 4. big break tonight after a string of burglaries at asian restaurants. how police were able to connect more than 20 crimes to one couple. one day after a bicyclist was killed in this crosswalk on viers mills road, we'll show you some close calls that happened here today right in front of our camera, ahead. and may be a new difficulty at the nation's airports. why a driver's license m

this is video shot by a drone in southern georgia showing the reach of the flint river as it spills over its banks. residents have been forced out of their homes there, as you can imagine. arkansas one home was destroyed by a mudslide. no one was home at the time. a riverfront park in montgomery, alabama, is now under water. storm team 4 meteorologist doug kammerere is here. >> the good news is the storm skm moved out of the area but this was such a huge impactful storm across much of the nation. take it back to sunday afternoon. take a lack at the radar. this was the radar starting on sunday. see the storm really wrapping up into oklahoma, arkansas. look at the very heavy rain coming out of the gulf of mexico

right on toward atlanta and around the flint river as we just showed you. an extremely heavy rain. parts of oklahoma, arkansas, parts of missouri, upwards of a foot of rain from this system. snow on the north side. but notice our region, almost nothing from this. we saw a little bit of rain over the last few days but that is it. that is the case, again, this afternoon. not much going on in our region. we are on the dry side today. we do have another chance of sures tomorrow, but it's just that. a very slight chance. of a shower. right now the clouds, well, they remain. 53 degrees the current temperature with that cloud cover. temperatures will not move all that much tonight. they'll go down about 5 or 6 degrees. that's going to be about it. 50 right now in fredericksburg. 48 gaithersburg. 45 winchester. once again the clouds will remain overnight. they're going to remain for the next couple of days. we have not seen much in the way of the sun at all over the past few days. and once again, this is why we've got that consistent flow out of the south bringing all of that moisture up around our region. the same storm that dropped all the rain to the south dropped a lot of snow up toward parts of

the north. wintry weather around the boston region today. that whole storm system is finally out of here. our next storm, though, comes down on the tail end of this down toward parts of georgia and florida today. that system will come in and skirt around our region tomorrow. let's show you where and who has the best chance to see that rain. tomorrow, maybe take the umbrella. most of the day you won't need it. here's about 8:00 tomorrow morning. 7:45. our future weather. just the clouds. we continue to see the clouds through about 1:00, but notice some showers back toward the west tomorrow and then a few more showers coming in during the late afternoon into the early evening hours. by 7:00, most of this is out of here. so once again, if you have the umbrella, it's going to be the smaller umbrella. we're not expecting much in the way of heavy rain. for the morning rush, no problems. just overcast. temperatures around 47 degrees. but for the afternoon rush, we could see some showers in parts of the areas late and, yes, could promote wet roadways. give yourself extra time. temperatures around 56 degrees at that time. high temperatures tomorrow into the 50s for the most part. another very mild day for this

time of year. temperatures ranging about 5 to 10 even 15 degrees above average during the day tomorrow. so the impact from that chance of some showers, again, late showers south and east for the most part, but lots of clouds. the impact will be on the low side for sure. next couple of days, temperatures stay up into the 50s on thursday. a high of 53. close to 50 for the first day of the new year. so 2016 coming in on a cooler note. not all that bad. a little on the breezy side, too, on friday. notice saturday a high of only 45 drivewaydegrees. one of the coolest stretches we've seen so far this season. i have that coming up. coming up at 6:45, what do you do on new year's eve? i've got that forecast for you. we'll take you hour by hour. see you at 6:45, guys. >> thank you, doug. mail delivered late or after dark. still to come, new records obtained by news 4 show just how often it happened and what's being done to change it. a teenager killed in rockville while riding the bike he got for christmas. tonight the new calls for change at an intersection in hopes of preventing another tragedy.

a local family faces possible eviction. their neighbor who happens to be the landlord says a special needs child was too loud. >> translator: i am frustrated and see it as an injustice the

you're watching news 4 at

6:00. he was killed on the job in the dark of night. the 2013 murder of a u.s. postal service letter carrier in prince george's county raised a huge question. why are so many local postal workers delivering after dark? >> late-night mail delivery spiked 14% in the months before that killing. but as scott macfarlane reports, reinforcements are on the way to help change that. >> reporter: it was two years ago the u.s. postal worker, letter carrier was killed here along reed street in cheverly killed on the job. in the two years since, two problems. solving the killing, and protecting other letter carriers throughout the d.c. area. someone shot tyson barnette while he was working his route delivering mail well after 7:00 p.m. well after dark. the review of postal service operations launched immediately after his killing revealed barnette wasn't the only letter carrier doing so. in fact, it showed letter carriers returned from their routes of 5:00 p.m. 100,000

times in the d.c. region in just the months before barnette died. deliveries from the hyattsville post office and columbia heights were flagged in particular. the agency has been under pressure to hire more carriers ever since. including from barnette's fellow letter carriers. like alton. >> we had a number of carriers that were lost during that timeframe. a lot of carriers were apprehensive. >> reporter: today, 40 newly hired carriers underwent orientation. this photo shows the group. union leaders say this is the latest in a serious of groups hired and late-night delivery has been significantly reduced because of it. >> much safer. people let their dogs out after dark, you can't see the holes in the ground. many areas in the d.c. area are not well lit. >> reporter: police are trying to make progress of their own solving the barnette killing. there have been no arrests. federal u.s. postal inspectors are still reviewing the case daily.

they have distributed 25,000 letters and fliers to the neighborhood seeking tips and police are offering a $125,000 reward. >> this is by no means a cold case. our detectives are working this case actively and working in conjunction with our federal partners in this to try and bring it to a close. >> reporter: one neighbor along reed street tell me they're not sure when the feds are police are going to solve this murder. they hope it happens, in their words, very, very soon. in cheverly, scott macfarlane, news 4. now to see our past coverage of this murder case, open up the nbc washington app and search "mail carrier." two teenagers are charged as adults, they're accused of murdering a man along a popular trail in montgomery county. police arrested a 15-year-old and a 19-year-old for this murder. the victim was dennis montfar batista. detectives found his body in the creek along the northwest branch trail a week ago and they have not said how he was killed or

why. police across northern virginia say working together and sharing clues have helped them catch two suspects in a series of burglaries. they were targeting mostly asian restaurants. take a look. kai lasana and leah culbreth of manassas are accused of breaking into businesses in prince william, loudoun, stafford, fairfax counties among other places. police tell us they took money and other valuables. they've been linked to 20 cases so far, but more charges could be coming. now to montgomery county and a teenager killed at a dangerous intersection. tonight, police are telling us what needs to change to improve safety. the victim, 19-year-old frank towers, was hit by a car while riding his bike home from work. this happened along viers mill road near turkey branch parkway. that's where news 4's chris gordon joins us live with details. chris? >> reporter: jim, the number of people killed in crosswalks here in montgomery county this year is disturbingly high.

it's tragic that this loss of life could be prevented if people just follow the law. this scene has been repeated too often in montgomery county this year. last night, 19-year-old frank towers was killed after being struck in the crosswalk on viers mill road at turkey branch parkway. >> we average about one bicyclist losing their life and this year we've had three. and that's quite disturbing. >> reporter: while i was interviewing captain, this bicyclist signaled at the crosswalk on viers mill. some cars stopped but ts one kept going. >> i definitely just had a close call there if i wasn't paying attention. so try to start being a little bit more cautious. >> reporter: a little later gregory tummer who walks here three times a week signaled but didn't dare step into the crosswalk until the captain helped out. >> if they didn't see the police officer, they weren't going to stop. >> reporter: last night frank towers was killed by a car that didn't stop at the crosswalk. alyx walker says frank was her

closer friend. he had just moved here in may, living in her group home. he worked at dynamite gymnastics in rockville which her family owns. he was returning home from work last night on the bike her father gave him for christmas. alyx insisted frank use her helmet every time he rode. >> i just qulaps collapsed on t kitchen floor, started wailing because it was unreal. that's what everyone is saying, just so unreal. >> reporter: montgomery county police conducted a crosswalk sting at the very same intersection on viers mill about a year ago ticketing motorists who failed to stop for the officers in the crosswalk. >> drivers need to look out for pedestrian but pedestrians also need to look out for drivers. you can't assume they can see you. >> reporter: the captain also says that adding flashing lights at crosswalks would go a long way to alerting drivers to stop because someone's trying to cross right in front of them. the latest live in montgomery

county. wendy? >> all right. chris gordon. starting next year the tsa could refuse people from some states for passing through airport security because of their driver's license. this is connected to something called real i.d.s. they typically require for proof of identification. congress enacted real i.d.s in 2005. the federal government can't force individual states to change their i.d.s but can enforce the policy at airports. four states could be subject to enforcement as early as next month. virginia has an extension through october. maryland and d.c. already comply with the real i.d. act. bombshell allegations against one of the biggest names in football. tonight the reporter behind that story not backing down as peyton manning threatens legal action. my scoutmaster went in the cave and the bear is in the cave with him. >> this is our favorite story of the day. these scouts were calm and collected in the face of danger, and hear the dramatic call for

help as the boy scouts got their leader to safety. impressive. also impressive, we are right in the middle, cold to the north, 27 today for a high in boston. 71 in raleigh. virginia beach today, 80 degrees. which way are we going next? i've got your forecast.

we are lahearing from the a jazeera reporter claiming peyton manning's wife was getting human growth hormones. farm pharmacist sly said hgh was shipped to peyton manning's life ashley manning. pharmacist, however, since recounted that story. reporter, deborah davies is standing by the report and says that report does not accuse peyton manning of using the drugs. >> do you have specific evidence peyton manning, himself, has taken hgh? >> we've not said that in the

program. >> you're not alleging peyton manning took these substances? the only allegation in the program from charlie sly is that growth hormone was sent repeatedly from the guyer to ashley manning in florida. >> manning and his wife were both patients at the clinic in question but the quarterback told espn the treatments he received were, quote, holistic in nature, never hgh. manning has threatened to sue al jazeera for that report. well, it's been three days since the redskins punched their ticket to the playoffs but the excitement it's not waning. fans packed the team store out at dulles town center today to pick up new gear including nfc east division champ swag. it went on sale today. some of you may be planning to see the skins in action this postseason. they're playing at home at fedex field for the first round. because of their record they probably won't get another home game. tickets go on sale to the public next monday january 4th.

if you're a season ticketholder, you don't have to wait, they're on sale right now through friday. forced out of their home during the holidays. a local family including a young boy with special needs is now looking for a new place to live and tonight the surprising reason behind their sudden evicti

an arlington family is facing a new year without a home. and they say it's because their landlord believes their son is too loud. >> she is the on one annoyed by the noise that my son does, any other neighbor hasn't complained. >> tonight, news's derrick ward is searching for answers as an advocacy group works to find the family somewhere to live. >> reporter: the diaz children's christmas gifts remain unopen days after christmas. the family fears the laughter and screams of joy they may elicit, little elder's laughing and singing have already gotten the family in trouble with the

landlord who lives downstairs. >> translator: since we got here, we started to see there were problems with the noise that my son makes. >> reporter: elder's parents tell us when he was just 18 months old, he was severely beaten by a daycare provider that left him with developmental disabilities. now at 10's also subject to seizures but also a happy little boy. >> translator: caring and lovely. >> reporter: they told management about elder's issues and say the landlord didn't raise any concerns then. >> translator: we even gave them a letter from our son's pediatrician stating the problems that he has. >> reporter: they've been told they have to leave by new year's day. now the company did offer them another apartment in the complex. >> a two-bedroom apartment. they currently have a three-bedroom. the two-bedroom would have cost more money. >> reporter: elder, sister, and his parents are finding it hard to relocate. according to those seeking to help them, the family's current landlord won't give them a rental reference and say there are other issues. >> she won't say what they are,

she's not legally obligated to. >> reporter: we spoke with the property manager at oakland apartments in arlington. she told us there will be no comment citing the protection of privacy of the tenants but the diazs are more than willing to make their plight public. >> translator: i am frustrated and see it as an injustice the things that she's doing with us. >> reporter: so this family is worried that they'll be celebrating new year's either in a shelter or, worse, in the street. in arlington, derrick ward, news 4. also we're hearing the dramatic 911 calls this evening that reveal how three boy scouts banded together to help their troop leader during a bear attack in new jersey. >> my scoutmaster went into a cave and a bear is in the cave with him. >> is he, like, he can't get out because of where the bear is or too injured to get out? >> i think the bear's on top of him. >> this happened last week while the group was out for a hike. the scouts remained calm even suggested that they build a fire to help searchers locate them. after more than an hour, the scout leader escaped.

told the dispatcher what happened to him in that cave. >> 911, where's the emergency? >> split rock reservoir blue trail, i was mauled by a bear. >> where are you bleeding, your leg, arm? >> left arm, left leg, neck and head. i'm getting cold pretty quick. >> everyone survived that attack including the bear. wildlife officials decided to spare the bear's life because the scout leader crawled into the cave which is the bear's habitat. so the bear was invaded so to speak. >> don't do that. all right. doug -- >> don't crawl into a cave. >> what kind of weather are we counting on this week? we're all over the place. >> everybody is asking about the colder weather. >> yeah. >> where's the cool weather, where's the snow? i've got one of those -- >> up in boston. >> it did snow in boston. for us, it has been warm. how warm? it's been this warm. warm enough for the cherry blossoms to come out. you've seen them around the area. they normally tend to do this in

parts of late december, early january when we get some of the warming trends but this warming trend has been here for a while. that prompted a lot more of those blossoms to come out. yes, this will hurt the cherry blossoms in march or april when they do make their full bloom but we should still get a pretty good show when that does happen. out there right now, temperatures, well, they've they got into the 50s again today. where we are right now, a 5 3 degrees. we're on the mild side. we'll continue to see clouds and keep temperatures around the 50 degree mark through 11:00 tonight. no rain. we're dry. we'll stay that way the next 18 hours then have a chance for showers. tomorrow morning starting off cool, not cold. 47 degrees. more clouds tomorrow. not seeing much sun tomorrow. a chance for some rain. most likely, though, everybody is on the dry side. temperatures around 54 at 1:00. 55 by 4:00. a better chance for rain coming in during the even rush tomorrow night especially from d.c. south and eastward, what we're going to be watching. tomorrow, good idea, the jacket will be needed as it will be a little on the cool side.

not the coats. the jackets. take the umbrella just in case. again, most of the day looks dry. carry the small umbrella if you can. now, 53 degrees on your thursday. we stay on the mostly cloudy side. at least some sun comes out u. we see plenty of sunshine friday and saturday. high temperatures, though, a little bit cooler. if you're going out, and a lot of people are on new year's eve, if you're going to be out and act, here's what you can expect as we head into 2016. breezy around 10:00. 46 around midnight. 46, that is not a mad midnight temperature for new year's eve. temperatures are going to be on the cool side, though, as we head toward the first weekend of the new year. 45 on your saturday. 46 degrees coming up on sunday. so we're going to have cold mornings, close to the freezing mark in the city. most areas, though, in the upper 20s. cool afternoons. this time of year, that's where we should be. yes, it will feel more like winter. it does look like we're going to see the longest stretch of 40s so far this season. have not seen a lot of 40s.

50s, 60s not a lot of 40z. but they're coming next year. >> thanks, doug. coming up next in sports, one of the redskins' leaders almost called it a career last season. jason's up next to tell us why he decided to come back. first here's kate snow with a look at what's ahead on "nbc nightly news." >> coming up, the death toll rising with rare december flooding in missouri, the national guard called in, more than 1,000 flights canceled nationwide today. speaking of flying, will you soon need your passport to board a flight? why driver's licenses may not be enough anymore. and oprah making her return to tv with an ad for weight watchers, a company she now

this is the xfinity sports desk brought to you by xfinity. your home for the most live sports. >> so who had a great -- who almost left and stuck around and is glad they did? >> well, deangelo hall, he had so many injuries the last couple of years. you didn't it know -- you didn't know if he was going to retire or not. everyone's glad he stuck around this organization. the redskins get ready for dallas this weekend. they're also getting ready for the playoffs. that means making sure their players are healthy and ready to go for whoever they may face in the first round. deangelo hall suffered a calf injury toward the end of the eagles game. he said today he's improving but unsure if he'll play sunday against the cowboys. now for hall, he's in his 12th year. it's been a journey the last two seasons. this year, alone, he's come back from a toe injury twice, he's

changed positions, and on saturday he made the biggest defensive play of the game by returning that fumble for a touchdown that broke the game wide open. you may remember last season he tore his achilles twice as well. today on a conference call the veteran d.b. saying, quote i don't want to come back and try to play and look like crap. he's certainly been a difference maker for the redskins. our very own carol maloney caught up with him about his emotional two years. >> laid up and drugged up you're kind of thinking about everything. you're kind of like, man, am i going to be done, can i come back from this? you know, am i going to be the same player? am i going to be as fast? you know, especially the position i play is built on speed. >> yeah. >> you know, you just have that uncertainty and it's always'sy to quit, you know, always easy to say, all right, i had a great career, all right, you know, let's be done with it. but after the pain meds wore off i kind of started thinking about, you know, i think i owe it to myself to, you know, give this thing another shot. >> deangelo hall and the rest of his teammates will be back on the practice field tomorrow in

ash burn getting ready for the cowboys this weekend. with so much going on be the rid skins and them making the playoffs let's not forget about the capitals. eight straight wins, best team in the east and off to their best start in franchise history. plenty of highlights during this eight-game winning streak. alex ovechkin, holtby have been outstanding. ovechkin, 493rd career goal. the crazy part about this one, check out the buffalo defenders. how do you leave ovechkin one of the greatest goal scorers of all-time and by himself? holtby, league leading 23 games. last night in shutout fashion. let's take a deeper look inside this eight-game win streak. the caps, well, they are outscoring their opponents 27-11 during this stretch. ten different players have scored in eight games and ovechkin has four goals, t.j. oshie leading the way with five goals. holtby continues to do work in

net four games with 40-plus saves. to college basketball now. the number four terps getting set for their big ten season opener that takes place tomorrow night. maryland hosting penn state at 5:00 p.m. at the xfinity center. they're coming off a 20-point win over marshall this weekend. 11-1 entering conference play. now it's a different type of beast for maryland. >> it gets real now. you know, like i said earlier, every game in the big ten is not going to be easy. you know, the thing i just try to reiterate to the team especially to the young guys is just we have to be sharp. >> you know, it's a step up. it's, you know, we wanted to have a good preseason, we did that. nonconference. now we're real excited about the league. this video is making the round on social media. this is boxing legend mike tyson testing out his daughter's hoverboard. he looks pretty good on it so far, but hold on. wait for it. >> whoa, whoa, whoa! >> down goes tyson.

this is why i will never get on a hoverboard. this is going, making the rounds on twitter, instagram. he is okay. he lands right on his back. >> looks like it hurt, man. >> i keep showing it. it's funny. good stuff. >> all right. one more time. >> one more time. >> not one more time? >> cut it off. let's go back to the redskins for a moment. many local stores getting in their nfc east champion gear today. plenty of burgundy and gold fans making the new purchases and there was an overwhelming theme amongst the shoppers. >> you like that? we in the playoffs. you like this? >> you like that? hail to the redskins. you like that? >> you like that. >> say you like that. say you like that. give me five? give me five. yeah, you like that. say i like that. >> we want to know if you like that. send us your fan pictures. fa take a photo or video. send it to nbc washington. we might use it on air or online. just tag @nbcwashington on twitter on instagram.

and use #skinsfan. or e-mail your pictures to isee@nbcwashington.com. >> that's what mike tyson said when he got up. you like that? >> the world is -- >> very

tonight, record-breaking floods in missouri. the national guard is called in as thousands evacuate, fleeing deadly floodwaters, with the water expected to rise for days. captured. the so-called affluenza teen and his mother caught in mexico and being returned to the u.s. police now say they threw a going away parting before going on the run. identity crisis. why your driver's license may no longer be enough to get you through airport security. cries for help. the desperate 911 call from a brave trio of boy scouts as a bear brutally attacked their scout master. and oprah's tv return. in her debut ad for weight watchers, oprah winfrey opens up about her battle to keep the pounds off. "nightly news" begins right now.